TEXAN Colin Edwards is the man Carl Fogarty must beat to maintain his stunning start to the World Superbike campaign.

The Catrol Honda rider was the quickest in yesterday's free practice and qualifying sessions at Monza.

And the American goes into tomorrow's two races full of confidence generated by two race wins at the famous Italian track last year.

It is a favourite circuit for the Hondas, with long straights allowing their bikes to power away from the nippier Ducatis.

But Fogarty, who recorded the third fastest time of the day behind team-mate Troy Corser, is confident that his own preparations are on track.

"I think I've managed to get the right tyre for the race, although the surface grip is not the best.

"I tried out a number of solutions and, at the end of the sesion, a set of qualifying tyres.

"It's a question of finding a good set-up for the rapid changes of direction in the chicanes," said Fogarty.

Edwards was also happy with his tyre selection. "The fast laps I've done have been on a race compound Michelin, so I feel pretty much set up for the race now."

Pier-Francesco Chili sent thehome fans wild as the Italian put the factory Suzuki on the provisional front row of the grid with his final lap of the session. Kawasaki's Akira Yanagawa heads a provisional second row with Edwards'

Castrol Honda team-mate Aaron Slight sixth.

Slight, riding with an injured right hand following a crash at Donington Park four weeks ago, held second place for much of the session.

Friday's World Superbike qualifying times: 1 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1m 46.812s, 2 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 1m 46.828s, 3 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 1m 47.014s, 4 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 1m 47.053s, 5 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 1m 47.086s, 6 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 1m 47.191s, 7 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1m 47.868s, 8 Igor Jerman, Slovenia (Kawasaki) 1m 48.254s, 9 Doriano Romboni, Italy (Ducati) 1m 48.348s, 10 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 1m

48.420s.

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