Capirossi takes third GP pole

Italians dominate the front row of the grid forstart of the Portuguese GP, with Loris Capirossi on pole followed by Max Biaggi and Valentino Rossi.

Capirossi finished the warm but blustery session with a best time of 1:38.412, but he had to fend off challenges from at least six other riders. Biaggi and Rossi finished just over 0.3 seconds behind him while Sete Gibernau had to settle for fourth position after crashing and then running in to the gravel as he pushed for a faster lap.

After a storming challenge on Friday that saw him take second place on the provisional grid, Olivier Jacque was left in fifth position when a last ditch attempt to snatch pole that looked like it might succeed was scuppered by a slower rider getting in the way.

The second row of the grid is finished by Shinya Nakano, Carlos Checa and the second Ducati of Troy Bayliss.

To comment on this story click the link on the right to go to our GP discussion board.