While the focus may have been on those riders who dominated at the last round in Brno such as Biaggi, Kato, Rossi and Ukawa, many may have forgotten that Alex Barros has been riding the wheels off his Honda Pons machine to great effect in recent races. He demonstrated that he is still going to be competitive here in Estoril as he snatched provisional pole position for Sunday's Grande Premio Marlboro de Portugal from under the noses of those rivals who shone two weeks ago. The Brazilian veteran, who is undergoing a kind of rejuvenation this season by pulling out some excellent results against the odds, set a fastest time of 1'40.112 in blustery conditions on his NSR500 today, just outside last year's magnificent pole record held by Biaggi.

The modest 31 year-old from Sao Paolo was happy with his time, "I am delighted with that but also must admit that I am a little surprised because this is a circuit where things have not always gone well for me. I went out just to check how the bike was performing and immediately I was lapping very quickly." He snatched pole after the flag had gone out and the other riders had finished their last laps, but now knows that a lot of work lies ahead to hold on to the front spot, "I know that the four-strokes have more room for improvement. It will be difficult but I will try everything to conserve pole position."

Barros had led briefly during the hour long MotoGP session, but fell back as other riders piled on the pressure. Kato, Ukawa, Checa and Rossi all bettered his time until he finally struck back at the death. Kato continues to adapt to the RC211V Honda on his second race on board the machine, and it was he who eventually finished second to Barros, with a tiny margin of 0.007 between him and the Brazilian. Behind him came the series leader Valentino Rossi, who missed out on the points for the first time in 21 races in Brno, and who set his best time on his penultimate lap, with a run into the gravel at the end of the straight preventing him from improving any further.

It was a good day in general for Honda Pons, as Loris Capirossi added to Barros' pole by stealing the final front row place, while Spain's Carlos Checa proved that both Yamaha riders can to mix it up at the top of the timesheets as he recovered from a heavy crash in the morning session to claim fifth on the M1. Ukawa was eventually sixth, with Max Biaggi still searching for the form that took him to pole position and a win in the last round. The second row was completed by Sete Gibernau, with the GSV-R Suzuki employing a new clutch in the factory's attempt to get back onto the podium for the first time since the SKYY Vodka Grand Prix of Japan back in April.

In search of a seventh consecutive win this weekend, Marco Melandri led a trio of Italians at the head of the 250 class today, with a healthy 0.247 seconds back to his rival Roberto Rolfo. Melandri already equalled Freddie Spencer after winning his sixth race in a row in Brno, and aims to join MotoGP legends Mike Hailwood and Anton Mang by being victorious on Sunday. A late charge up the order put Battaini into provisional third place on the grid, while Toni Elias took fourth. Emilio Alzamora races for the first time after successful surgery on both arms in the summer, and the operation appears to be a success as he edged out compatriot Fonsi Nieto into sixth place with a confident ride today.

Australia's Casey Stoner had to settle for 16th quickest and is hoping for improvement tomorrow.

After a couple of indifferent results by his own admission, Manuel Poggiali made the most of some slight improvements to his Gilera bike since Brno to claim top spot in qualifying for the 125s. The San Marino rider has a slender lead over Arnaud Vincent in the standings currently, and will aim to extend the two-point gap on Sunday. Youichi Ui made a welcome return to form as he took second place, with Steve Jenkner and Dani Pedrosa, who is just thirteen points behind Poggiali, in third and fourth place respectively. Frenchman Vincent set the seventh fastest time today.

1. Barros 1m40.112
2. Kato 1m40.119
3. Rossi 1m40.413
4. Capirossi 1m40.441
5. Checa 1m40.488
6. Ukawa 1m40.509
7. Biaggi 1m40.608
8. Gibernau 1m40.747
9. Vd Goorbergh 1m40.771
10. Abe 1m40.969
11. Laconi 1m41.159
12. Roberts 1m41.203
13. Nakano 1m41.231
14. McWilliams 1m41.237
15. Hopkins 1m41.474
16. Jacque 1m41.535
17. McCoy 1m41.568
18. Harada 1m41.856
19. Aoki 1m41.863
20. Riba 1m43.782

• Sep 6 - MotoGP - Free Practice 1 - Qualifying 1, Estoril - Yamaha Report -
• Sep 6 - WSBK - Free Practice 1 - Qualifying 1, Assen - Honda Report - Aprilia - Ducati - Kawasaki -
• Sep 6 - WSS - Free Practice 1 - Qualifying 1, Assen - Castrol Honda Report - Muggeridge - Kawasaki - Ten Kate -
• Sep 6 - Interview - Steve Martin talks about his knee injury and the new 999