Sepang, Oct 12: Toni Elias was simply untouchable in the final qualifying session for the 250cc race, continually improving his provisional pole time before stretching his advantage to some 0.884 seconds over nearest challenger Manuel Poggiali.
Elias' last lap effort of 2'07.535 beat the previous pole record at this circuit held by his team-mate Fonsi Nieto, who was third fastest. A last gasp lap from Yamaha rider Naoki Matsudo sealed fourth place onan otherwise all-Aprilia front row. Randy De Puniet battled through the discomfort of an overnight fever which continued to bother him in the hot and humid conditions at the Malaysian circuit this afternoon and he was unable to improve on his best time from yesterday. Only Matsudo's late effort denied him a front row start however and the Frenchman will start from fifth place. Franco Battaini, Sebastian Porto and Sylvain Guintoli complete the second row. Chinese rider Huang Shi Zhao qualified in 25th place ahead of regular rider Henk Vd Lagemaat, although his unlucky team-mate He Zi Xian dropped out of the qualification limit, which is set at 107% of the pole time, when Elias clocked his best lap at the end of the session. Three weeks after his historic first victory in Rio De Janeiro, Derbi rider Jorge Lorenzo took his first ever pole position in the 125cc class, snatching top spot at the end of the session from fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, who will take his Honda in search of the title tomorrow from second place on the grid. Mika Kallio turned out his best ever performance in third place to give KTM their first ever from row start whilst Casey Stoner made it four factories on the front row as he sealed fourth on the Aprilia. Steve Jenkner dropped to fifth in the late push for times, whilst Swiss youngster Thomas Luthi returned to the second row in sixth. Pablo Nieto made the most of a tag on the final lap from Andrea Dovizioso, snatching seventh place and relegating the Italian to eighth. Stefano Perugini, who needs to finish within ten points of Pedrosa tomorrow to keep his slim title chances alive, starts from the third row in ninth.


MotoGP 1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Honda two minutes 02.480 seconds 2. Carlos Checa (Spain) Yamaha 2:02.885 3. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Honda 2:03.138 4. Max Biaggi (Italy) Honda 2:03.254 5. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Yamaha 2:03.342 6. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 2:03.376 7. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Honda 2:03.381 8. Tohru Ukawa (Japan) Honda 2:03.559 9. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 2:03.564 10. Kenny Roberts (U.S.) Suzuki 2:03.936 11. Troy Bayliss (Australia) Ducati 2:04.000 12. Alex Barros (Brazil) Yamaha 2:04.050 13. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Aprilia 2:04.390 14. Marco Melandri (Italy) Yamaha 2:04.832 15. Akira Ryo (Japan) Suzuki 2:05.043 16. Gary McCoy (Australia) Kawasaki 2:05.084 17. Noriyuki Haga (Japan) Aprilia 2:05.150 18. Jeremy McWilliams (Britain) Proton KR 2:05.365 19. Nobuatsu Aoki (Japan) Proton KR 2:05.512 20. Andrew Pitt (Australia) Kawasaki 2:06.112 21. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Japan) Honda 2:06.819 22. David de Gea (Spain) Harris WCM 2:06.941 23. Olivier Jacque (France) Yamaha 2:07.017 24. Chris Burns (Britain) Harris WCM 2:08.675


250cc 1. Toni Elias (Spain) Aprilia 2:07.535 2. Manuel Poggiali (San Marino) Aprilia 2:08.419 3. Fonsi Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 2:08.836 4. Naoki Matsudo (Japan) Yamaha 2:09.278 5. Randy De Puniet (France) Aprilia 2:09.353 6. Franco Battaini (Italy) Aprilia 2:09.380 7. Sebastian Porto (Argentina) Honda 2:09.407 8. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia 2:09.687 9. Anthony West (Australia) Aprilia 2:09.827 10. Roberto Rolfo (Italy) Honda 2:10.231


125cc 1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Derbi 2:14.403 2. Daniel Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 2:14.485 3. Mika Kallio (Finland) KTM 2:14.541 4. Casey Stoner (Australia) Aprilia 2:14.569 5. Steve Jenkner (Germany) Aprilia 2:14.655 6. Thomas Luthi (Switzerland) Honda 2:14.844 7. Pablo Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 2:14.887 8. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 2:14.980 9. Stefano Perugini (Italy) Aprilia 2:15.036 10. Stefano Bianco (Italy) Gilera 2:15.052


Bureau Report