IT would be fair to say the sporting focus in Germany this weekend is not on the World Superbike championship at Oschersleben.

And Neil Hodgson might feel relieved that the distance from this former East German outpost to Munich is too great to allow either disgruntled or gloating English football fans to take in tomorrow's two races on their way home from tonight's World Cup qualifier.

For the 11th round of the championship has already proved an uphill struggle for the Burnley rider.

Having never raced at the circuit - situated as far from civilisation as a clapped-out Trabant could take you - Hodgson is at a major disadvantage to the riders who learned the track last year.

So the last thing he wanted was for changeable weather conditions to rob him of a valuable hour's homework during yesterday's first day of practice.

The wet weather of the morning may have helped mask his teething troubles, as rain is a leveller at any circuit and the GSE star was able to post the third fastest time behind rivals Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards.

But the real work started in the dry and sunny conditions of the afternoon.

Team boss Colin Wright said: "Neil's as keen as mustard to be up there with the top riders all the time.

"But sometimes it's a case of taking a couple of steps backwards in order to move forward three or four steps."

Whether stepping forwards or backwards the GSE team appeared to be going round in circles during the hour-long afternoon qualifying session. The initial aim for Hodgson was to make the top 16 as, with more rain forecast for today, a lower position could have excluded him from the crucial Superpole competition for grid places.

Different tyres, gearing and suspension settings were tried throughout the session as Hodgson grappled with the twisty lay-out.

Wright added: "When he knows it a bit better it will be somewhere he likes because he will be able to ride smoothly here."

That, however, was not Hodgson's initial assessment.

"I'm having a nightmare. I might be pushing too hard but it's all aggressive flip-flop corners here and I do have to wrestle the bike round."

The saving grace for Hodgson, who finished in 13th and even behind his team-mate James Toseland, is that there is not much separating the top few riders.

Championship leader Bayliss' second fastest time was just a second quicker although ominously, Ben Bostrom, who has won the last five races, moved up to third.

Yesterday's World Superbike championship qualifying times: 1 Troy Corser, Australia (Aprilia) 1m 27.868s, 2 Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1m 28.146s, 3 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1m 28.268s, 4 Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 1m 28.392s, 5 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1m 28.396s, 6 Tady Okada, Japan (Castrol Honda) 1m 28.493s, 7 Regis Laconi, France (Aprilia) 1m 28.524s, 8 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1m 28.900s, 9 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 1m 28.907s, 10 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 1m 28.923s.