NEIL Hodgson is aiming to turn up the heat on his World Superbike rivals this weekend - so long as the weather warms up in Australia.

The Burnley rider clocked eighth fastest time in the first qualifying session for Sunday's race at the Phillip Island circuit.

But Hodgson has been struggling for grip on his HM Plant Ducati and knows that he needs an increase in track temperature to improve his times.

"We didn't get much dry testing last year and this circuit is incredibly fast on a Superbike, he said.

"Everyone has been struggling to get enough traction here today, but the increase in temperatures expected tomorrow should give us Dunlop riders an advantage over the rest of the field.

"Today has been a little bit frustrating, even though we have made progress. I have a reasonable set-up and the bike is turning quicker than before.

"I spent a lot of the session adjusting my riding style to minimise tyre wear. I haven't been as aggressive with the throttle as I could and that has been reflected in my times.

"Just to cap it all, during my lap on a qualifying tyre a rider fell at turn one. So that lap wasn't anywhere near representative of what I can do - we'll try again later today."

Hodgson and and his team-mate James Toseland both qualified easily for Sunday's races with times of 1:34.022 and 1:34.429 respectively - eighth and ninth places on the provisional grid.

The torrential rain that blighted last year's Australian round was not an issue as the two Britons tackled the 4.44km GP circuit. However, a strong headwind did serve as a reminder to the assembled riders of the inclement nature of the circuit's location.

But reigning champion Troy Bayliss made home advantage count as he blitzed the opposition to claim provisional pole position for the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island, Australia.

The Australian clocked a superb time on his Ducati Infostrada of one minute 32.656 seconds to top the timesheets by almost half-a-second from Castrol Honda rider Colin Edwards.

And he warned: "It was a bit windy out there today and I'm sure I can go a bit faster here tomorrow.

"I'm pleased to have gone so well on the first day because even though the weather forecast is good, anything can happen here."

Pierfrancesco Chili produced a surprise to lift his Ducati NCR on to the provisional front row in third place - despite a dreadful weekend at Valencia last time out.

Chili edged out Aprilia's Noriyuki Haga, who continued his good form from Spain by completing the front row.

1st Qualifying : 1 Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 1mins 32.656secs, 2 Colin Edwards (USA) Honda 1:33.064, 3 Pierfrancesco Chili (Ita) Ducati 1:33.291, 4 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Aprilia 1:33.540, 5 Ruben Xaus (Spa) Ducati 1:33.626, 6 Gregorio Lavilla (Spa) Suzuki 1:33.834, 7 Ben Bostrom (USA) Ducati 1:33.846, 8 Neil Hodgson (Gbr) Ducati 1:34.022, 9 James Toseland (Gbr) Ducati 1:34.429, 10 Hitoyasu Izutsu (Jpn) Kawasaki 1:34.663