BURNLEY-born Neil Hodgson led the British Superbikes challenge on his HM Plant Ducati, recording the third fastest time of the day, at Ocshersleben in eastern Germany.

Hodgson trails Colin Edwards, who smashed the lap record by over a second to claim provisional pole position and keep his World Superbike Championship challenge on a roll.

The American won twice at Brands Hatch last time out to cut Troy Bayliss' championship lead to 39 points and signalled his intent to move even closer with a blistering performance in the opening qualifying session.

Castrol Honda rider Edwards clocked a lap time of one minute 26.609 seconds to outpace championship leader Bayliss' Ducati Infostrada by over three 10ths of a second.

Hodgson was a further half a second adrift of Edwards.

Bayliss' team-mate Ruben Xaus came home fourth quickest ahead of tomorrow's qualifying and superpole sessions one minute 26.609 seconds while Ben Bostrom shook off the effects of a boating accident during the recent summer break to end the day fifth on his L&M Ducati.

Chris Walker took his Fuchs Kawasaki to a superb sixth spot with Hodgson's team-mate James Toseland coming home eighth.

Afterwards Edwards set his sights on winning his fourth and fifth successive races this season after his double Brands Hatch win and stunning race two victory on home ground at Laguna Seca.

He said: "There's no doubt the championship is still alive for me and I want to prove that with two wins on Sunday.

"I'd like to think the machine set-up will improve even more for tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's races."

World Superbike Championship, Oschersleben, Germany, qualifying: 1 Colin Edwards (USA) Honda 1min 26.609sec, 2 Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 1:26.984, 3 Neil Hodgson (Gbr) Ducati 1:27.164, 4 Ruben Xaus (Spa) Ducati 1:27.698, 5 Ben Bostrom (USA) Ducati 1:27.736, 6 Chris Walker (Gbr) Kawasaki 1:28.053, 7 James Toseland (Gbr) Ducati 1:28.138, 8 Pierfrancesco Chili (Ita) Ducati 1:28.138, 9 Marco Borciani (Ita) Ducati 1:28.188, 10 Gregorio Lavilla (Spa) Suzuki 1:28.253, 11 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Aprilia 1:28.331, 12 Steve Martin (Aus) Ducati 1:28.349, 13 Juan Bautista Borja (Spa) Ducati 1:28.396, 14 Eric Bostrom (USA) Kawasaki 1:28.601, 15 Lucio Pedercini (Ita) Ducati 1:28.948, 16 12 Broc Parkes (Aus) Ducati 1:29.214, 17 Hitoyasu Izutsu (Jpn) Kawasaki 1:29.736, 18 Peter Goddard (Aus) Benelli 1:29.947, 19 Alessandro Antonello (Ita) Ducati 1:30.096, 20 Serafino Foti (Ita) Ducati 1:30.199, 21 Mauro Sanchini (Ita) Kawasaki 1:30.225, 22 Ivan Clementi (Ita) Kawasaki 1:30.233, 23 Mark Heckles (Gbr) Honda 1:30.571, 24 Jiri Mrkyvka (Cze) Ducati 1:32.739, 25 Thierry Mulot (Fra) Ducati 1:33.131, 26 Yann Gyger (Swi) Honda 1:33.210, 27 Giuliano Sartoni (Ita) Ducati 1:34.053, 28 Teodor Myszkowski (Pol) Yamaha 1:34.302