Team-mate Garry McCoy was unfortunate to miss out on a Superpole place after finishing 17th in the morning qualifying, just one tenth of a second outside the top 16.
But Steve, having qualified for Superpole in 11th, maintained his recent run of improving his grid position in the one-lap shoot-out when he set his fastest time of the weekend of 1:40.282.
Lorenzo Lanzi, standing in for Regis Laconi on the factory Ducati, was the surprise pole-setter, out-gunning Troy Corser by a tenth of a second.
Steve said: “I reckon I could have gone two tenths quicker in my Superpole lap as I pushed too hard through the first sector. And this is the sort of track that can make you pay for even a small mistake. But it was my fastest lap of the weekend and Superpole is always the right time for your fastest lap. We have gone forward in every session and I know that if I have a good clear road in front of me I am going to do good consistent lap times because I have been doing them all weekend.”
Garry said: “It’s pretty frustrating to miss out on Superpole by a tenth of a second. I didn’t care if I was 16th as long as I was in there with a chance and I actually thought I had done a quicker second lap on my qualifier. But, with the technical problems we had in the morning session and it being my first time here, I am pretty happy in a way because we have been going quicker in every session, although the final free practice was frustrating. I was really hoping to put in a race tyre and go out and do a few laps but I didn’t have a bike that was functioning consistently throughout the session. From what I saw at Assen, though, a lot of the guys don’t like the bike moving around too much half-way through the race, so Sunday can be a different story from everyone popping off one fast lap on Friday and Saturday.”
Superpole results, Superbike World Championship round 10, Eurospeedway Lausitz, Germany: 1 Lanzi 1:39.019; 2 Corser 0.073; 3 Vermeulen 0.256; 4 Toseland 0.646; 5 Pitt 0.880; 6 Muggeridge 0.905; 7 Haga 1.090; 8 Neukirchner 1.168; 9 Kagayama 1.172;
10 Martin 1.263; 11 Chili 1.475; 12 Clementi 1.545; 13 Bostrom 1.806; 14 Schulten 1.856; 15 Abe 2.429; 16 Borciani 2.581
Saturday morning qualifying times (best qualifying time bracketed): 1 Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:39.091; 2 Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) 1:39.548; 3 Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:39.567; 4 Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda) 1:39.667; 5 Pitt (Yamaha Italia) 1:39.845; 6 Toseland (Ducati Xerox) 1:40.053; 7 Haga (Yamaha Italia) 1:41.618 (1:40.102); 8 Schulten (Alfa Technik) 1:40.132; 9 Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) 1:40.136; 10 Chili (Klaffi Honda) 1:40.259 (1:40.249);
11 Martin (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:40.343; 17 McCoy (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:41.127
Saturday free practice times: 1 Corser 1:39.245; 2 Vermeulen 1.39.269; 3 Lanzi 1.39.274; 4 Muggeridge 1.39.675; 5 Neukirchner 1:40.068; 6 Toseland 1:40.236; 7 Chili 1:40.315; 8 Schulten 1:40.392; 9 Kagayama 1:40.421; 10 Clementi 1:40.426;
12 Martin (Foggy PPETRONAS Racing) 1:40.572; 20 McCoy (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 1:41.631