Bayliss blasts to Monza Superpole.

A stunning first sector saw Bayliss pull half a second over the previous fastest rider, Hannspree Ten Kate's Carlos Checa, before increasing his advantage to 0.7secs through the middle of the lap and then 0.835secs over the Spaniard by the flag.

Bayliss had lapped almost 1.5secs faster than his conventional qualifying time and broken Noriyuki Haga's 2007 Monza Superpole lap record, but with seven riders still to go, the Australian was far from assured of pole position.

However, when rider after rider failed to even get close to the Australian's scorching pace, the strength of Troy's flying lap quickly became apparent.

Nobody could match Bayliss' first sector and even the four-cylinders, with their supposedly superior top speed - Bayliss matched Max Neukirchner's top speed of 316km/h in Superpole and was only 1km/h behind the peak top speed during the session, set by Karl Muggeridge - continued to lose ground as the lap went on.

Neukirchner, fastest of all after second qualifying, was the only rider to get within 0.7secs of Bayliss - the impressive young German almost equalling Bayliss through the first sector, before his Alstare Suzuki slipped 0.356secs behind by the end of the lap.

2007 pole sitter and double race winner, Noriyuki Haga, will start third on the grid. The Japanese, whose Yamaha Italia team is based next to the Monza circuit, suffered several scares as he pushed his R1 to the limit and was left 0.734secs from Bayliss, having lapped 0.3secs slower than one year ago.

Completing the front row will be Checa. The Spaniard was just 15th fastest heading into Superpole, but beat his previous best time by over one second, allowing him to leap dramatically up the order and put him in contention for victory on Sunday.

Neukirchner's team-mate Yukio Kagayama slipped from third to fifth during Superpole, while Ruben Xaus went in the other direction - rising from eleventh to sixth after a typically aggressive lap.

Xaus' team-mate, Max Biaggi, had been just 16th fastest at the start of Superpole, but was at least able to salvage ninth on the grid after delivering his best lap of the weekend by 0.8secs during Superpole.

Starting between Xaus and Biaggi will be Fonsi Nieto (seventh) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (eighth). Checa and Kiyonari will be the only Ten Kate WSBK riders present on Sunday after Kenan Sofuoglu, eighth fastest in Friday qualifying, withdrew from the event following the death of his brother in Turkey.

Muggeridge produced a solid Superpole lap to claim tenth on the grid on his privateer DF Racing Honda, but there was disappointment for factory riders Regis Laconi, Troy Corser and Michel Fabrizio.

Laconi had been second fastest for PSG-1 Kawasaki by the end of second qualifying, but managed only eleventh when circulating on his own in Superpole, while Corser - traditionally a Superpole specialist - had a miserable run, lapping over 1.5secs slower than Bayliss and failing to match his previous best lap. The Yamaha Italia star will start twelfth.

Bayliss' team-mate Fabrizio had almost equalled Troy's pace heading into Superpole, but will start his home race from just 13th after a ragged Superpole lap. Makoto Tamada (PSG-1 Kawasaki), Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) and Gregorio Lavilla (Ventaxia VK Honda) complete the Superpole order.

Superpole:

1. Bayliss
2. Neukirchner
3. Haga
4. Checa
5. Kagayama
6. Xaus
7. Nieto
8. Kiyonari
9. Biaggi
10. Muggeridge
11. Laconi
12. Corser
13. Fabrizio
14. Tamada
15. Smrz
16. Lavilla