Gregorio Lavilla shattered the Donington Park lap record, grabbing pole start for the double race penultimate round, as he turned up the pressure on his rival for the Bennetts British Superbike crown, Ryuichi Kiyonari.

The Japanese rider out-paced Lavilla in the previous round, completing a winning double by a split seconds to move ahead, by a single point, in the title stakes, but at the Leicestershire grand prix circuit the Spaniard set a scorching pace.

He powered his Airwaves Ducati around the 2.5 mile circuit in 1m 31.458s, an average speed of 94.88mph and some three quarters of a second inside the record, but, his team-mate Leon Haslam came close to matching his time, with a late burst of power that left him two tenths of a second down.

“It is all going pretty well and I am feeling confident with the bike,” smiled Lavilla after he had secure his second successive pole start. “During the morning I worked on the bike, and then in the afternoon it was just a question of putting in a good lap and improving my times.

“In the races, it will be the usual riders up there battling for victory, but I will ensure that I am as well prepared as possible and ready,” he added as he considered his tactics for the two 20 lappers which for him are `must-win' affairs.

He may benefit from the speed, and local knowledge, of his 23 year old Derbyshire team-mate Haslam, who has a strong pedigree at the circuit and while formally there are no team-orders, Lavilla could hope for some help in keeping his HM Plant Honda rivals at bay.

Kiyonari, the winner of a dozen races so far, having topped the morning session, had to settle for fourth best overall, eclipsed by his team-mate Michael Rutter who, after taking a tumble in each of the previous three rounds, is eager to kick-start his campaign and peg back the 36 points deficit he has on the leading duo.

The Leicestershire based rider needs victories just as much as Kiyonari, ensuring some hard fought action out from, with both Hawk Kawasaki riders Glen Richards and Dean Thomas and the Rizla Suzuki duo of James Haydon and defending champion John Reynolds, making up the second row of a highly competitive grid.

Karl Harris, the former triple British Supersport Champion, heads up the third row, ahead of Dennis Hobbs, Gary Mason and Scott Smart, while Marty Nutt was the fastest of the British Superbike Cup riders, starting his Honda from the fourth row, while James Buckingham, who sealed that title in the previous round, was a third of a second down on him.