Valencia, Nov 02: In the 250cc class, championship leader Manuel Poggiali of San Marino was fourth fastest to grab a front row spot alongside pole-sitter Randy de Puniet of France.
His only title rival Roberto Rolfo of Italy, who must outscore Poggiali by eight points on Sunday to be champion, could only manage 10th fastest. In the 125cc category, where the title has already been clinched by Spain's Daniel Pedrosa, Alex de Angelis of San Marino grabbed pole position to boost his chances of taking second place in the championship. His rivals Stefano Perugini, Andrea Dovizioso and Hector Barbera were sixth, fifth and fourth respectively on the grid. Leading grid positions for Sunday's Valencia Grand Prix after Saturday's final qualifying (tabulates under rider/nationality/bike/time): MotoGP 1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Honda One minute, 32.478 seconds. 2. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Honda 1:33.148 3. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 1:33.275 4. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 1:33.348 5. Carlos Checa (Spain) Yamaha 1:33.454 6. Max Biaggi (Italy) Honda 1:33.575 7. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Aprilia 1:33.984 8. Alex Barros (Brazil) Yamaha 1:34.247 9. Tohru Ukawa (Japan) Honda 1:34.286 10. Troy Bayliss (Australia) Ducati 1:34.398 11. Norick Abe (Japan) Yamaha 1:34.467 12. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Yamaha 1:34.677 13. Makato Tamada (Japan) Honda 1:34.742 14. Garry McCoy (Australia) Kawasaki 1:34.912 15. Jeremy McWilliams (Britain) Proton 1:34.975 16. Andrew Pitt (Australia) Kawasaki 1:35.125 17. John Hopkins (U.S.) Suzuki 1:35.178 18. Kenny Roberts (U.S.) Suzuki 1:35.269 19. Nobuatsu Aoki (Japan) Proton 1:35.439 20. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Japan) Honda 1:35.572 21. Olivier Jacque (France) Yamaha 1:35.816 22. Noriyuki Haga (Japan) Aprilia 1:36.524 23. David De Gea (Spain) WCM 1:36.604 250cc 1. Randy De Puniet (France) Aprilia One minute, 36.499 seconds 2. Toni Elias (Spain) Aprilia 1:36.590 3. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia 1:36.647 4. Manuel Poggiali (San Marino) Aprilia 1:36.735 5. Alex Debon (Spain) Honda 1:37.221 6. Franco Battaini (Italy) Aprilia 1:37.327 7. Fonsi Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:37.711 8. Naoki Matsudo (Japan) Yamaha 1:37.875 9. Sebastian Porto (Argentina) Honda 1:38.028 10. Roberto Rolfo (Italy) Honda 1:38.110



125cc 1. Alex De Angelis (San Marino) Aprilia One minute 40.440 seconds. 2. Pablo Nieto (Spain) Aprilia 1:40.551 3. Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Aprilia 1:40.599 4. Hector Barbera (Spain) Aprilia 1:40.723 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 1:40.802 6. Stefano Perugini (Italy) Aprilia 1:40.911 7. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Aprilia 1:41.210 8. Casey Stoner (Australia) Aprilia 1:41.240 9. Gino Borsoi (Italy) Aprilia 1:41.354 10. Mika Kallio (Finland) KTM 1:41.457


Bureau Report