Chemnitz, July 26: MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy barely edged arch rival compatriot Max Biaggi on Friday (July 25) to take the provisional pole position for Sunday's (July 27) German Grand Prix in Chemnitz. Despite crashing in the morning warm-up session, Rossi lapped in one minute 25.210 seconds to just squeeze ahead of Biaggi, who was second nine-thousands of a second behind in 1:25.219. In third place was Briton Jeremy McWilliams, who took full advantage of the extra manoeuvrability of his old two-stroke 500cc Proton KR on the short, tight Sachsenring track to record a time of 1:24.412. Like Rossi, he also escaped unscathed from an earlier crash. McWilliams' team, run by former world champion Kenny Roberts of the USA, have been forced to use the old machines because of a shortage of engine parts for their new four-stroke bike. Biaggi is aiming to defeat Rossi on the track rather than off it, as happened two weeks ago at the British Grand Prix when he crossed the line second but was handed the victory after Rossi was given a 10-second penalty.


Rossi remains first in the championship with 167 points ahead of Gibernau (133) who was sixth in the qualifying session and Biaggi (130).


Moto GP qualifying times: 1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Honda one minute 24.335 seconds 2. Max Biaggi (Italy) Honda 1:24.370 3. Jeremy McWilliams (Britain) Proton 1:24.412 4. Carlos Checa (Spain) Yamaha 1:24.735 5. Troy Bayliss (Australia) Ducati 1:24.742 6. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Honda 1:24.864 7. Marco Melandri (Italy) Yamaha 1:24.876 8. Norick Abe (Japan) Yamaha 1:24.981 9. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 1:25.019 10. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Yamaha 1:25.122 11. Alex Barros (Brazil) Yamaha 1:25.210 12. Tohru Ukawa (Japan) Honda 1:25.234 13. Olivier Jacque (France) Yamaha 1:25.416 14. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 1:25.555 15. Garry McCoy (Australia) Kawasaki 1:25.563 16. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Aprilia 1:25.614 17. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Honda 1:25.719 18. Noriyuki Haga (Japan) Aprilia 1:25.784 19. Kenny Roberts (U.S.) Suzuki 1:25.907 20. Alex Hofmann (Germany) Kawasaki 1:26.014 21. John Hopkins (U.S.) Suzuki 1:26.247 22. Nobuatsu Aoki (Japan) Proton 1:26.564 23. David De Gea (Spain) Sabre 1:26.727 24. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Japan) Honda 1:27.463 25. Andrew Pitt (Australia) Kawasaki 1:27.806


250cc: Frenchman Randy de Puniet took provisional pole for the 250cc class. Riding an Aprilia, he clocked 1:26.122 to edge out Roberto Rolfo of Italy by 0.312 seconds.


Championship leader Manuel Poggiali of San Marino was fifth fastest. Times: 1. Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 1:26.122 2. Roberto Rolfo (Italy) Honda 1:26.434 3. Franco Battaini (Italy) Aprilia 1:26.437 4. Sebastian Porto (Argentina) Honda 1:26.500 5. Manuel Poggiali (San Marino) Aprilia 1:26.611 6. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia 1:26.643 7. Naoki Matsudo (Japan) Yamaha 1:26.670 8. Fonsi Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:26.768 9. Toni Elias (Spain) Aprilia 1:26.876 10. Anthony West (Australia) Aprilia 1:26.942


125cc: Steve Jenkner of Germany was unable to crown a potentially perfect day in the 125cc class as he missed out on provisional pole for his home Grand Prix by 0.268 seconds to Alex De Angelis.


The San Marino youngster clocked a time of 1:28.645 to take the front slot on the grid overnight, with Spaniard Pablo Nieto and Finnish youngster Mika Kallio also sealing provisional front row starts in third and fourth respectively.


Championship contenders Italians Andrea Dovizioso and Lucio Cecchinello were tenth and thirteenth fastest respectively.


The session featured a number of spectacular accidents, but there were no reports of any injuries.


Times: 1. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Aprilia 1:28.645 2. Steve Jenkner (Germany) Aprilia 1:28.913 3. Pablo Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:28.941 4. Mika Kallio (Finland) Honda 1:28.987 5. Thomas Luthi (Switzerland) Honda 1:29.053 6. Casey Stoner (Australia) Aprilia 1:29.109 7. Stefano Perugini (Italy) Aprilia 1:29.118 8. Daniel Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1:29.147 9. Mirko Giansanti (Italy) Aprilia 1:29.259 10. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 1:29.302


Bureau Report