The Australian went into the top 16 shoot-out in 11th place but was able to better his fastest lap of the weekend to leap three places with a time of 2:05.560. Chris Vermeulen claimed pole position with a searing lap of 2:04.179.

FPR team-mate Garry McCoy slashed almost three seconds off his best time of yesterday as he made significant progress with his rear suspension.

But he missed out on Superpole by just three tenths of a second after a wayward Dutch wild card rider obstructed his fying lap in the morning qualifying session, a problem also experienced by Steve throughout the day.

Steve said: “I had one of those days when the wild card riders were going crazy. Two got in the way on my qualifying lap this morning, which meant that I didn’t improve my time from yesterday. Then, in the afternoon, I was going flat out down the start-finish straight when one came out of pit-lane and straight onto the racing line. I had to run off the track going full speed into turn one. I made a mistake in the first sector of my Superpole lap and could have gone a couple of tenths faster but to be on the second row is fantastic and the key to tomorrow will be two good starts. I am not going too badly on race tyres and if I can get away with the front guys then I should be able to get some consistency.”

Garry, who matched his best time of 2:06.8 from qualifying on race tyres during afternoon free practice, said: “We changed a few things in the rear shock this morning and I made a lot of progress, although the instability is still there as I think the chassis is a little too flexible for this track. But then I got baulked on my flying lap on my second qualifying tyre. Kagayama and one of the wild card riders were in front of me, Kagayama got out of the way but old Bob the Wild Boy didn’t. I think that could have made the difference between making Superpole and missing out. It’s quite hard to pass here as, if you are going out-brake anyone, it has to be off the racing line, so the races are going to be tough in that respect. But everyone tends to bunch up in turn one so we will have to wait and see what happens.”

Superpole, Superbike World Championship round 9, Assen, Netherlands: 1 Vermeulen 2:04.179; 2 Toseland 0.720; 3 Corser 0.826; 4 Haga 0.899; 5 Muggeridge 1.077; 6 Pitt 1.125; 7 Kagayama 1.255; 8 Martin 1.381; 9 Chili 1.512; 10 Lanzi 1.757; 11 Clementi 1.857; 12 Neukirchner (crash); 13 Walker 2.222; 14 Vizziello 2.275; 15 Abe 2.353; 16 Bostrom 3.445

Saturday free practice results: 1 Vermeulen 2:04.534; 2 Muggeridge 2:05.118; 3 Toseland 2:05.149; 4 Neukirchner 2:05.507; 5 Haga 2:05.597; 6 Pitt 2:05.836; 7 Chili 2:05.981; 8 Walker 2:06.266; 9 Kagayama 2:06.406; 10 Abe 2:06.460; 16 McCoy 2:06.891; 18 Martin 2:07.128

Saturday morning qualifying times (best qualifying time bracketed: 1 Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 2:05.044 (2:04.742); 2 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona) 2:05.092 (2:04.835); 3 Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 2:04.860; 4 Lanzi (Ducati Caracchi) 2:05.065; 5 Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki) 2:05.243; 6 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) 2:05.395; 7 Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) 2:05.396; 8 Clementi (Team Pedercini) 2:03.399; 9 Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 2:05.721 (2:05.445); 10 Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona) 2:05.649; 11 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:06.533 (2:05.793; 22 McCoy (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 2:06.880