Rio De Janeiro, Sept 19: Max Biaggi was fastest in first qualifying practice for Sunday's Brazilian MotoGP. Italy's Max Biaggi smashed his own lap record to take provisional pole for the Brazilian MotoGP grand prix in the first qualifying session on Thursday (September 18). The Honda rider, third in the world championship with five races to go, sped round the 4.933 kilometre Nelson Piquet circuit in one minute 49.876 seconds on the penultimate lap of the session. He was one of four riders to better the previous record of 1:50.568 set last year, also by Biaggi. Championship leader Valentino Rossi, aiming for his fourth successive win in the top category in Brazil, briefly led the session before finishing in fourth place with the time of 1:50.322 on his 14th lap. Rossi won at Jacarepagu in 2000 and 2001 in the old 500 cc category and was also victorious last year when it became MotoGP. Rossi's fellow Honda rider Sete Gibernau, who is second in the championship, was third in 1:50.234 while Italy's Loris Capirossi on a Ducati was second in 1:50.212.

Rossi, who won the last two races in Czech Republic and Portugal, is 46 points clear of Gibernau, who needs to win Saturday's race to keep alive his hopes of denying Rossi a third successive world title.


Toni Elias set an electric pace in the first qualifying session for the 250cc race, setting a new pole record of one minute 53.460 seconds to see off the challenge of closest rival Roby Rolfo of Italy by a comfortable 0.367 second margin.


The Spanish youngster sent a clear message to championship leader Manuel Poggiali of San Marino, who he trails by just fourteen points after a dominant victory in the last round at Estoril two weeks ago, by dominating the session and consistently improving his times throughout.


Poggiali, meanwhile, was fifth fastest, setting his best time of 1'54.084 at the end of the session as Spaniard Fonsi Nieto and Frenchman Randy De Puniet joined Elias and Rolfo on the front row.


Argentine Sebastian Porto, cheered on by a strong local following, lines up on the provisional second row alongside Poggiali in sixth place, just ahead of team-mates Franco Battaini of Italy and Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli.

Alex De Angelis topped the time sheets for the fourth consecutive 125cc qualifying session in cloudy but dry conditions at the Nelson Piquet circuit.


The San Marino rider, who has taken pole position for the last two rounds at Estoril and Brno, as well as provisional pole in Portugal, continued his excellent practice form to head the front row of the grid, where he is joined by Italian team-mate Gino Borsoi in fourth place.


Gabor Talmacsi of Hungary and Spain's Jorge Lorenzo, who both enjoyed their best results of 2002 at this circuit, were the surprise additions to the front row as they provisionally qualified in second and third place respectively.


Italy's Andrea Dovizioso led the way for much of the session on his Honda but slipped down the order in the late push for times and qualified fifth fastest.


The teenager is joined on the front row by Spaniards Dani Pedrosa and Hector Barbera and fellow Italian Mirko Giansanti. Pedrosa's title rival Stefano Perugini of Italy was tenth fastest.


Leading times from the first qualifying session on Thursday for Saturday's Brazilian Grand Prix: MotoGP 1. Max Biaggi (Italy) Honda one minute and 49.876 seconds 2. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 1:50.212 3. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Honda 1:50.234 4. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Honda 1:50.322 5. Shinya Nakana (Japan) Yamaha 1:50.844 6. Alexandre Barros (Brazil) Yamaha 1:50.876 7. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Honda 1:50.957 8. Tohru Ukawa (Japan) Honda 1:51.240 9. Troy Bayliss (Australia) Ducati 1:51.254 10. Olivier Jacque (France) Yamaha 1:51.385 (lap distance: 4.933 km)


250cc 1. Toni Elias (Spain) Aprilia 1:53.460 2. Roberto Rolfo (Italy) Honda 1:53.827 3. Fonsi Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:53.872 4. Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 1:53.874 5. Manuel Poggiali (San Marino) Aprilia 1:54.084 6. Sebastion Porto (Argentina) Honda 1:54.192 7. Franco Battaini (Italy) Aprilia 1:54.282 8. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia 1:54.568 9. Naoki Matsudo (Japan) Yamaha 1:56.103 10. Hector Faubel (Spain) Aprilia 1:56.121


125cc 1. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Aprilia 1:58.443 2. Gabor Talmacsi (Hungary) Aprilia 1:58.509 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Italy) Aprilia 1:58.607 4. Gino Borsoi (Italy) Honda 1:58.812 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 1:58.889 6. Daniel Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1:58.9O9 7. Hector Barbera (Spain) Aprilia 1:59.136 8. Mirko Giansanti (Italy) Aprilia 1:59.213 9. Paulo Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:59.273 10. Stefano Perugini (Italy) Aprilia 1:59.290


Bureau Report