CARL Fogarty is considering advice from former British legend Barry Sheene to turn to tranquillisers in a bid to solve his sleeping problems.
The reigning world champion is struggling to relax in the build-up to races.
And the problem, on top of jet-lag, has been worse than ever before tomorrow's Australian second round of the World Superbike championship at Phillip Island.
Fogarty said today: "It's so frustrating but I don't put it down to jet-lag.
"I'm just thinking about racing so much that I can't get to sleep.
"I get really nervous and I just can't relax."
Sheene, who lives in Australia and works for local TV, offered help during qualifying, when Fogarty finished a disappointing sixth in today's Superpole behind title rivals Troy Corser, Pier-Francesco Chili and joint championship leader Colin Edwards.
Fogarty added: "He was trying to convince me that it's a good idea to use Valium.
"The Formula One driver Gerhard Berger said that it helped him a lot.
"But I'm not too sure and the doctor said not to take it."
The Blackburn rider is desperate for a win having only secured a third place in the South African opening round.
But it won't be easy for Foggy who finished first in qualifying only to lag behind in sixth spot after the one-lap Superpole.
Aprilia-rider Corser won the Superpole and is joined on the front row by Suzuki's Chili and big danger Edwards, riding the new VTR Castrol Honda. Ducati privateer Juan Borja from Spain completes the front row of the grid with Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga -- a former race winner at Phillip Island -- starting from fifth place, on the second row and alongside Foggy, who finished more than half a second behind Corser.
"I lost the plot completely," explained Foggy. "A couple of spots of rain appeared on my visor and I panicked.
"I thought 'I had better get a quick lap in before it starts raining'. I lost in the middle section but it's not a problem. If it is dry tomorrow I'll win the race -- I feel that confident."
Final World Superbike qualifying times: 1 Troy Corser, Australia (Aprilia) 1m 33.321s, 2 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 1m 33.453s, 3 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1m 33.609s, 4 Juan Borja, Spain (Ducati) 1m 33.736s, 5 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Yamaha) 1m 33.898s, 6 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 1m 33.985s, 7 Haruchika Aoki, Japan (Ducati) 1m 34.185s, 8 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 1m 34.192s, 9 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 1m 34.441s, 10 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1m 34.835s.
Any Foggy fans with sleeping problems will be able to watch the Australian races live on Eurosport tomorrow morning at 3am and 6.15am. The BBC will show a highlights package during Sunday Grandstand.
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