Mike Jones has beaten Jack Miller to claim pole position in the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul at The Bend Motorsport Park, South Australia.

The 2022 points leader laid down a time of 1:50.644s in the Top 12, clearing second-placed Miller by 0.161s to pole for Race 1.

In his return to the category for the second consecutive year, Miller secured the front-row start on his Thriller Motorsport Ducati V4R with a time of 1:50.805s.

Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday will start from third with the Friday practice pacesetter stopping the clock at 1:50.864s.

BMW M RR rider Glenn Allerton will start from the second row of the grid after clocking in a 1:50.903s.

South Australian Arthur Sissis locked in a fifth-place start with a 1:51.017s ahead of McMartin Racing rider Josh Waters, who completes the second row of the grid with a 1:51.183s on his Ducati V4R.

Senna Agius was the fastest of the riders to progress from Qualifying 1 with the Penrite Honda Racing rider posting a 1:51.793s on his Honda CBR RR.

Timed Practice pacesetter Troy Herfoss will start from eighth after recording a 1:51.969s.

South Australian Billy McConnell sealed a ninth-place start on his Yamaha YZF-R1 with a 1:52.241s.

Daniel Falzon, who topped Qualifying 1 with a 1:52.375s to progress to the Top 12, went slower in the following session however his 1:52.499s was still good enough for a 10th-place start.

Jed Metcher, who was the third rider to progress from Qualifying 1, will start from 11th (1:53.209s) while title contender Wayne Maxwell completes the third row on the grid in 12th with a 1:53.397s from his Ducati V4R.

After finishing fourth in Qualifying 1, title challenger Bryan Staring will start Race 1 from 13th on his Ducati while Miller’s Thriller Motorsport team-mate, Moto2 rider Marcel Schrotter, will start 14th.

Joel Kelso, Broc Pearson, Max Stauffer, Anthony West, Ben Burke, Beau Beaton, Matt Walters, Travis Wyman, Brendan McIntyre, Michael Kemp, Paris Hardwick, Nathan Spiteri, Sloan Frost, and Chandler Cooper make up the rest of the grid.

Miller’s fellow Thriller Motorsport stablemate Josh Hook failed to take to the track for qualifying, after a high side in Free Practice 2 on Friday, resulted in him having to put his wrist on ice.

The 2022 ASBK championship will conclude with two 11-lap races tomorrow.

Race 1 will commence at 10:55 local time/11:25 AEDT.

Stan Sport’s coverage of the event will start at 13:00 AEDT.