MotoGP 2002 - Round 16 - Qualifying 2 - Valencia

Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1 rider Max Biaggi grabbed the final pole position of 2002 in masterful style at sun-baked Valencia this afternoon, outpacing his closest rival by more than three tenths of a second. And team-mate Carlos Checa was also on the pace - challenging for pole in the final minutes until he slid off, ending the session fifth. This was the M1's fifth pole of 2002, four scored by Biaggi, one by Checa.

"It's fantastic to get pole for the last race of the season - Max promised this as a gift to his crew chief, Fiorenzo (Fanali), whose birthday it is today," smiled Marlboro Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio. "Max has been fast and consistent all day, he's riding well and pushing hard. Carlos also improved his pace today, and I think he's fast enough to be part of the leading group in tomorrow's race. It's a shame he fell in the last few minutes, but it wasn't a big crash, and the main thing is that he's on the pace. This is the last race of the year but everyone in the team is staying fully concentrated, we're putting in every possible effort to make sure that we can take second overall in the MotoGP riders' World Championship and claim another win with the M1."

Max Biaggi scored his fourth pole of the year at Valencia today - the perfect gift for his crew chief Fiorenzo Fanali, who celebrates his 51st birthday today. Equally important, pole position gives the Marlboro Yamaha Team man the best-possible chance of taking his third win of the season in tomorrow's Marlboro Valencia GP, which would secure him runner-up spot in the World Championship. Biaggi is currently second, though just one point ahead of Tohru Ukawa (Honda), who was seventh today.

"I'm very happy to take the last pole of the year," said a delighted Biaggi, who today bettered his 2001 Valencia GP pole time by a massive 1.2 seconds. "We've worked well since we got here, I was fast and consistent this afternoon and that's a good sign. This morning we did try some different settings but they didn't work so well, so we went back to the set-up we ran yesterday, fine tuned it, then pushed hard. I really wanted pole today for Fiorenzo, and also for my physio Marino, to whom I will give the watch I get for pole. Things are coming much easier now after a difficult start to the season. The Yamaha is very competitive, so I aim to keep pushing until the end tomorrow, to finish in style with the people I've worked with over the past four years."

Fanali has worked with Biaggi since 2000 and in GPs since 1969, when he was with MV Agusta. During the eighties he won three 500 titles with Marlboro Yamaha rider Eddie Lawson.

Carlos Checa was right on the pace this afternoon, running in the top four, then falling in the final moments while trying to improve his pace still further. Sixth yesterday, the Marlboro Yamaha Team star cut almost half a second off his times to end the day fifth, a tantalizing two hundredths of a second off the front row.

"We improved quite a lot today, but then I lost the rear while pushing very hard in my final run," said Checa, who was unharmed in the fall. "I was running into turn seven, and maybe I got in a little too tight, I was braking hard, so there wasn't too much weight on the rear, and the rear came around before I got on the gas and highsided me. But it was a slow crash, I'm okay and the bike too. Other than that, I feel quite good on the bike. Today we made detail improvements to suspension balance and power delivery, but small improvements can make a big difference at this kind of track."

Alex Barros (Honda) was fastest in the first three sessions at Valencia, but in the end he had no answer to Max Biaggi's stunning pace. "We had an engine problem this morning, so I was only able to do a few laps," said the Brazilian. "That meant that this afternoon I had to concentrate on testing tyres for the race, then trying for a quicker lap at the end, but I didn't quite make it." Daijiro Kato (Honda) was third, with top 500 rider Garry McCoy (Yamaha) completing the front row.

----- Red Bull -----

Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy earned himself a place in the MotoGP history books in Valencia today with an inspired ride to score the last ever front row start for a two-stroke 500 machine.

The 30-year-old Australian claimed his second successive front row start when he ended the final qualifying session of the 2002 campaign in fourth position. Only 2002 MotoGP winners Max Biaggi and Alex Barros, and reigning world 250 champion Daijiro Kato were quicker than McCoy.

His YZR500 was comfortably the fastest two-stroke on show, the next best being close to 0.5s behind him, and his brilliant display showed his pre-event optimism of finishing a difficult season on a high note was well placed.

McCoy set a fastest time of 1m33.794, which knocked 0.3s off his best time when he topped the time sheets at the winter IRTA test at Valencia back in February. He was 0.7s quicker than yesterday after following world champion Valentino Rossi on his decisive lap to help him better his time. His history making lap came on his penultimate lap of the session, and saw him jump from ninth place on the third row at a circuit where's he enjoyed some of the finest moments of his career.

In 1999, McCoy celebrated his first 500 podium with third in Valencia, and 12 months later he returned to win the race one of his three premier class victories. Despite yet another superb qualifying display, which saw McCoy outpace several of the more highly-fancied 990cc four-strokes, he is still predicting a tough battle in tomorrow's 30-lap race.

American team-mate John Hopkins produced another encouraging display as he looks to end his rookie MotoGP season with another points-scoring finish. He was disappointed with only slashing 0.5s off his best time from yesterday's session, that saw him drop down one place from the provisional grid to 17th. Hopkins was on course to go even faster on his last flying lap but was blocked by a slower rider.

Garry McCoy - 4th - "I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but I guess down the track, I'll be proud to look back and know that I put a 500 on the front row of a GP for the last time they raced. When I did a 1m34 here in pre-season testing, I thought that was as good as it gets on a 500 at this track, so going quicker today makes me pretty happy. With all the tight corners here, it is easy to get lost with the braking markers. Because the four-strokes pull away so easy on the straights, on a 500 you can use them as a braking marker to close the gap again on the brakes and through all the tight corners and that's what I did with Valentino Rossi. I don't think Valentino liked the idea of me following him though. I've never really liked my chances on a 500 in the race. It will be difficult because when you are on a 500, you have to push the bike to the limit and take risks all the time to stay with the four-strokes which just pull away so easy on the straights."

John Hopkins - 17th - "We came in through T3 and through most of T4 and its not much of a passing zone through there anywhere, and Regis Laconi kept looking back, he knew I was there but he was just hanging around on the race line. He was just cruising and I had to make a desperate pass just to get by him. I'd say that had a big impact on my time because I definitely think I'd have been up a couple more places. I certainly felt there was more to come. Some of these riders have got to learn to get out of the way when they are on their in-lap. This isn't the first time Laconi has done it either. We went through a lot of race tyres and I'm pretty confident we've got a good choice for tomorrow. It's the race that counts though so hopefully Išll get a good start and just go for it."

Peter Clifford - Director of Racing - "That was another superb performance from Garry and Dunlop. This time I really think we have a chance in the race to put the disappointments of the last month behind us. It was another solid performance from John and I'm sure he can end his debut season on a high note."