World Superbike Championship leader Troy Bayliss continued to dominate by taking pole position for the Dutch round at Assen.

The Australian recorded the fastest lap on his Xerox Ducati with a best time of one minute 38.428 seconds.

Bayliss came into the fourth round of the series with a lead of 48 points over the Alstare Suzuki of Fonsi Nieto.

And with the Spaniard only ninth quickest after the superpole session, the chance is there for the Australian to increase his advantage in Sunday's two races.

Japan's Noriyuki Haga seems to be the biggest threat to Bayliss at Assen after the Yamaha Motor Italia rider was second fastest in superpole with a lap time of 1:38.546.

Spaniard Ruben Xaus took third spot on the grid on the Sterilgarda Ducati and Australian Troy Corser completed the front row on the Yamaha Motor Italia machine.

Corser will see a front-row start as his chance to move up to second in the standings as he trails Nieto by eight points.

Nieto's team-mate Max Neukirchner heads the second row of the grid after setting the fifth best time ahead of the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda of Spaniard Carlos Checa, the third Suzuki of Japan's Yukio Kagayama and the Guandalini Racing Ducati of the Czech Republic's Jakub Smrz.

In the Supersport class, Britons Jonathan Rea and Craig Jones will both start from the front row of the grid after qualifying second and third respectively behind Australia's Broc Parkes.

SUPERPOLE RESULTS

1- Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1:38.428

2- Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) 1:38.546

3- Ruben Xaus (Ducati) 1:38.587

4- Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1:38.761

5- Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) 1:38.840

6- Carlos Checa (Honda) 1:38.864

7- Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 1:39.029

8- Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1:39.058

9- Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) 1:39.189

10- Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki) 1:39.307

SUPERSPORT QUALIFYING

1- Broc Parkes (Yamaha) 1:40.895

2- Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1:40.944

3- Craig Jones (Honda) 1:41.077

4- Fabien Foret (Yamaha) 1:41.188

5- Joan Lascorz (Honda) 1:41.330

Sporting Life / Eurosport