Dorna

Loris Capirossi set his third pole position on the Ducati Desmosedici in perfect conditions at the Estoril circuit this afternoon as Italian supremacy once again shone through in the MotoGP World Championship. After a hugely entertaining session which saw Sete Gibernau, Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano all mount strong challenges for top spot, it was the Latin trio of Capirossi, Max Biaggi and Valentino Rossi who stamped their authority on the final qualifying session and swept the front three positions on the grid for tomorrow's race. Capirossi's time of 1'38.412 is a new pole position record and the former 125cc and 250cc World Champion admitted even he was surprised by his pace.

"I joked with Sete (Gibernau) before the session that I could do 1'38.5 because I was so confident about the changes we had made to the settings in the morning but I didn't expect to go faster," said Capirossi afterwards. "The bike is improving all the time and that is good both for us and for the championship. I think the rhythm for the race will be completely different but in any case I am happy with the settings we have and the times I was able to do on a race tyre."

Gibernau was forced to settle for a front row start in fourth place, despite improving his time on his second machine after first crashing and then running into the gravel as he pushed to improve his rhythm. After setting the second fastest time yesterday, Olivier Jacque was baulked by a slower rider in the final two sections of a last gasp lap which had him on course to snatch pole position from Capirossi. However, the Frenchman equalled his best ever grid position on the Yamaha M1 with fifth place, just ahead of former team-mate Shinya Nakano. The pair are joined on the second row by factory colleague Carlos Checa and the second Ducati ridden by Troy Bayliss.

Tohru Ukawa was one of the major victims of the improved pace today, dropping from the front row to the third, where he is joined by Makoto Tamada, Marco Melandri and Alex Barros. Further down the order, Spanish rider David De Gea will pilot the WCM four-stroke on its race debut starting from 22nd on the grid, ahead of 2000 winner Garry McCoy on the Kawasaki.

Toni Elias holds pole position for the 250cc race although it is unclear yet whether or not he will ride. The 20 year old was knocked off his Aprilia by a wildcard rider at the end of the morning free practice session and suffered concussion and a nasty cut to his chin. After deciding not to ride this afternoon, Elias was taken to a hospital in Lisbon for precautionary tests. However, none of the other riders were able to match Elias' time from yesterday, with second placed Randy De Puniet only able to come within 0.203 seconds of the Spaniard. De Puniet's French compatriot Sylvain Guintoli will make his first ever front row start from third place, just ahead of series leader Manuel Poggiali. Fonsi Nieto suffered a mechanical problem when trying to improve his times at the end of the session and will start from the back of the second row in eighth place behind Sebastian Porto, Franco Battaini and Roberto Rolfo.

Alex De Angelis took his second straight pole position in the 125cc class after dropping his provisional time by 1.5 seconds. De Angelis set a sensational lap of 1'45.580 on his Aprilia, over half a second quicker than Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, who snatched second spot in an entertaining climax to the session which saw riders chop and change positions right the way through the grid. Jorge Lorenzo was relegated to third by his compatriot after slotting his Derbi onto the front row in second, whilst Stefano Perugini posted a late effort to seal fourth just moments before crashing out in a clash with fellow Italian Stefano Bianco. Youichi Ui will make his first start on the Gilera from twelfth, one place ahead of World Champion Arnaud Vincent, who races an Aprilia for the first time since winning the title at Valencia last November.

Ducati

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi stormed to pole position at windswept Estoril this afternoon, team-mate Troy Bayliss securing a second-row start for his first race at this challenging circuit. Capirossi’s third pole of the year highlights recent detail improvements to the team’s awesomely fast Desmosedici MotoGP bike. These upgrades include a new Ohlins front fork, a new chassis and new bodywork which improve the bike’s rideability.

“We are always improving our motorcycles,” said Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali. “These latest upgrades are not huge improvements, but Ducati’s philosophy is always this – that many tiny steps forward give you a big step forward. We already knew that the basic concept of the Desmosedici is good, so now we are building on that concept, using our racing experience to keep moving forward. And we like to stay loyal to what we know – like our desmodromic engine and trellis chassis – which is why we don’t experiment with totally new technology all the time. We prefer steady improvements.

“Tomorrow’s race will be difficult. Maybe we didn’t have the fastest overall pace this afternoon but we made some tiny improvements to our set-up today and maybe we can make some more for the race.”

Loris Capirossi rode the fastest-ever lap of Estoril in this afternoon’s final qualifying session to secure pole position for tomorrow’s Marlboro Portuguese GP for the Ducati Marlboro Team. This is the third pole of the year for the Italian rider and his crew; previously Capirossi had qualified fastest for May’s Spanish GP and June’s Dutch TT. He also won Ducati’s first MotoGP victory at Catalunya in June.

“I’m very happy,” grinned Capirossi, whose pole time was a phenomenal 1.38 seconds inside last year’s Estoril pole. “We’ve done a great job here over the past two days, and this pole position is like a present for everyone in the team. The bike was perfect this afternoon. This morning I was joking with (Sete) Gibernau that I’d do a 1m 38.5, but I went even faster than that, which is great. The race will be very difficult but after today I’m confident that I can be part of the fight for victory.”

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss was happy enough with his qualifying performance that puts him on the second row for his first race at Estoril. The Australian continued to make progress with set-up throughout today and completed all of this morning’s session with the same Michelin rear, making him confident that he’s got a good tyre choice for tomorrow’s race.

“I’ve not got a lot of experience here – we only got one dry day of testing here pre-season – so I’m happy with eighth, it’s about normal,” said Bayliss, who rode his best MotoGP race so far at Brno three weeks ago, finishing third, just 0.6 seconds behind the winner. “We made some progress on a few things today, especially fixing some instability we’d been having on the brakes, and I’ve got a few more ideas for tomorrow. But like every GP it’s during the race that we really learn stuff, which will hopefully pay off next year. The plan is to make some more progress in morning warm-up, then get a good start in the race.”

Kawasaki

Despite suffering from an energy-sapping heavy cold Fuchs Kawasaki rider Andrew Pitt produced a dramatic improvement in lap times to qualify on the fifth row of the grid for tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix.

Pitt cut 1.3s from his Friday time to hold 20th on grid from the opening qualifying session. A MotoGP rookie, Pitt worked solidly to fine tune his knowledge of the Estoril circuit using the base set-up from the recent Brno race where he finished as the first Kawasaki rider in 16th.

However it was a frustrating day for Pitt's team-mate Garry McCoy, who went just two tenths faster and dropped four places down the grid to 22nd on the final time sheet.

McCoy is considered a master of the always windy Estoril, but today he struggled to find a comfortable set-up for the long sequence of tight, slow corners.

This section contrasts dramatically with the fast main straight where Pitt's Ninja ZX-RR today posted an impressive 316 kph in the radar speed trap just before the braking zone into turn one.

Having been restricted to one bike during Friday's practice and qualifying because of an electrical problem McCoy spent today playing catch-up in a bid to evaluate new front end settings developed from the recent Brno tests. The results were inconclusive and McCoy will revert to a base set-up on both of his race machines for tomorrow's 28 lap race.

Importantly today's warmer final qualifying session allowed the riders to confirm that Dunlop have some excellent race tyre options, backing up the data that was collected with yesterday's slightly cooler track temperatures.

Andrew Pitt - 20th - 1:41.020 - "I'm feeling slightly better than yesterday but I still went on a drip at the clinic before the session and I didn't do a lot of long runs today in order to save some energy for the race. Overall I'm pretty happy to have gone more than a second faster today and I'm sticking with the base set-up from Brno, which allows me to ride the bike to my strengths; brake hard and turn-in hard and not fiddle around changing too much. It was warmer today and we were able to confirm that Dunlop have some good race tyre options here and I found a front tyre that worked well in the heat. Hopefully I can get a good nights sleep to be ready for the race."

Garry McCoy - 22nd - 1:41.485 - "Today I tried the new front end set-up that showed some promise at the Brno test but it didn't feel as good here; I need more time to get comfortable on it which wasn't possible today. The main problem is I'm struggling into the slow corners and running wide, the engine feels like it's running-on with the throttle closed; and there are eight slow corners and only four fast ones so I'm losing time. For the warm-up we are going to set-up both bikes the same and try to get the race package right and just go for it. Starting at the back is not easy here."

Harald Eckl - Team Manager - "We knew that the Estoril circuit would be a stiff challenge for us, but it is unfortunate that the improvements we saw in the last two races have not translated to this track. Of course, Andrew's cold and the problems with Garry's bike yesterday have had an effect, but it is still disappointing that neither managed to qualify higher up the grid. Starting from the fifth row at such a tight circuit is always going to be difficult, but I'm confident that both Andrew and Garry will improve on their qualifying positions in tomorrow's race."

Proton Team KR

Team Proton KR rider Jeremy McWilliams emerged with nothing worse than a bruised hand after crashing out of the final qualifying session before he had been able to improve on his eighth-fastest time of yesterday. But he was powerless to prevent a loss of grid position as other riders improved, and will start tomorrow’s Portuguese GP from the fourth row of the grid.

Earlier in the session, McWilliams had been back on the V5 four-stroke, and came within less than half a second of the time he set yesterday on the nimble two-stroke. Further improvement was on the cards, but then a minor problem with a sprocket mounting sidelined the machine, and he decided to switch back to the 2002 two-stroke, hoping to go even faster on that. Instead the change of machine caught him out, and he crashed.

Team-mate Nobuatsu Aoki, who has been on the four-stroke KR V5 all weekend, did cut his time by close to a full second – but he also lost position, and was battling familiar problems with corner entry on the four-stroke, which is still in early stages of development … tomorrow will be only its fifth race.

But the team were measuring significant progress in the fast-forward public development programme, with two more engines in the latest power-up specification arriving last night for today’s session. As well as improved engine braking management, they also have a new chassis which represents a significant step forward in handling and rider feel.

Although last year’s two-stroke has already demonstrated how capable it can be at this technical circuit with many slow corners, both riders will race the new 990cc four-stroke tomorrow. Development of the new machine is more important than possibly getting a better race result on the old 500cc two-stroke.

JEREMY McWILLIAMS - "It’s not a good idea, jumping from one type of bike onto the other. The four-stroke was going well, but it had a problem with a sprocket carrier, and I had to pull in. I only had the one four-stroke for the session, but I had been planning a late run on the two-stroke, to try to get a better qualifying position, although I’d already almost matched yesterday’s time on the four-stroke. But then I crashed. It’s too easy to think you can do it."

NOBUATSU AOKI - "Not so good today. Things were going pretty well in the morning, but in the afternoon we were really struggling to find grip, especially at the rear. I’m not sure what changed. I was also struggling with the back wheel hopping into the corners. It’s very hard to say why – maybe it’s because we keep going faster!"

CHUCK AKSLAND – Team Manager - "We will definitely race the four-strokes tomorrow, and we learned quite a lot today with the new chassis, and two more latest-spec engines arriving last night. As always seems to happen, Jeremy had the better engine in the second-best chassis, and after the morning session there was only time to prepare one four-stroke after swapping the engine over. That’s why he had only one bike. But he came close to the two-stroke’s time before the bike stopped, and he probably could have gone faster again with it. It’s been a very encouraging day, and we’re definitely going in the right direction. All our guys have been working flat out for months now, and they deserve a lot of credit."

HRC

In typically blustery coastal conditions at Estoril near Lisbon, the four main men in the tightly-fought 2003 World Championship all qualified on the front row of the grid. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) secured the pole with a 1m 38.412s lap of the 4.182km track with four minutes of the hour-long session to go.

Try as they might, and the effort was palpable, neither Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V), Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V), nor Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) could topple the Italian rider. Biaggi qualified second, Rossi third and Gibernau fourth.

Wind conditions dropped slightly for today’s final qualifying session, but there were still enough gusts to make the stiff breeze a factor for all riders in the tortuous back section of the track, although it also meant riders’ progress along the start/finish straight was wind-assisted.

With riders opting to spend at least three-quarters of the session working on race set-up and trying various tyres for race endurance, there wasn’t much action until the final ten minutes – with the exception of Sete Gibernau’s antics halfway through the stint.

He pitted after 30 minutes to try his number two bike which had been fitted with super-sticky qualifying tyres. He crashed within minutes of leaving the pitlane, but remounted and returned to the garage to venture out once again on his number one machine fitted with race tyres.

This episode in no way upset the robust Spaniard and he was soon back into his rhythm and posting times in the 1m 38s bracket before running out of road at the end of the rapid start/finish straight and visiting the gravel trap.

An overnight surprise had been Olivier Jacque (Yamaha) who’d put in the second fastest time of yesterday’s provisional session. The Frenchman improved his time today, but it was only enough to secure him fifth place at the front of row two for the race. Shinya Nakano and Carlos Checa (both Yamaha) qualified sixth and seventh while Troy Bayliss put the other Ducati on row two in eighth.

Max Biaggi was on flying form after a trying time at Brno two weeks ago and the Roman is eager to get to the grid tomorrow. “What we planned to do yesterday worked out right,” he said. “We’re still not quite getting 100% from the bike, it has even more potential. That doesn’t mean I’m not happy with the job we’ve done. Over the two days I’ve always been among the fastest riders.”

Rossi’s bid for a pole attempt was hampered by the clock running down when he was ready to put in his best efforts. “We made a little mistake at the end,” he said. “I should have stopped and come in for a softer tyre but we didn’t have enough time. But it’s no big problem, I’m happy with third on the front row.”

Like the rest of the front row residents Gibernau is race ready. “I’ve found a good tyre,” he said. “I have a consistent rhythm and I feel good despite my crash. Most importantly I’ll start form the front row and I feel calm. Even after my crash I was still able to lap at 1m 38s, which is not a bad time at all.”

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda RC211V) qualified ninth and was happier with himself today after what the Japanese rookie regards as a two disappointing finishes at the last two races. “I’m pleased with the work we’ve done so far,” he said. “The first corner at the end of the straight isn’t easy but I feel I can be competitive for all 28 laps tomorrow at a good pace. There are plenty of places to overtake and that’s just right for my style of riding.”

After a subdued first half of the season Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) is coming back to form and although he could only manage to qualify tenth, he is race ready. “The grid position isn’t so good,” he said. “But I’m really comfortable on the bike. I just couldn’t get my fast laps in at the right time because of traffic. I need to get a start and then I’ll be all-out for a podium finish, which I feel I can do here.”

Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) is less happy in 15th, but the American remains optimistic the race will be when he will shine. “I’m struggling a bit here,” he admitted. “I don’t have the feel I want and I don’t have any consistency. The bike’s working well and the team’s working hard. Hopefully we’ll save the best for the race.”

Things are tough for Ryuichi Kiyonari (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) too in 19th, but the rookie Japanese is upbeat. “I’m happy because today’s objective was to lower my times,” he said. “I’ve achieved that and I’m really looking forward to the race and hoping for something that I’m not used to – a good start.”

Aprilia dominated 250 qualifying with four riders on the front row. Tony Elias is on pole, despite not riding in this afternoon’s session after crashing heavily in the free practice this morning. His time from yesterday’s provisional session, a 1m 42.255s lap proving sufficient to keep him at the head of the grid.

Randy de Puniet starts second, Sylvain Guintoli third and Manuel Poggiali fourth. Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) heads the second row in fifth place and the Argentine is confident he has the equipment to get the better of the Aprilias. “That wasn’t too bad today,” he said. “I’m happy enough with qualifying. The main thing is the bike has got good acceleration out of the turns and that’s exactly what you need here.”

Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) who qualified seventh on the second row of the grid, couldn’t find a clear track when he wanted it, but the Championship contender is sure he will be in with a chance of a win tomorrow. “Circumstance prevented me from improving my grid position,” he said. “But we’ve really improved the machine and I can feel this in my riding. And I don’t think starting from the second row of the grid will be that much of an inconvenience.”

Alex de Angelis (Aprilia) qualified on pole in the 125cc class with a 1m 45.580s lap, but Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS125R) is right next to him in second spot on the front row. Jorge Lorenzo (Derbi) is third and Pedrosa’s sparring partner Stefano Perugini (Aprilia) took fourth completing the front row.

“Things are more or less okay,” said Pedrosa. “De Angelis made a fast lap and then I came in and tried rear suspension adjustments, but then went back to the original settings. The race will be made in the opening laps and then in small groups at the end – it will all come down to picking the right moment to make a move.”

Andrea Dovisioso (Team Scot Honda RS125R) qualified eighth despite trouble braking for turn one at the end of the straight. “I’ve tried twin discs and a single disc set-up,” he said. “But I still haven’t decided which to use.”

Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) who broke his coccyx in his lower back in a heavy crash at Brno two weeks ago qualified 14th. “I feel fine,” said the 16-year-old. “It’s only when I come back into pitlane that it hurts a little bit.”

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Pons: 2nd: "I´m quite satisfied. It was hard work to make the step-up in set-up - but it was important. The bike now turns a lot better although it´s still not as stable as I´d like on the brakes. I´m feeling positive about tomorrow which will be a fast race, but Capirossi´s Ducati is quick and if he makes a mistake in the turns he can make up for it with his speed on the straight. But I´ll be looking to have a good race tomorrow."

Valentino Rossi , Repsol Honda Team: 3rd: "First row and third position. I'm very happy with the work of my team. We make good work with the settings. Yesterday we had some problems - especially with the rhythm. Today it's coming better. We did make a little mistake at the end. When I go past five minute from the end I read T3. I should have stopped and come in for a softer tyre but we don't have enough time. It was not possible to go faster on the tyre I had. No big problem. Tomorrow we hope for more dry weather and a little less wind."

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica Movistar Honda: 4th: “Generally I am happy with the session. From the start I had a good rhythm in the 1’39s and did quite a few laps with the race tyre, but I had a small problem with the bike and decided to take my second machine. Then I had a crash which made me lose a little time, but I went back out on the first bike which I wasn’t too happy with and was still able to lap in 1‘38, which is not a bad time at all. I think we have met our objective today – I have found a good tyre for the race, I have a consistent rhythm, I feel good despite my crash and most importantly I will start from the front row. Now I will have a chat with the team to discuss why we have had this problem with the bike but I feel calm and am looking forward to the race.

Makoto Tamada , Pramac Honda Team: 9th: "I'd really need to try out a few more details on the settings, but I must say I'm already very pleased with the work we've done so far. We'll just be doing the last race-configuration test in the warm-up tomorrow morning. I'm feeling assured and I'm confident about the race. I'm starting off from a good place and I'd like to get up towards the front. The first corner at the end of their home straight isn't easy but I'll be trying to get off to a good start and I feel I should be able to be competitive for all twenty-eight laps, maintaining a constant pace. There are plenty of places where one can overtake, especially when braking, so I'm really hoping I can ride a good race on a track that's just right for my style of riding."

Tohru Ukawa, Camel Pramac Pons: 10th: "The lap time was no good, but I feel good on the bike. I was going for a fast time right at the end of the session but I got slowed in traffic and it didn´t happen, but my times were consistent and we´ve definitely found a good race tyre. The start will be critical from row three for me. We´ll check our set-up is still okay in tomorrow´s warm-up and I think the race will be run in the high 1m 39s bracket or maybe the low 1m 40s range."

Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team: 15th: "That wasn't much good really. I'm kinda' strugglin' a bit around here. I just don't really have the feel I want and I don't have any consistency. The bike feels pretty good and the tyres - the team's working real hard but I'm just struggling. Can't really say that more than that really. Definitely got to work on a few things to find some speed. Tomorrow it's gonna' be a long race and I want to be in a position to be pushing hard. Got a few things to try tomorrow morning to try and pick it up a bit. Hopefully we'll save the best for the race."

Ryuichi Kiyonari, Telefonica Movistar Honda, 19th: “I am quite happy with today’s session because my objective was to lower my times and I have achieved that. I am really looking forward to the race tomorrow and I am hoping for something I am not used to – a good start!”

John Hopkins

Suzuki MotoGP rider John Hopkins improved on his times from Friday to Saturday’s sessions and qualified 17th for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portugal with a time of 1:40.766 on the 4.2-kilometer Estoril Circuit. Hopkins noted steady improvement in the Suzuki GSV Grand Prix bike during the weekend. He sited lack of time on the Estoril track as the main reason he didn’t qualify higher.

“This track is super tight and pretty bumpy in places,” Hopkins explained. “I’m still trying to come to terms with the last section of the track. Today I think I finally found some lines by following some of the others around. Last year we had a lot of wet sessions, plus I was on a two-stroke and the lines were totally different. Bottom line is I’m still coming up to speed with this track. I’d say it’s one of the more difficult tracks to learn.”

Ducati's Loris Capirossi took the pole position, the Italian lapping at 1:38.412.

Hopkins said his team found a suspension link that worked well in the morning session, but less so in the warmer temperatures of the qualifying session.

“The Ohlins (suspension) guys helped us with a spring that made a little improvement,” Hopkins said. “It really doesn’t show that much in the lap times, but it makes the bike more predictable and comfortable to ride.”

Hopkins said he hopes to put some finishing touches on getting his lines dialed in during the morning warm-up session tomorrow and hopes to turn in a solid race.

“In the morning I’ll try to perfect that last section of track and find a good rhythm through there. Hopefully in the race I’ll be able to get into a groove and hook up with a group and turn in some good laps.”

Hopkins finished eighth at Estoril last season after qualifying 15th.

Suzuki

Team Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. will start tomorrow's Portuguese GP from the fourth row of the grid, after slashing more than seven tenths of a second off his previous best lap time to qualify in 14th position.

Team-mate John Hopkins also found a significant improvement, in the second and final day of qualifying at the 4.182km circuit outside Lisbon, to retain his 17th position, one row behind Roberts.

The gradually improving overall performance of the Suzuki GSV-R MotoGP racer was an important factor so also was the nature of the Portuguese circuit, which combines a long and fast straight with some of the slowest corners of the year. It is very technically challenging for all riders, which plays in favour of 2000 World Champion Roberts. Kenny ended up more than a full second faster than his qualifying time last year on the previous-generation Suzuki GSV-R.

Hopkins is less familiar with the track, but showed his mettle with a fast learning curve, improving on his last year s qualifying time as he cut almost eight tenths of a second from yesterday to today.

The overall time improvement show how the hitherto difficult 2003 machine is picking up speed later in the season, with a shift in race department management bringing a new focus to solving the teething problems of the very radical and technically adventurous 990cc V4 racer. More improvements are expected as the season wears on, while the factory racing department is also concentrating on incorporating all of this season s lessons into next year s machine.

Estoril s notorious high winds were blowing again today, though not as fiercely as yesterday, with the final practice session taking place in warm and sunny conditions.

KENNY ROBERTS Jr. 14th Position, 1:39.839 - "This track is a lot like Suzuka, where the rider can make a lot of difference. The lines are real important here, and you have to be aggressive and do the right things to go fast. Essentially today we made a few changes from yesterday to try compensate for some engine characteristics with suspension changes, but it didn t feel as good as our base setting. It may sound far fetched to a normal person, but it s to do with controlling the attitude of the bike. It didn t seem too bad, but when we went back to the base settings from yesterday just to check, they were still better, so from there we worked on getting the bike ready for the full race distance. Like I said yesterday, we re going to try to get into the points which could be quite difficult, because there are some bikes behind me that should be a little faster over raced distance than us."

JOHN HOPKINS 17th Position, 1:40.766 - "We're just trying to keep improving the bike, and we tried a new suspension link this morning that worked better than yesterday s settings. Then in the afternoon we ran into difficulties with it. What worked in the morning didn't work in the afternoon, but it wasn t something we could change quickly so I had to run with it, get the best possible time and choose what we think will be the right race tyre for tomorrow. As for the final settings, we re going to have to try to work out why the bike was different in the afternoon, then make a judgement call as to what will work best for tomorrow. It ll be a long race, but I m pretty confident of finishing in the points, provided I can get a decent start."

GARRY TAYLOR Team Manager - "We're still looking for a good base setting for this bike, but Kenny went more than a second faster than last year on the previous-generation GSV-R, so we re going in the right direction. John ran into a puzzling problem, but he kept his concentration and took eight tenths off his time."

Yamaha

Day two of the Portuguese Grand Prix proved challenging with off-shore winds – gusting up to 28kmh at times – preventing any significant improvement up until the final ten minutes of the combined qualifier. It was at this stage the leader board came alive and Carlos Checa (Fortuna Yamaha Team) produced a 1’39.225 to feature on the front row. Unfortunately the result didn’t stick and Checa was relegated back to seventh, as the chequered flag brought the session to a close. Checa entered the second qualifying session confident he’d improve on his provisional qualifying time, and that’s just what the Spaniard did – by 0.680 second. It was, however, not enough to hold onto his provisional sixth place on the grid.

It was a similar story for Olivier Jacque (Gauloises Yamaha Team, 1’39.042), who was unable to retain his provisional number two grid position after a small mistake on his final flying lap. The Frenchman, who finished the session leading the second row for tomorrow’s main event, was well on his way to a pole position time when he lost half a second in the final stage of the lap.

Splitting the Pair was sixth placed Shinya Nakano (1’39.159), the d’Antin Yamaha Team rider putting in a gutsy performance on the M1 despite the bruising and pain he suffered in his colossal Brno MotoGP qualifying crash. Meanwhile Marco Melandri (Fortuna Yamaha Team) put in an impressive and consistent run this afternoon to feature well in the top ten throughout; setting the third fastest time in the closing stages before finishing 11th overall with a 1’39.557. Despite dropping back to the third row the 21-year-old Italian is still confident he will be able to put in a competitive performance come race day.

Setting the benchmark was Ducati rider Loris Capirossi, who bettered Checa’s 2002 pole position time by 1.381 seconds, to secure the number one slot with a 1’38.412. He qualified ahead of Max Biaggi (Honda, 1’38.718), Valentino Rossi (Honda, 1’38.774) and Sete Gibernau (Honda, 1’38.920).

Gauloises Yamaha Team
Olivier Jacque 5th, 1’39.042: “We had a good session today even though the wind picked up considerably, which made things a little bit more complicated. Then on my last run I was blocked by another rider on my first fast lap. I carried on going, to try and get a second lap out of the tyre, and succeeded in posting two good first split times, but by the ‘T3’ the tyre had nothing left and I was forced to back off. Obviously I’m disappointed not to have kept my second place on the grid. On the other hand I have an excellent set-up and tyre choice for the race and am confident that I can put in a good performance.”

Alex Barros 12th, 1’39.571: “The bike is better than it was yesterday and I managed to improve my place on the grid, but it still isn’t great. Part of the reason for that is that we decided not to use the qualifying tyre, but instead concentrate on setting the bike up for the race. Hopefully we will be able to carry on improving the bike during tomorrow’s warm-up and in the end put in a reasonable race performance.”

D’Antin Yamaha Team
Shinya Nakano 6th, 1’39.159: “It’s a very good result, bearing in mind my physical condition. Today I was very confident riding the bike, and lap by lap I was trying and pushing harder. I enjoyed the last lap very much. Both the bike and I are at 80 percent at the moment, but I aim to improve this in tomorrow’s warm-up.”

Fortuna Yamaha Team
Carlos Checa 7th, 1’39.225: “I’ve been trying as hard as I can but I couldn’t get past the same limitations that we had yesterday. We tried new tyres this afternoon, which offered some improvement, but I still need more side grip in some areas, especially on the front. I was feeling quite slow in all parts of the circuit today, but especially the last part. It’s most difficult in the areas where the bike is on its side for a long time. Anyway seventh is not the worse qualifying position – hopefully I can get a good start.”

Marco Melandri 11th, 1’39.557: “This morning was not so bad. Then we had some problems this afternoon with the tyres that we were considering for the race. It was windier this afternoon than this morning as well, and the tyres felt a bit too hard for me in these conditions. In the end I was quite fast in the first three sections of the track but slow in the last section – I think it was the same for the other Yamahas. On the last corner I couldn’t get on the power well enough and I don’t know why. Anyway I felt better than yesterday and better than in Brno. The qualifying is so fast and tight now, it’s unbelievable.”    

WCM

David de Gea - 21st 1'41.105 - "A very good day for me, my mechanics and the whole team. I am very happy, the bike is working well and my laps time are very consistent. Tomorrow we are aiming for fast, consistent lap times, somewhere in the 43's. I am so happy also, to finish in front of the factory Kawasaki of McCoy and up to the final lap, I was in 20th position, in front of Pitt also."

Chris Burns ­ 24th 1'42.199 - "I am disappointed to be where I am at the rear of the grid, but hopefully I will not be finishing the race in that position tomorrow. It's my first time here, so I am getting to know my way around now, after not having an opportunity yesterday to put in many laps at all. I've done 42 laps today, I'm struggling a bit with some front end chatter and the engine braking is very sensitive, so we have a few things to work on overnight, but basically the bike feels strong. I guess my laps times aren't to bad and I have made a significant improvement on my times from yesterday. Tomorrow I finally get to race the four stroke, I really look forward to that."

Peter Clifford ­ Team Manager - ""I'm absolutely thrilled. Everyone's done a brilliant job. We only came here with two engines for the two riders and we've qualified in front of people with more money, backing and track time. We all know that it is race day that counts, but I certainly wasn't sure that we'd get this far on our first attempt."

Casey Stoner - 125

After the operation of the left scaphoid of two weeks ago, Casey Stoner is back on track for the 11th race of the 2003 season. Unfortunately the young Australian rider slipped out during the qualifying session beating the left collarbone once again. Now Casey is still checking his bodily conditions with the doctors.

Casey Stoner 13° (1’47”805) - “This morning in free practices I went very steady to find out how many problems my wrist would give me. I completed 20 laps and was happy with how fast I could go. The braking was the main thing stopping me going faster as my left wrist would not support the weight of my body properly. In qualifying the doctors taped me my wrist and this helped a lot and I felt I could go much faster without pain. Unfortunately after about 10 minutes of qualifying my bike sized and I was thrown onto my left shoulder damaging my collarbone fractured in Brno”.