Valencia, Nov 02: The 24-year-old Rossi, whose future is expected to be decided on Sunday with an announcement from Honda, was made to work hard for his ninth pole of the season by local hero Sete Gibernau, who also broke Biaggi's record and will line up second on the grid alongside his fellow Honda rider. Italian Loris Capirossi, who will be riding in his 200th Grand Prix on Sunday, was third fastest for Ducati ahead of Rossi's American team mate Nicky Hayden, who rounds out the front row of the grid after another impressive display. Last year's winner Alex Barros of Brazil, struggling with a broken rib after a spill on Friday, will have to be satisfied with a second-row start after finishing eighth fastest, behind Spain's Carlos Checa, Italian Biaggi and American Colin Edwards. Rossi, who wrapped up a third successive title in Malaysia last month, topped the leaderboard for all but the last 11 minutes of the one-hour session courtesy of his time in first qualifying, but then Gibernau, bursting with confidence after his best-ever season, surpassed him with the fastest time of the week. Unperturbed, Rossi pitted for some adjustments to his set-up and proceeded to outpace the Catalan with another record lap and then, as time ran out, shaved another few hundredths of a second off his time.

Bureau Report