Rossi took pole, his third of the year, while Capirossi was a close third, just behind Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and only 0.280 seconds off pole. The front row was completed by third Italian Max Biaggi (Yamaha), who raced side by side with his compatriots at last year's Italian GP, a race famously won by Capirossi after both his rivals crashed out. A repeat of that thrilling confrontation is expected tomorrow at Mugello, where Rossi mania is in full swing, where the World Championship leader has turned out in a special blue-and-white Hawaiian style livery.

"It's very important to be on pole for my home GP and I did it, so I'm very happy," said Rossi, who has led all four practice sessions here, though his Friday advantage was reduced this afternoon. "I could've been faster but I had to brake to avoid another rider on a good lap and lost my chance."

Like many of his rivals, Rossi has been experimenting with different Michelin rear tyres here. While most top riders always race the company's 16.5in rear, Rossi, Biaggi and Roberts and Capirossi have all been trying 17s here. Roberts says he is sure to race the 17, while some of the others have yet to make their final choices.

"I did my pole time with the 17 because it makes the bike easier to handle but I will race the 16.5 because it has better endurance," explained Rossi. "I think the race will be much harder than qualifying but I like this track a lot and it's great to see so many of my fans around the circuit."

Capirossi cut a whole second off his Friday best to secure third on the grid after improving his NSR's set-up. "I was even trying to get pole at the end of the session but I didn't feel comfortable enough to go any faster, so I decided the front row was enough," he said. "We've no problems with bike set-up and we've already chosen what tyres we will run. But it will be a hard race and Valentino will be very strong."

Max Biaggi bounced back from his two Friday tumbles to jump on to the front row with a storming end-of-session run. The Italian and his Marlboro Yamaha Team worked systematically to get back on track and put Biaggi in amongst the favourites for tomorrows race.

Capirossi's team-mate Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) got pole here last year but this weekend he leads row two, just 0.079 seconds slower than fourth-quickest Biaggi. "I tried to get pole again and I might have managed it if I hadn't chosen a rear tyre that bounced around a lot. I had enough grip but it was impossible to open the throttle when I wanted to as I exited the corners."

Alex Crivillé (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) recovered from a heavy fall this morning to claim sixth on the grid, just over a tenth down on Barros. "The crash almost totally destroyed my number-one bike, so we had to run my second machine this afternoon," said the 1999 World Champion. "I also bashed a finger quite hard, so all things considered, I'm happy enough with sixth. I also tried 17s today but we eventually swapped back to the 16.5 and the times started to come."

Proton Team KR rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh will start tomorrow's Italian GP from the second row of the grid, his best position since joining the team at the beginning of this year, and the best yet for the Mk3 version of the lightweight three-cylinder racer. 

The Dutch rider achieved the position after slashing almost 2.5 seconds off his best lap time of the day before, and delighted the team at a circuit which they had not expected to favour their machine, which is faster on the corners than the four-cylinder rivals, but should lose out on the Tuscan Mugello circuit's long straight. 

In fact, a good day of practice saw the rider gain seven km/h in top speed compared with yesterday, and his speed of 299.8km/h in the final session was less than six km/h slower than the fastest of the factory four-cylinder machines - a product of the wind-tunnel development the team did during the winter. 

The turnaround was especially satisfying after engine problems yesterday spoiled the team's programme of development, robbing them of valuable time in the hectic four-hour qualifying schedule. 

Carlos Checa was back on the pace today’ coming close to the front row and ending up eighth for a second-row start. The Spanish Marlboro Yamaha Team rider’ who was game enough to admit he wasn’t on form yesterday’ cut over two seconds off his Friday best and would’ve been faster if he’d been able to use all the grip from the soft rear he ran at the end of the session. 

Crivillé's team-mate Tohru Ukawa (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) was ninth, just 0.082 seconds off row two in his first 500 outing at Mugello, despite a tumble yesterday. "We've ended up with a set-up that allows me to ride with more confidence," said the former 250 ace. "I enjoyed myself on the bike today, feeling comfortable and safe. I'm on the third row but I think I can make up time on the long straight here and stay with the leaders." 

Australia's Ant West battled through pain from an injured left wrist and problems with his Dee Cee Racing Honda V-Twin yesterday to eventually qualify 18th for tomorrow's 500cc Italian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Mugello.

The 19-year-old 500cc rookie took a tablet to ease the pain in his wrist before today's second and final qualifying session, and clocked a best lap time of 1-min 57.119-secs around the 5.2km circuit. He will start the fifth round of the 500cc world championship on the fifth row of the
grid.

West, who finished sixth in the 250cc world championship in 2000, cracked his wrist on May 19 during practice for the previous round at Le Mans in France. A plaster cast on the wrist was removed on Thursday and he is riding with tight strapping.

In yesterday's opening practice and qualifying sessions he was restricted to only 23 laps because of problems with his NSR500V. He recorded a best qualifying lap of 2-mins 1.275-secs in qualifying yesterday. Today he was able to complete 22 laps in practice and a further 20 laps in qualifying."

1. Valentino Rossi, 1:52.554
2. Kenny Roberts, 1:52.688
3. Loris Capirossi, 1:52.834
4. Max Biaggi, 1:52.942
5. Alex Barros, 1:53.021
6. Alex Criville, 1:53.142
7. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, 1:53.241
8. Carlos Checa, 1:53.253
9. Tohru Ukawa, 1:53.335
10. Shinya Nakano, 1:53.406
11. Norick Abe, 1m53.589s
12. Sete Gibernau, 1m54.035s
13. Noriyuki Haga, 1m54.091s
14. Jose Cardoso, 1m54.384s
15. Chris Walker, 1m54.827s
16. Jason Vincent, 1m55.780s
17. Haruchika Aoki, 1m56.390s
18. Anthony West, 1:57.119
19. Johan Stigefelt, 1m57.765s
20. Barry Veneman, 1m58.009s
21. Mark Willis, 1m58.365s

Quotes

Valentino Rossi - Pole - "Of course I am satisfied with practice and qualifying, I've been fastest in all four sessions. It's a pity I couldn't beat Tetsuya Harada's absolute lap time for the circuit. After I set the 1m 52.5s time my next lap was faster, I was two-tenths of a second under time at the first and second time split but I came across Catska at the S bend and I was surprised by the speed difference, I had to brake really hard and lost the chance. This pole time was set with a 17 inch rear wheel, also Roberts, Capirossi and Biaggi used a 17 inch wheel. But for the race I will use a 16.5 inch rear. Roberts will use a 17 inch. He will have an advantage in the opening laps of the race but I should have more reliable tyres in the second part. Apparently I got this pole time easily but the race will be another story. For instance, we ran in 1m 52s times today with 17 inch and soft compound tyres. In the race I think 1m 53.5s will be an excellent pace.. Anyway, I must say I like this circuit very much and I see so many of my fans around the track but I don't feel any special pressure."

Kenny Roberts - 2nd - "This is the fastest a Suzuki has ever got round here, by three-quarters of a second. So from that standpoint, for us - it's great. The 17s have helped our situation a little bit because I don't have to spend so much time on my side, when the engine situation is more critical. The 16.5 tyre at this track takes too long to try to make the bike turn. As a consequence of that you have to use small throttle openings much more which is good for us. As far as the race goes, I don't even want to speculate, because our situation is the same, and I don't want to have to make excuses if it doesn't work out well. I need to thank my team for the hard work that's put me in this position - and Kevin Schwantz, Luca Cadalora and my father for going out in practice and helping me with some of our difficult points on the circuit. It's turned into a big team effort down here and it's interesting to see so many people coming together to try and help our situation out. Hopefully luck will be on our side tomorrow. Or better than that, hopefully it will just rain." 

Loris Capirossi - 3rd - "At the end of the qualifying I was trying to get the first position, but I wasn't comfortable at the track and I decided that a place in the first line, might allow me to take a good start. I have no problem with the bike set-up, and I have already chosen the tyre.  The race will be hard, because Valentino will be very strong. To win tomorrow will be wonderful because this is my country, but above all because it will make my possibilities of winning the title much higher."

Max Biaggi - 4th - "We’ve improved the set-up and worked our way through the tyre options’ but we’re behind because we struggled yesterday and this morning’ so it’s going to be a hard race’" said Biaggi. "This afternoon was good and I gave it everything I could’ now we’ll spend the rest of the afternoon looking at the data and seeing what we can improve for tomorrow. We’ve been trying both the 16.5 and 17in rears. The 16.5 obviously worked well at Le Mans but this is a very different track and I find the bike jumps around less in the corners with the 17. But of course the 16.5 does have advantages. It’s a difficult choice and we’ll make the decision after tomorrow morning’s warm-up. I’m happy to be on the front row’ that’s always the aim on Saturday. I had some traffic on my best lap so maybe I could’ve been faster but all I need is the front row’ and then a good start." 

Alex Barros - 5th - " I have tried to repeat the pole position I got last year in this race, and I might have had an option if I hadn't used a back tyre that bounced a lot. I had enough grip, but it was impossible to open at the right place. If I am among the first positions in the first laps, I might be with the "countrymen" and play a part in this party which will be very exciting."

Alex Crivillé - 6th - "This morning, I had a crash, and my number one motorcycle got destroyed almost completely. We tried some different settings in order to get rid of some front end chatter, and then the front just tucked away. I bashed the little finger of my right hand quite heavily and I was afraid that it would cause me discomfort in the afternoon, but fortunately this wasn't the case. In the afternoon, we could only work on the second bike which delayed our progress, therefore I'm happy with my grid position.  I did several laps in the 1.53's, which will be race pace tomorrow. Today I tried 17-inch tyres because I feel more comfortable with this dimension, but finally I swapped to 16,5's, and the times started to come in. Therefore, I will stick to this dimension tomorrow."

Jurgen Van Den Goorbergh - 7th - "That was very satisfying. I had no slip-stream, and I did that time completely on my own. We had some problems yesterday, but this morning we had a very good session - the best all year. I was doing very consistent 1:54 times, and the bike felt really good. We had made quite a big change to chassis settings, and it was a big improvement. The most important thing was that we had both bikes working, where yesterday I had only one I could use. It's normal to struggle on the first day while we are looking for the right set-up, but those problems made it worse for us. Today in the end I got it together, and the fast lap time came. There are still a few things I need to improve for tomorrow that will help me more - and I can get some more speed. Today, sixth gear was a bit short, and it was over-revving on the straight. If I can run in the top ten in the race, I will be very happy. 

Carlos Checa - 8th - "I was a little nervous yesterday and maybe my mind wasn’t exactly right’ like at Jerez’ so I accept that I wasn’t at my best’" said Checa frankly. "Also I didn’t feel so comfortable on the bike but the team has done a great job’ I did some good times on race tyres and I feel ready. I could’ve been even quicker but the rear I ran at the end had so much grip that it was making the front push’ so I couldn’t use the tyre’s full potential. We’re in a much better position than yesterday and we’ll leave the bike unchanged for tomorrow because I feel comfortable. If the race pace is 54s and some 53s’ I can run at that pace’ but if Rossi or someone does consistent 53s’ it’ll be more difficult." 

Tohru Ukawa - 9th - "Things turned out much better for us than yesterday, and this was possible because because we found a way to improve the behaviour of the bike, and we ended up with a setting that allows me to ride with more confidence. I cut almost two seconds off my best time in yesterday's session, which proves that we're going the right direction. I thought that the finger that I bashed yesterday would cause me some trouble, but that fortunately wasn't the case and therefore, I could ride very concentrated. My team turned the set-up of the bike around completely, and it's easy to see that it worked out. I enjoyed myself on the bike, I feel comfortable and safe. I will have to start from third row of the grid tomorrow, but the main straight is long and I think I can make up some positions in order to stay with the leaders, so I'm not too worried."

Sete Gibernau - 12th - "That's better. I'm not delighted, but a lot happier than yesterday. We had a good day and this is the fastest I have ever lapped Mugello. It's not an easy race track and with all the problems we've had in the first races things are starting to improve. The bike is working better, though there are still a couple of things to improve with the set-up that should make me half-a-second quicker, which would be good for the race. I'm more confident than at the previous races - and I need to thank all my guys for helping me out and keeping the concentration going." 

Anthony West - 18th - "The wrist is pretty painful – not so much the fracture, but the muscles in my wrist. I had some bruising, and when I have to pull to the bars to change direction on all the fast chicanes here I can feel it quite a lot. I had the cast off on Thursday, and it felt pretty weak. I had been exercising my fingers, but the wrist muscles had really faded a bit. The first day of practice was basically lost. I had engine problems and only managed seven laps in the morning and 16 in the afternoon. I was outside the qualifying (107-percent) cut-off time so it was a worry when it looked like rain for the final session. Luckily it stayed basically dry, except for a few spots. Because of losing yesterday I've been trying to catch up all of today. It's been hard because the more I use my wrist the more it hurts. Until now I haven't used any painkillers, but I did have a pill before the final session. The race should be okay. The straight is pretty long, and the 'Twin' loses on the four-cylinder bikes there. But everywhere else I can stay with them. Hopefully I can race with them tomorrow."