FOGGY Petronas Racing's James Haydon was today hoping to make the most of his luck during the final qualifying session for the Italian round of the World Superbike Championship at Imola.

Haydon had a fortunate escape yesterday when he nearly collided with a squirrel on the Imola track during the morning practice session.

Haydon just missed the wayward animal and composed himself enough to finish 18th quickest during the afternoon qualifying session.

Haydon said: "I was so lucky on my final lap of the morning session.

"I was going flat out in fifth gear into the double right-hander and as soon as I hit the brakes, a squirrel ambled onto the track.

"At first I thought it was a dog because its tail was up and it looked so big.

"There was no way I could move because I was so hard on the brakes, and Neil Hodgson was right behind me as well.

"It would have been a massive crash if I had hit it. I haven't been so freaked out by something like that for ages."

Haydon also had to cope with the pain from a hand injury.

"My injured hand is sore when I am off the bike, but it is not slowing me up," he added.

Haydon's team-mate Troy Corser took the other FP1 machine to seventh on the provisional grid and will be looking to improve on that later today by making small adjustments to his machine.

"It's encouraging that we were closer to the front runners on a Friday than we have been for a while," said Corser.

Burnley's Neil Hodgson, who has already won the world title, was fourth in the latest round of qualifying.