Silverstone - Troy Bayliss mastered the inclement British weather to claim provisional pole position for the 13th and 14th rounds of the World Superbike Championship at Silverstone.

The 38-year-old Australian started out cautiously before gradually getting quicker as the track surface dried out during the session, eventually setting the best time in 1:25.295.

His Ducati team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi followed in formation to claim second place on the provisional grid 0.675 seconds behind.

Championship leader James Toseland found his Ten Kate Honda hard to handle in the wet conditions at the start of the session but sped up as time wore on to end up third quickest for what will be his second home race of the year.

More to follow