Both riders had struggled with machine set-up yesterday, clocking sixth- and 11th-fastest times in the first qualifier, but their crews have worked tirelessly since then to dramatically close the gap.

"It's amazing what the team has been able to do," said Marlboro Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio. "Everybody - the riders, the engineers and the rest of the crew - have spent many hours in discussion since yesterday afternoon, working to find a solution to the problems. So, I have to say a big thank you to them all, now let's keep going from here. Yesterday both Max and Carlos had struggled in the corners, so we've adjusted chassis geometry and suspension balance to give them the feeling they need to really attack the turns."

Conditions were more grueling than ever during today's session, with 36-degree ambient heat and 50-degree track temperature. Tomorrow's race is expected to run in similar conditions, making it the toughest event for riders and bikes on the 16-round MotoGP World Championship calendar.

Max Biaggi was in extraordinary form this afternoon, slicing a massive 1.375 seconds off his Friday best to lay his claim for pole position at Sepang. The Marlboro Yamaha Team man, who's currently battling for second in the World Championship, went fastest with just two minutes of the session remaining, only for Alex Barros (Honda) to sneak pole away from him by just 0.049 seconds. But Biaggi was beaming after the session, certain he'd done his utmost and ready to challenge for another win tomorrow.

"First of all, my congratulations to Barros for pole, now he owes me a pizza because he was chasing me for his fastest lap!" grinned a sweat-drenched Biaggi after securing his tenth front-row start of the year. "I felt I did my best out there today. We made some changes last night and then some more suspension adjustments this morning, which found us some competitiveness, though it's always difficult to make the bike perfect. I used different compound front and rear tyres this afternoon and just tried my maximum for a good lap time. This race is going to be very tough on tyres, but I'm sure I can go well tomorrow."

Carlos Checa also transformed his performance in Malaysia today, lapping 1.292 seconds faster than he'd managed in yesterday's opening qualifying outing to lift himself to within a fraction of the front row. In fact The Marlboro Yamaha Team man did move up to fourth with an astounding end-of-session charge, but was demoted to fifth by Loris Capirossi (Honda) in the dying seconds. Like team-mate Max Biaggi, Checa's revitalised speed was thanks to painstaking work from his technicians and a superb on-track effort.

"We worked all day towards the correct race-distance set-up, then we fitted new tyres at the end and went for it," he said. "Today we made quite a few changes to the bike, back to stuff we know better. It was just slight modifications to geometry and suspension that improved the overall balance, which I feel confident will make a useful difference to our race performance. Maybe we can still make some more improvements - we'll probably try a few more things in warm-up."

Just six days after scoring his first MotoGP victory in last Sunday's Pacific GP in Japan, Alex Barros this afternoon scored his first MotoGP pole position. "Considering my team had no data for this track, I'm surprised to get pole," said the Brazilian who's riding an RCV four-stroke for only the second time. "The race will be tough, you get so much wheelspin here that you have to concentrate so hard." World Champion and fellow RCV rider Valentino Rossi, who lost out to Barros in the last race, could only manage eighth today.

-----   Red Bull   -----

Australian Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy will start from ninth position on the grid for tomorrow's 21-lap Malaysian GP.  McCoy slipped slightly down the standings after yesterday's excellent performance, but his best time of 2.05.400 this afternoon still left him best of the Yamaha YZR500 two-strokes, and he ended up just 0.3s slower than newly-crowned world champion Valentino Rossi.

His best time came on his final lap of the one-hour session, and but for a small mistake he might have been starting from the second row. The 31-year-old though is predicting a tough race, with prime concerns focused around tyre choice for what is sure to be a punishing examination of both man and machine tomorrow.

Track temperatures at the stifling hot and humid Sepang circuit are several degrees higher than at any other track on the 16-round MotoGP calendar. As a consequence it makes the requirement for good tyre choice even more critical. Track temperatures this afternoon reached a high of 50 degrees, and McCoy and his engineers will be searching for a compromise between a tyre that will offer consistent grip and one that will have the endurance to survive the strenuous conditions.

American rookie John Hopkins found himself in the unfamiliar position of 19th on the grid. His best time of 2.06.857, which slashed 0.9s off his fastest from yesterday, might have been improved had he not slipped off his Red Bull machine on his last flying lap. Before he lost the front end at a slow left-hander, Hopkins was on course for his fastest lap after the first two sections of the 3.447 miles circuit.

Garry McCoy - 2m05.400 - "I thought there was a little bit more in my fastest lap. On my final run I made a small mistake coming out of the hairpin and that unsettled the bike, so I was expecting to be a little bit faster. Ninth is fine against all the four-strokes but it will be tough in the race. When I'm pushing flat-out, they come flying by a 500 two-stroke like we are standing still. Our race tyre option depends on the track temperature. It was hotter this afternoon than yesterday and the race tyre did not feel as good. The heat seems to vary our tyre performance considerably."

John Hopkins - 2.06.857 - "We spent most of the session playing around with the set-up of the bike trying to find some more grip. I put on a qualifier but I made a bad choice for the front tyre. Before I crashed the front had tucked a couple of times. I guess I just got in there too hot. It just didn't work out and all I can do is look forward to tomorrow."

Peter Clifford - Team Director - "That was another good ride from Garry. He spent a lot of time working on his race set-up and that took the edge of the qualifying times, but it should pay off with a decent start tomorrow. It was bad luck for John. But for that slip off on his last lap he was going to be faster and a little bit higher up the grid."