Motegi, Oct 05: Max Biaggi takes pole position for Pacific MotoGP. Italy's Max Biaggi ruined a fairytale home pole position for MotoGP rookie Makoto Tamada on the final lap of the second qualifying session for the Pacific Grand Prix at Motegi on Saturday (October 4). Biaggi clocked a new pole record at the Japanese circuit with a time of 1'47.696 with just seconds remaining of an entertaining final practice. It was the third pole position of the season for Biaggi, who his aiming for his second win of the season on Sunday (Oct 5).
Other than a brief flirtation with second place by Yamaha rider Carlos Checa of Spain midway through the session, the top positions remained largely in the hands of Honda riders, and the home factory swept the top five positions on the grid in the late push for times. Whilst Tamada lost out on pole, second place represents his best ever gird position and first front row start. Championship leader Valentino Rossi of Italy made a late challenge for pole but could only manage third, whilst Spaniard Sete Gibernau was fourth fastest despite improving on his provisional pole time. It was only a late effort from Gibernau that denied American Nicky Hayden his first front row start.



The American rookie led the session with just ten minutes remaining before conforming with a best ever grid position of fifth. After crashing his Ducati on the first lap, Loris Capirossi recovered his rhythm at the end of the session and broke onto the second row in sixth, ahead of Yamaha pair Checa and Alex Barros.



Biaggi later said his bike was performing better than it had since the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno three races ago.


Spain's Toni Elias recovered from a crash early in the final qualifying session for the 250cc race to set pole position on his last lap. In the absence of Elias and provisional pole setter Randy De Puniet of France, who also crashed early in the session, Italian Franco Battaini looked on course for pole as he moved to the top of the time sheets in the final minutes.



However, whilst De Puniet was treated for a minor injury to his left heel, Elias returned to the track and wrestled his third consecutive pole position from the Italian. De Puniet's time was enough for third place though, as Sebastian Porto edged up onto the front row in fourth.



A late effort from Sylvain Guintoli sealed the front place on the second row in fifth, just ahead of leading wildcard rider Hiroshi Aoyama. Championship leader Manuel Poggiali will start from seventh, with Naoki Matsudo completing the second row at his home race in eighth.



Japanese riders Tomoyoshi Koyama and Yuki Takahashi, who crashed, are joined on the third row by Roberto Rolfo and Chaz Davies, who recorded his best ever qualifying result in twelfth.



Spain's Daniel Pedrosa took his ninth pole position in the 125cc class by a clear margin, setting a best time of 1'57.736 on his Honda to beat his own previous pole record at the circuit and 0.822 seconds faster than nearest challenger, Aprilia rider Stefano Perugini of Italy.



The Spaniard holds a 42 point advantage over the Italian in the championship, and would seal the title if he could take back-to-back victories in Motegi and Malaysia.



Perugini set his best lap at the very end of a relatively sterile session devoid of serious challengers to Pedrosa's seniority. Jorge Lorenzo, winner of the last race at Rio, sealed his third front row start of the season in third place while compatriot Hector Barbera made it three Spaniards in the top four.



Results: MotoGP 1. Max Biaggi (Italy) Honda one minute and 47.698 seconds 2. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Honda 1:47.804 3. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Honda 1:48.030 4. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Honda 1:48.457 5. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 1:48.618 6. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 1:48.695 7. Carlos Checa (Spain) Yamaha 1:48.797 8. Alex Barros (Brazil) Yamaha 1:48.780 9. Marco Melandri (Italy) Yamaha 1:48.882 10. Troy Bayliss (Australia) Ducati 1:48.964 11. Tohru Ukawa (Japan) Honda 1:49.022 12. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Yamaha 1:49.123



250cc 1. Toni Elias (Spain) Aprilia 1:52.849 2. Franco Battaini (Italy) Aprilia 1:52.965 3. Randy De Puniet (France) Aprilia 1:53.247 4. Sebastian Porto (Argentina) Honda 1:53.650 5. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia 1:53.713 6. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda 1:53.830 7. Manuel Poggiali (San Marino) Aprilia 1:53.868 8. Naoki Matsudo (Japan) Yamaha 1:54.021 9. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Japan) Yamaha 1:54.132 10. Yuki Takahashi (Japan) Honda 1:54.141



125cc 1. Daniel Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1:57.736 2. Stefano Perugini (Italy) Aprilia 1:58.558 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Derbi 1:58.662 4. Hector Barbera (Spain) Aprilia 1:58.684 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 1:58.988 6. Pablo Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:59.092 7. Lucio Cecchinello (Italy) Aprilia 1:59.219 8. Alex De Angelis (San Marino) Aprilia 1:59.286 9. Stefano Bianco (Italy) Gilera 1:59.320 10. Casey Stoner (Australia) Aprilia 1:59.360


Bureau Report