Max Biaggi took pole for the World Superbikes round at the Nurburgring as James Toseland incurred a five-place grid penalty.

Toseland was sanctioned for leaving the pit lane 10 seconds before the start of the concluding Superpole 3 session.

The Yorkshireman went on to record the third-fastest time of the session, one minute 54.909 seconds, but that translated only into eighth place on the grid.

There were no such problems for Biaggi as he guided his Aprilia RSV4 round the German circuit in a lap record of 1:54.595 to claim top spot, 0.026secs ahead of Spain's Carlos Checa.

Checa had led the way for much of the 10-minute session, only to be pipped by Biaggi's late effort.

"Our goal was to stay on the front line," said the Italian.

"Starting from the pole is a nice change, maybe even a bit unexpected. In fact, after a few problems in the previous laps, I didn't think that I was that fast.

"Now we need to maintain focus and avoid any distractions which our rivals may be able to exploit. Tomorrow will be an entirely new day. The two races will be anything but simple. As always I'll be looking for the best position and the best results possible."

Checa added: "These two days have been very positive. We've worked well from the word go making the right tyre choices and obtaining good overall balance.

"The important thing was to secure a good grid position and, that done, now we have to give it our all in the races."

Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli, who had been fastest in Superpole 2, was the first beneficiary of Toseland's error, rising to third on his Suzuki, with Britons Jonathan Rea, Liam Haslam and Tom Sykes and sixth-placed Noriyuki Haga of Japan also promoted one place up the starting order.