CARL Fogarty recovered from a crash to take sixth spot after first qualifying at Laguna Seca yesterday.

Three times world champion Fogarty bounced back from a crash at the top of the Corkscrew section of the 2.23-mile circuit to finish the day in sixth position, marginally ahead of Castrol Honda's Colin Edwards.

As the Blackburn ace had predicted the local riders held the upper hand when the opening qualifying session for round eight of the World Superbike championship got under way.

Anthony Gobert set the pace riding the Vance and Hines Ducati.

He topped the leaderboard ahead of his team-mate Ben Bostrom with the wild card pairing keen to impress in their open World Superbike outing of the year.

Both are American superbike championship regulars with the intention of contesting next year's World Superbike championship.

Fogarty's team-mate Troy Corser was the best of the World Superbike series regulars in third place.

Akira Yanagawa in fourth place completes the provisional front row of the grid for tomorrow's two 28-lap races.

Castrol Honda's Aaron Slight was fifth fastest and the New Zealander is optimistic he can improve on his best time in Saturday's final qualifying.

Despite his problems Fogarty went into the meeting confident of completing a rare collection.

The Laguna Seca track, near Monterey, is the one remaining circuit to have denied the Blackburn Bullet victory.

But Foggy could put that to rights this weekend, to follow his all-conquering performance in Italy when he claimed his first-ever success at Misano. "If I'd had to pick which of the two tracks I'd get a result at, Misano or Laguna, I'd have said Laguna," revealed Foggy.

"So, after taking that double at Misano, I'll be well up for it here in the States."

The Laguna circuit is 3.604 kms long, one of the shorter tracks in the championship, and contains a famous corkscrew dip.

Whatever the outcome in California, clinching the title at Brands in front of 85,000 British fans will be an impossibility.

But, if his supremacy continues unabated, a win in front of the 30,000 British fans that make the trip to Assen in Holland on September 5, is a real possibility.

QUALIFYING TIMES: 1 Anthony Gobert, Australian (Ducati) 1m 25.343s; 2 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1:25:770; 3 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 1:25:969; 4 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 1:26:838; 5 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 1:26:88; 6 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 1:26:902; 7 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1:26:927; 8 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Yamaha) 1:27:035; 9 Eric Bostrom, USA (Honda) 1:27:130; 10 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 1:27:212.

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