Ben Spies continued his perfect start to qualifying this season by clinching his fifth straight FIM Superbike World Championship pole position at Monza this afternoon.

Ben Spies continued his perfect start to qualifying this season by clinching his fifth straight FIM Superbike World Championship pole position at Monza this afternoon.

The American, who trails Japan's Noriyuki Haga by 60 points in the riders' standings, showed once again he is the man to beat over a single lap by clocking one minute 44.073 seconds to shatter Troy Bayliss' lap record.

Italy's Michel Fabrizio, who set the pace in practice yesterday, will start from second on the grid after posting a time of 1min 44.270secs.

Japan's Ryuichi Kiyonari in third and Max Neukirchner of Germany in fourth make up the front row of the grid.

Haga, who like Spies has won four of the eight races so far this season, will start fifth after clocking 1:45.096.

There was disappointment for Britain's Leon Haslam, third in the championship standings, after he was eliminated in the opening phase of qualifying, meaning he will start back in 17th.

Another Briton, Tom Sykes, dropped out in Q2 and will start from 10th.

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Spies now hopes he can take his impressive qualifying performance into tomorrow's race and close the gap on Haga.

"It has been a really good weekend for us so far," he said on www.crash.net. "We have had these poles so far this year, but I really wanted to get this one for Yamaha at their home track.

"We've tried to sneak in under the radar this weekend. We have been working quietly in our garage and doing some steady stuff.

"The bike will be really good in the race, so it will be a dog fight. Hopefully we can get up there and shake up the points a bit."

Kiyonari is also eyeing the podium after qualifying in third.

He said: "I am so happy to be on the front row here after some real problems in qualifying so far this season. Last year I nearly had my first Superbike win in race two, but maybe it's possible this year because my bike is very fast.

"We have worked very hard to improve my feeling with the bike and to find a good setting and I am pleased that we got there today. We still have some things to try to improve the bike a little bit but the team has worked very hard for me, so thanks to them.

"I know it is important to have good starts here and I am in the best position for this. It is my first time on the front row this year and I want to make the most of it with two podium finishes tomorrow."