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Australian Troy Bayliss has made his intentions clear during the opening World Superbike practice session at Phillip Island, clocking the fastest time of 1:32.387 during the one-hour hit-out.
Bayliss finished with a time that was .082 seconds faster than Britain's James Toseland, with fellow Australian Troy Corser recording the third fastest lap time.
The current World Champion was happy with his initial hit-out for the round, and said that things were looking ominous for a good showing over the weekend.
"Yeah it's a good start – already the times are good on the race tyre, strung 14 laps together towards the middle and end of that session and nearly all were 1:32 so that's a really good sign," Bayliss said.
"We had to bed one bike in- it had some new pads and discs which needed to get ready for the race.
"The first exit is always pretty steady, and I ran some pretty quick laps, so I am really happy with the way things are going."
Of the other Australians out in action, Steve Martin recorded the 14th fastest time, Josh Brookes came in 16th with a quick final lap while his teammate Karl Muggeridge finished one position lower with the 17th quickest time.
Suzuki Rider Shawn Giles has recorded the fastest time in the opening Qualifying session of the Australian Superbike support class at the Australian round of the World Superbikes at Phillip Island.
Giles recorded a fastest time of 1:35.729 to finish ahead of Honda's Glen Allerton, and teammate Jamie Stauffer on the first of two Friday qualifying sessions.
But despite the love of the track, crowd and the event as a whole, Giles put the race in perspective for the support riders.
"It's good – I always enjoy riding here at Phillip Island," he said.
"It's not a part of our championship – the most important thing for us I the Australian Championship, and this is just a support race on the side," he admitted.
"So everyone was riding with a little bit in reserve, but I am just happy to be fast at the moment, and hopefully we can be fast this afternoon."
Allerton was very happy with how his bike handled in the first qualifying session, and is looking to enjoy the Australian event to its fullest.
"I am really happy – we haven't changed much on the bike between Eastern Creek and now – we pretty much just took the bike straight out of the truck so I am really happy because things are working great on it," he said.
"It is an awesome weekend this weekend – the crowd and the atmosphere, and there are no points on the line for us but everyone still wants to win in front of international race teams, so it should be a good weekend."
In the opening qualifying for the Supersport class, Jeremy Crowe took the honours with a fastest lap time on his Yamaha ahead of Bryan Staring on a Honda and Yamaha teammate Jamie Stauffer.
Crowe was pleased with the result, and will be looking to better his lap time in the second Qualifying session this afternoon.
"The bike felt really good – we put a lot of work in at the first round of the Australian series at Eastern Creek and the bike was pretty good straight out of the box here," he said.
"We'll make a few changes for the next race, and hopefully we can pick the pace up a bit more."
In the Superstock class, Dean Bonthorne clocked in fastest ahead of Ryan Taylor and Brendan Watson.
Frenchman Fabien Foret has taken top honours in the opening qualifying session of the World Supersport class, at the Australian Round of the World Superbike Championship.
Foret shaved almost .2 of a second off the best time set in morning practise by Kevin Curtain, to finish ahead of the Australian with Italian Gianluca Nannelli in third.
The qualifying session was marred by a major accident with only 10 of the 45-minute session left to complete, as Spaniard David Salom Fuentes came off his bike and slid down the main straight.
Salom was taken straight to the medical centre at the Phillip Island circuit, and is reportedly conscious and doing okay. Updates on his condition will follow in later reports.
On the track, it was Foret who impressed throughout his 21-lap session, and paved the way to ensure that he improves on the fourth placing that he picked up at the opening round in Qatar.
Curtain was comfortable in clocking the second fastest time, with the surprise of the session going to fellow Australian Broc Parkes, who finished fourth fastest.
Of the other Aussies in action, wildcards Chris Seton and Judd Greedy picked up the 26th and 27th fastest lap-times respectively – a good result given that there were 38 riders in the field.
Brit James Toseland has drawn first blood in perfect conditions, during qualifying at the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island.
In the beautiful sunny weather, Toseland recorded the fastest lap-time during the one hour World Superbikes qualifying session, clocking 1:32.040 – shaving a massive 0.347 seconds off Australian Troy Bayliss' morning practise time.
Bayliss had to settle for second overall, finishing ahead of Spaniard Fonsi Nieto who rounded out the top-three.
The current World Champion, whose best time of the session was 1:32.641, held the top position for the best part of the hour before being overtaken by Toseland in the latter stages.
Toseland is in fine form having won the opening round of racing in Qatar, and will be looking to double up in Australia to complete the perfect start to his racing year.
Of the other Australians who were on the track, Troy Corser finished with the fifth fastest time overall, while Steve Martin clocked in at number 12.
Karl Muggeridge managed the 13th fastest time, while Josh Brookes was the 16th fastest of the 22 riders competing.
The second qualifying session for the World Superbikes will take place on Saturday at 1:45pm local time.
