From a press release issued by d’Antin Ducati:

HODGSON AND XAUS BOTH START FROM ROW FIVE



Le Mans (France), 15.05.04 The d´Antin MotoGP riders today showed some positive progress on a sunny second day of qualifying where temperatures reached 23ºC

Both riders suffered small crashes although there was no serious damage from either, with Neil and Rubén now starting together on the fifth row of the grid in tomorrow’s French Grand Prix.

The Brtion and the Spaniard, will finish off the final touches to their set-up in warm-up first thing tomorrow morning, focused on finishing for the first race this year.

NEIL HODGSON was clearly optimistic about his chances on Sunday: “Things went much better today than yesterday. I managed to get my times down and I would have gone even quicker if I hadn’t fallen in the last few minutes. I had just done my quickest lap and I then pushed too hard. I came out on the other bike, but there were scarcely three minutes left. The most important thing is that I felt much more comfortable and although I will start from the fifth row I am confident of getting away well and finishing in the top ten. I like the circuit and the truth is I need a good result.”

RUBEN XAUS also suffered a fall, but in his case it was during the free session in the morning: “I fell this morning and that hindered me as I could only use one bike in the afternoon. The truth is that I was not comfortable at all and I believe my times could have been a lot better but maybe I lacked a little confidence on that bike. I still have to decide which tyres I will use, but whatever happens it will be important for me to get a good start.”


TIMES:

1st S.GIBERNAU 1.33.425
2nd C.CHECA 1.33.575
3rd M.BIAGGI 1.33.579
4th V.ROSSI 1.33.668
5th C.EDWARDS 1.33.870

14th NEIL HODGSON 1.34.526
15th RUBÉN XAUS 1.34.578


More, from a press release issued by MS Aprilia:

McWilliams qualifies Cube in 18th for French GP

Jeremy McWilliams will start tomorrow’s 28-lap French GP at Le Mans from 18th position on the grid.

The MS Aprilia Racing rider knocked almost 0.3s off his best time from yesterday’s opening qualifying session and ended with a fastest lap of 1.35.371 at the newly resurfaced French venue. Despite improving his lap time, the experienced British rider dropped one place from his provisional grid position.

Today’s final hour-long session was run in warm and bright conditions,

and with forecasters predicting more of the same on Sunday, McWilliams is confident that he can score his first world championship points of the season on the Aprilia Cube. “We have working for the race and I’m not too bothered about the grid position. I have been concentrating on working on some parts of the track to help us go faster. I’m confident and positive, “said McWilliams.

Aprilia’s RS Cube three-cylinder machine was once again among the fastest bikes in the field, McWilliams clocking over 300kmh this afternoon. He said: “The bike is very fast and powerful in some parts of the track. In some places you are in fifth gear and the bike still wheelies.” Aprilia though are making big forward strides with the RS Cube, evident today as McWilliams’ best time was almost two seconds quicker than the best set last year at Le Mans with Noriyuki Haga. McWilliams’ chief engineer Pietro Caprara said: “Compared to last year the RS Cube is growing very well. We can produce a much better lap time when the bike runs without any problems and Jeremy is really looking forward to the race.”

McWilliams will be Aprilia’s lone representative in tomorrow’s race at the famous Bugatti circuit, with team-mate Shane Byrne unfortunately withdrawing from the race with a hand injury sufffered at the Spanish GP earlier this month. McWilliams said: “I felt alone today without Shane but if he decided with Aprilia that he couldn’t continue then he made the right decision. This track is very physical with some very hard braking points and a lot of changes of direction.” Tomorrow’s race is round three of the 2004 MotoGP world championship, with the next race taking place at Aprilia’s home circuit at Mugello in Italy.


More, from a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

NAKANO DISAPPOINTED WITH FOURTH ROW AT LE MANS

Shinya Nakano will start tomorrow’s 28-lap French Grand Prix from the fourth row of the grid, after a difficult final qualifying session at Le Mans this afternoon saw the Fuchs Kawasaki rider slip down the timesheet to 12th place.

Although disappointed with his grid position, Nakano only had to look across the Fuchs Kawasaki pit box at his teammate to see how much more frustrating racing at this level can be. After a difficult day yesterday, Alex Hofmann bounced back this morning with a much improved set up on his Ninja ZX-RR and, having matched his best qualifying time from yesterday on race tyres, the 23-year-old German rider looked all set to improve further during this afternoon’s final qualifying session. But mechanical problems with both his Ninja ZX-RR machines sidelined the luckless Hofmann, forcing him to sit out the session after completing just four laps of the 4.2km Le Mans circuit.

While not quite as serious as those of his teammate, Nakano also suffered problems during this afternoon’s final qualifying session, with a rise in temperature adversely affecting the handling of the Fuchs Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR that had worked so well around the Le Mans circuit in the cooler conditions of morning practice. Riding around the problem as best he could, the 26-year-old Japanese rider still managed to improve slightly on his time from yesterday, but it wasn’t enough to stop him slipping one row further down the grid.

Qualifying may not have matched expectations, but Fuchs Kawasaki Team Manager, Harald Eckl, remained confident in the ability of both his riders to fight their way through the field in tomorrow’s French Grand Prix.

Shinya Nakano: 12th (1’34.362)
“We had a good package for free practice this morning, and my times on race tyres were pretty consistent. But the temperature went up this afternoon and the bike felt very different to ride. The weather is likely to be the same for tomorrow’s race, so we will have to see if we can improve the chassis balance for these conditions tonight. I ran into traffic on my first flying lap this afternoon, but was able to improve slightly on yesterday’s time right at the end of the session. The lap times of the top guys are pretty close, so the race will be tough tomorrow. Starting from the fourth row of the grid will make it doubly difficult for me, but I think that a top ten finish is a real possibility, and that’s exactly what I’ll be aiming for tomorrow.”

Alex Hofmann: 19th (1’35.718)
“What can I say? It’s disappointing enough when you miss out on part of a qualifying session due to a small problem with the bike, but to miss virtually the whole of this afternoon’s session is so frustrating. Worse still is the fact that we’d make big steps forward with the bike during free practice this morning, to the point where I was able to match my qualifying times from yesterday on race tyres. Obviously we were looking to build on these improvements during final qualifying this afternoon, but mechanical problems put paid to that idea. Starting from so far down the grid there will be no room for a race strategy tomorrow; it’s just going to be a case of getting my head down and going as hard as I can from the off if I am to finish in the points.”

Harald Eckl: Team Manager
“To say it’s been an unlucky weekend so far for Alex would be a bit of an understatement. He hit traffic on all his flying laps in qualifying yesterday, and then today he’s sidelined with two mechanical problems early on in the timed session. I just hope these problems haven’t knocked his confidence too much, because I’m confident that he is still capable of fighting his way up to a points scoring finish tomorrow. Traffic was also a problem for Shinya in qualifying today, with the result that he’s ended up further down the grid than he’d hoped for. The front of the field are all pretty close on lap times, so the race tomorrow will be far from easy, but I remain confident that Shinya is capable of giving the team another top ten finish here.”

QUALIFYING PRACTICE 2 – COMBINED TIMES
1. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Telefonica Movistar Honda 1’33.425; 2. Carlos Checa (SPA) Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha +0.150; 3. Max Biaggi (ITA) Camel Honda Team +0.154; 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha +0.243; 5. Colin Edwards (USA) Telefonica Movistar Honda +0.445; 6. Marco Melandri (ITA) Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha +0.495; 7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda +0.541; 8. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Camel Honda Team +0.632; 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.670; 10. Troy Bayliss (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.786; 11. Alex Barros (BRA) Repsol Honda +0.917; 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.937; 19. Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki Racing Team +2.293


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda Racing Information:

Max Biaggi on front row at Le Mans

Max Biaggi ended the final day of qualifying at Le Mans with the third fastest time and a front row position for the Grand Prix de France. It was another close session, in conditions which were much warmer than yesterday, and featured an intruiging battle between a group of riders who will no doubt be battling forvictory tomorrow. Max gradually improved his performance from yesterday and forced his way onto the front row of the grid, whilst a good day all round for the Camel Honda team was confirmed by the eighth fastest time for Makoto Tamada, who enjoys this track and is confident of a good race.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal)
“I am happy – with Max we have found a level of performance which we need to be fighting for victory. After finding a good race set-up for his bike we were able to concentrate on a fast lap which puts him on the front row. I am sure that Makoto will have a good race and that the yellow colours of the Camel Honda RC211V machines will shine at the front tomorrow”.

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin tyres) – 3rd – 1:33.579
“We have found a good set-up for the race, although the perfect bike doesn’t exist. I am satisfied with the bike at this track and I don’t think we will see the high rhythm from today repreated in tomorrow’s race, although the rhythm will still be very high. The team have done a great job, the bike was much better than yesterday and we are making progress”.

Gianluca Montiron – Camel Honda – (Makoto Tamada Team Manager)
“The technicians and Makoto have worked hard to move forward and give him a chance of being in the lead group in the race – Makoto is a fast and hard rider, especially in a race. Because of the way he was concentrating on selecting a good tyre for the race, he wasn’t able to make the most of a soft compound for his qualifying lap, but there will be a high rhythm in the race and it is a case of being up there with the lead riders and setting a competitive pace”.

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone tyres) – 8th – 1:34.057
“I am satisfied with the set-up of the bike and with the tyre we have chosen for the race. I wasn’t able to get a good lap in with the soft tyre which would have moved me up the grid, which is a shame. We need to make a few final adjustments to improve the handling of the bike in the corner and I will be ready for a great race”.


More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha:

CHECA ON LE MANS FRONT ROW AS ROSSI MOVES UP TO FOURTH

Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider Carlos Checa will start from the front row of the grid for the second race in succession tomorrow after finishing today’s final French Grand Prix qualifying session second fastest. World Champion Valentino Rossi will start from fourth, heading the second row less than one tenth of a second behind his team-mate. The first six riders were within half a second of each other today, promising a close fight for the French fans tomorrow.

After oil on the track suspended the session for fifteen minutes, action restarted with 50 minutes left on the clock. One of the first riders to improve on his time from yesterday, Checa remained in third until Biaggi moved up the rankings and pushed him down to fourth. With ten minutes to go Checa took pole, only to be overtaken by Honda riders Sete Gibernau and Max Biaggi. In the closing stages he improved his time once more and finished the session in second with a final fastest time of 1:33.575. The Spaniard was just a fraction slower than Championship leader Gibernau, who took pole for the first time this year with a time of 1:33.425. Completing the front row is Max Biaggi, who posted a time of 1:33.579. Meanwhile Rossi put in some fast laps in the closing stages of the session, his best time of 1:33.668 good enough to see him head the second row tomorrow. He is joined by Colin Edwards (Honda – 1:33.870) and Marco Melandri (1:33.920), the third Yamaha in the top
six.

CARLOS CHECA (2nd – 1:33.575)

“I am quite satisfied with today! The team has done a great job all weekend and we have been at the top in all the practices. I feel that we are ready now for the race tomorrow. Of course, I always want to improve more, but I have arrived with some good form and I am feeling happy. Now I need to have a good start tomorrow. Of course to stay at the front for the whole race will be very hard but I will try and I’ll see what happens! I feel confident that we will be able to fight at the front. I really hope I can put on a good show and make people happy tomorrow.”

VALENTINO ROSSI (4th – 1:33.668)

“The situation has been better than yesterday but we are still behind. This morning we went quite well but we didn’t make so much progress this afternoon. We are still having problems with the braking and it’s difficult to control. We’ve tried many different things with the suspension and we’ve solved some problems but not all. I went quite well on the qualifying tyres and finally was fourth, but I think it will be quite different tomorrow with the race tyres. Biaggi, Gibernau, Checa and Edwards are all very strong and it will be difficult. For sure the level this year is higher and all the races are going to be hard. Carlos went well and was faster than me. I hope that in the warm-up tomorrow we can make some improvements before the race.”

ANTONIO JIMENEZ – CARLOS CHECA’S CREW CHIEF

“We kept pretty much the same base that we had yesterday and for this morning’s practice and we are happy with the results. Today we’ve worked mostly on the tyres; keeping things simple and not making too many changes. We are now looking forward to tomorrow. There are more than two or three riders who can be there tomorrow so it will be a close race. Carlos already has an advantage starting from the front row and I think he can have a good start; he has a chance to do well. We’ll see tomorrow; we don’t know until the light is green but we are optimistic!”


More, from a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

Proton Team KR riders up the pace at Le Mans

Nobuatsu Aoki: 20th, 1:36.044
Kurtis Roberts: 21st, 1:36.373

Proton Team KR riders Nobuatsu Aoki and Kurtis Roberts put the small but vexing problems of yesterday behind them in today’s final qualifying session, with both cutting their previous best time, and each moving up one place on the starting grid.

The Proton KR V5 is celebrating its first birthday, after making its track debut in practice for last year’s French GP. The latest machine, changed in all areas for 2004, is developing fast, with two new engine configurations in action today, and for tomorrow’s race.

Nobu Aoki is using only the changed firing order engine, run for the first time at tests less than two weeks ago. Performance is improving day by day, as engineers iron out the inevitable teething troubles, getting closer every session to unleashing the full potential. The Japanese rider cut almost eight tenths of a second off his best time of yesterday as a result.

Kurtis Roberts is using an even newer engine, that arrived only yesterday. This combines the new firing order with revised internal dimensions, with the engine’s stroke increased and the bore reduced. The second son of team principal Kenny Roberts, who missed pre-season testing and the first GP after injuring his shoulder in a testing crash, improved by a massive 1.4 seconds.

Today’s qualifying at the 4.1870km Bugatti circuit took place in fine, sunny conditions, with the fine weather forecast to continue for tomorrow’s third round of the season. Pole position was set by points leader Sete Gibernau, with yesterday’s provisional pole man Colin Edwards pushed to fifth in a very close grid. With the full track resurfaced, pole time of 1:33.425 was more than three seconds inside the previous lap record.

Nobuatsu Aoki
We made the full session without any significant problems, using the new firing order, which feels better. The performance is getting better every session. I think I have found a good race tyre. I tried a tyre with a compound that was too soft for the new surface. I prefer a tyre which is a little harder. Unfortunately I used up that tyre in the middle of the session, and there were no more left for me. Anyway, things are improving all the time.

Kurtis Roberts
Today was the first time I rode on a soft qualifying tyre since December at Valencia, so I was a little hesitant trying to learn its character. In fact, I’m still learning the track! I tried the new bore and stroke as well as the old, both with the new firing order, and the new one was a little faster, so I’ll probably be racing that tomorrow. But I’m still so new to it that it takes a few laps to get affirmation. I need to make up more time as a rider than the bike needs to do. I need to go out there and pull off a race finish tomorrow.

Kenny Roberts – Team principal
When you’re testing new stuff, as we are, every day is going to be better. The new bore and stroke engine had never seen a chassis before yesterday. Now it’s done 18 laps. The reason for building it was for more reliability and a more even power delivery. We’re going to see a lot more engine improvements over the coming months. The horsepower is there, and we’re starting to find out how to get it.


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:


Ducati Marlboro men improve at Le Mans

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss improved their pace in this afternoon’s final qualifying session at warm and sunny Le Mans to secure starts on the third and fourth rows of the grid. Working closely with their engineers, the pair refined suspension and front-end geometry settings to get their Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP4s working better, especially in race trim.

“We’re improving,” said Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “Each time we go out we get to know the bike better and it’s now responding to our input. We have improved the set up today, so our race pace is not so bad now. I’d like to say a big thank you to the riders for their efforts to speed up development of the new bike.”

Capirossi one second faster than friday
Loris Capirossi will start tomorrow’s French GP from the third row after bettering his Friday pace by 1.1 seconds. The Ducati Marlboro Team rider moved up to ninth fastest at the end of the session and is confident of a strong race here.
“I’m happy,” smiled Capirossi, now just 0.6 seconds off pole. “Not only have we improved our qualifying pace from yesterday, but I was able to get into the 34s with race tyres. We made some important improvements to suspension set-up and front-end geometry, so the bike is now more rideable with Michelin’s 16.5in front tyre, which I will race for the first time here. The 16.5 is very different from the 17 I usually use – it helps you to flick into corners much quicker. This race will be difficult but also very important. I’m confident of a good ride, though maybe we aren’t yet ready for a podium finish.”

Bayliss just misses out on row three
Troy Bayliss was also in a positive mood after moving into the top ten today. The Ducati Marlboro Team rider improved his Friday pace by 0.8 seconds and nearly made the third row.
“I tried as hard as I could and we certainly improved from yesterday,” said Bayliss. “We’ve just been working on little things and we’ve got the bike going pretty good on race tyres. My fast lap was good but it could’ve been better because I lost the front through turn one on that lap. I nearly made the third row, only got bumped off right at the end. Now I’m tenth and I’ve got a smile on my face, which shows how hard we’ve been getting it. I didn’t finish at Jerez, so if I can get a race under my belt here and a half-decent result, I’ll be happy.”


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

HOPKINS SLASHES TIME AT LE MANS
Team Suzuki Press Office – Le Mans, France –May 15, 2004:

Team Suzuki MotoGP riders Kenny Roberts Jr. and John Hopkins will start tomorrow’s French GP from 13th and 16th positions after a warm and dry final qualifying session in which both improved on their best times of yesterday.

Roberts shaved a tenth of a second off his Friday time, ending up just over a second off pole time on a very close starting grid, the first 12 riders within a second of pole.

Hopkins made a massive improvement, slashing almost a full second to move up to within just over a tenth off his team-mate, though without improving his grid position. Almost all riders went faster today than yesterday, as the fully resurfaced 4.180km circuit gained grip through use.

Today’s session was interrupted for some 15 minutes after German rider Alex Hofmann’s engine blew up and spilled oil on the entry to the fastest corner on the circuit.

Most of the Bugatti circuit, sharing only pits and the front straight with the famous 24-hour car circuit, is made up of slow corners linked with short straights, putting a huge premium on acceleration and braking rather than cornering ability and riding skill.

Pole position for the third race of the season went to points leader Sete Gibernau, fully 3.2 seconds inside the official lap record.


KENNY ROBERTS Jr: 13th Position, 1:34.459:

“The guys on the team and the engineers here at the track did a great job preparing the bike for race trim. We had it pretty well sorted out by the end of this morning’s session. Tomorrow I’ll try and get a decent start and see what happens, but on days like today and tracks like this we could really use some help from the factory with some better performance.”


JOHN HOPKINS: 16th Position, 1:34.597:

“Today went great and I made a big improvement. Too bad everyone else improved too! Right now we’re struggling with drive grip out of the corners and I’m really looking forward to improving that. I think we can suss it out with chassis adjustments, though we’re not going to turn the bike on its head overnight. Our times on race tyres seem okay, then on qualifying tyres I got behind some guys and improved almost a second on yesterday, so I’m happy with that.”




More, from a press release issued by John Hopkins’ publicist:

LE MANS CONTINUES TO BE THORNY FOR HOPKINS
Young American qualifies 16th for French MotoGP

LE MANS, France (May 15, 2004) – John Hopkins qualified a disappointing 16th for Sunday’s French Motorcycle Grand Prix. The 20-year-old Californian rode his factory Suzuki GSV-R to a best time of one minute, 34.597 seconds on the 4.2-kilometer, 13-turn Le Mans circuit.

His poor showing in Saturday’s qualifying at Le Mans continues a streak of hard luck on the famous racetrack. At the French GP last year Hopkins crashed three times and left the weekend battered and bruised.

Saturday’s qualifying session was hotter than Friday’s and Hopkins complained of a lack of rear tire grip in the heat.

“We’re having some challenges finding traction out of the corners with the higher track temperatures,” he said. “We spent a lot of time working on our race set-up so hopefully that will pay off Sunday.”

Despite the lack of success so far in France, Hopkins remains positive about his prospects.

“Even though I didn’t qualify where I wanted I’m only a few tenths out of the top 10,” Hopkins said. “Maybe I need to really stretch out on the tank down the straights and maybe I can pick up a tenth or two. I’m going to charge right from the start in the race and try to make up as many positions as possible. It should be a good, tight race.”

Hopkins survived a major scare during Friday’s session when his bike threw a chain in the middle of a fifth gear turn.

“I took a pretty wild triple-digit speed ride out to the gravel trap,” Hopkins explained. “That was more excitement than I care to have.”



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

French Grand Prix, Le Mans
Final Qualifying, Saturday May 15, 2004

GIBERNAU POWERS TO FIRST POLE OF 2004 AS TITLE RACE HOTS UP

After his wet win in Spain two weeks ago Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) put even more momentum into his title challenge by recording his first pole since the South African Grand Prix of 2003. In dry, sun-kissed conditions here at Le Mans, he proved that he has the means to find speed whatever the weather and sandwiched between his RC211V and that of Max Biaggi (Camel Honda RC211V) who qualified third, lies the Yamaha of Carlos Checa in second.

The hour long session was red-flagged after Alex Hofmann’s Kawasaki dropped oil on the 190mph right turn on the uphill start/finish straight. And after 15 minutes the session restarted only for the hapless German to suffer another malfunction on his spare ZX-RR Ninja machine.

Colin Edwards (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) looked like the rider in form for most of the session. The Texan had been looking smooth and controlled all weekend and with twenty minutes of the session left he headed the timesheet. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) was up there in second, but neither of them would retain a front row slot as the pace hotted up.

Carlos Checa made a determined bid for pole with ten minutes to go and fired his machine around the 4.180km track as fastest Yamaha – faster than Rossi, who was struggling somewhat in seventh at this stage. Max was making steady progress and with three minutes to go he elevated himself to second place before being dislodged by Checa.

Edwards had to settle for a second row start alongside Rossi who qualified fourth and heads the second row of the new three-rider-per-row grid. Nicky Hayden heads row three in seventh with Makoto Tamada (Camel Honda RC211V) riding on Bridgestone tyres alongside him in eighth. Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V) qualified 11th.

“I’m very happy with pole,” said Gibernau. “I’ve got a fever at the moment which doesn’t help, but the pole is what counts. Today we felt the benefit of the testing we completed at Jerez after the race. We know a lot more about the bike now even though we’ve still got a bit of chatter now and again. But we’re in good shape for tomorrow’s race.”

Max Biaggi is ready to race too. “We worked well today and made some good steps forward. We’ve had some wheelie problems out of the turns that we’re trying solve. But the perfect bike doesn’t exist and the best we have so far is not bad at all. The race will be run at a slower pace than in qualifying too.”

Gibernau’s team-mate Edwards failed to make the most of the final session. “The tyre we chose in the morning didn’t work the same way because it was eight degrees hotter this afternoon. We didn’t realise what the problem was until we’d done a 45-minute endurance test – on the wrong tyre. And then I got baulked on my hot lap on a qualifying tyre.”

Hayden was deflated by this afternoon’s events. “Pretty disappointing after such a good day yesterday,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I had the confidence in the rear like yesterday. Hopefully we can try a few things in warm-up tomorrow because we just can’t afford to let the guys on the front row get away.”

Tamada was more upbeat about his eighth spot on the grid. “I’m very happy with the set-up and the tyre,” he said. “We’ve decided on a race tyre and now we just need to try some more set-up work in the morning to improve the bike on the entrance to turns. Then we’re ready for a good race.”

Barros was plagued by front-end trouble. “We’ve been really trying to work on the front end of the bike,” he said. “Things improved a little but we’re having trouble on the brakes and in the turns. I didn’t get a good run on my qualifying tyre either and now we’ve got a tough battle from the fourth row tomorrow.”

Danny Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) reinforced his meteoric arrival in the 250cc class with his first pole on a 250 – and this is just two races after his maiden victory at Welkom in April. But the young Spaniard had to fight hard with local man Randy de Puniet (Aprilia) who qualified second fastest.

Sebastian Porto and Manuel Poggiali (both Aprilia) complete the front row in third and fourth respectively. But Porto held pole for two minutes as the final stages of the qualifying battle unfolded. Pedrosa, de Puniet and Porto were the three main protagonists as the clock ticked down and Porto crashed with tow minutes to go while trying to dislodge Pedrosa from pole.

The 250 class is proving a tight and competitive category this season with last season’s World Championship runner-up Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) only able to qualify eighth on row two. The Italian will be relying on his considerable race craft to compensate in the 26-lap race tomorrow. Tony Elias (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) qualified in fifth and heads row two.

“That’s a good result for us,” said Pedrosa. “Porto and de Puniet were very fast and all the top riders will be quick tomorrow. I did all I could do out there today and I think I have a good rhythm for the race.”

Elias is honest about his chances in tomorrow’s race. “I’m happy enough with my grid position, but not my time,” said the Spaniard. “I’m one second off pole and the problem is the bike pitching when I turn into the corners. We’ll have to find a solution tomorrow for me to be competitive in the race.”

The 125 final qualifying session belonged to Andrea Dovizioso (Team Scot Honda RS125R) – just like it had yesterday. The Italian Honda frontrunner put in a final lap of 1m 42.608s to claim pole and send a firm signal of his intent for tomorrow’s race. Jorge Lorenzo qualified second fastest with Hector Barbera third and Roberto Locatelli (all Aprilia) completing the front row in fourth.

Dovizioso smashed his 2003 pole time by just under a second to take the fight to his Aprilia pursuers in tomorrow’s 24-lap race. This is his third career pole position and comes soon after his maiden Grand Prix victory in South Africa earlier this year.

But he is short of support at the sharp end of the grid. The best any of the other Honda riders could manage here was a 12th from Simone Corsi (Team Scot Honda RS125R) and a 14th from Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R)