Italy, June 07: Loris Capirossi on a Ducati led a trio of Italian riders to the top three spots in the opening qualifying session for Sunday`s MotoGP race at the Italian Grand Prix. Capirossi took advantage of the Ducati`s raw speed on Friday (June 6), touching 328.9km/h on Mugello`s undulating circuit to lap in one minute 51.954 seconds, just ahead of the Honda of world champion Valentino Rossi. Max Biaggi, who is in second in the championship standings, 23 points behind Rossi, finished third. Spain`s Sete Gibernau - who narrowly defeated Rossi in a rain-soaked French Grand Prix at Le Mans two weeks ago - showed why he poses the biggest threat to Italian dominance by recording the fourth-quickest time. Fifth was Spain`s Carlos Checa with Alex Barros of Brazil sixth. Reigning 250cc world champion Marco Melandri, in his first season in the MotoGP category, made it four home riders in the top ten qualifiers, finishing eighth on his Yamaha. Troy Bayliss, Capirossi`s team mate at Ducati, was down in a lowly 18th while the Australian`s former sparring partner in world superbikes, Colin Edwards of USA, was tenth on his Aprilia. In the 250cc class Manuel Poggiali of San Marino was fastest with Fonsi Nieto of Spain second. Randi de Puniet of France was third despite a big fall, and Tony Elias was fifth after a big fall during the morning free practice. Youichi Ui led the 125cc class with Australia`s Casey Stoner second. Third was Pablo Nieto and championship leader Daniel Pedrosa was fifth fastest.

Leading qualifying times for Motogp in Mugello: 1. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati one minute 51.954 seconds 2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Honda 1:51.968 3. Max Biaggi (Italy) Honda 1:52.021 4. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Honda 1:52.270 5. Carlos Checa (Spain) Yamaha 1:52.290 6. Alex Barros (Brazil) Yamaha 1:52.439 7. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Yamaha 1:52.569 8. Marco Melandri (Italy) Yamaha 1:52.687 9. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Honda 1:52.700 10. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Aprilia 1.52.767

250cc leading times: 1. Manuel Poggiali (San Marino) Aprilia one minute 54.290 seconds 2. Fonsi Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:54.676 3. Randy De Puniet (France) Aprilia 1:54.688 4. Franco Battaini (Italy) Aprilia 1:55.552 5. Toni Elias (Spain) Aprilia 1:55.639 6. Roberto Rolfo (Italy) Honda 1:56.444 7. Sebastian Porto (Argentina) Honda 1:56.524 8. Naoki Matsudo (Japan) Yamaha 1:56.959 9. Johan Stigefelt (Sweden) Aprilia 1:57.112 10. Joan Olive (Spain) Aprilia 1:57.117

125cc leading times: 1. Youichi Ui (Japan) Aprilia one minute 59.406 seconds
2. Casey Stoner (Australia) Aprilia 1:59.492 3. Pablo Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:59.544 4. Lucio Cecchinello (Italy) Aprilia 1:59.609 5. Daniel Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1:59.647 6. Steve Jenkner (Germany) Aprilia 1:59.767 7. Stefano Perugini (Italy) Aprilia 1.59.783 8. Alex De Angelis (San Marino) Aprilia 2.00.117 9. Gino Borsoi (Italy) Aprilia 2.00.209 10. Gioele Pellino (Italy) Aprilia 2.00.491

Bureau Report