Yamaha first and second in qualifying at Mugello

Carlos Checa squeezed out his Marlboro Yamaha teammate Max Biaggi by just one tenth of a second to claim provisional pole at Mugello, Italy today, ahead of Sunday’s MotoGP race.

The Spaniard, whose career has been rejuvenated by the switch to the four-stroke M1, lapped the 3.3mile circuit in 1:52.086. His Marlboro team have received more new parts since Le Mans two weeks ago and extensive testing seems to being paying dividends.

Reigning champion and series leader Valentino Rossi was third on the Honda RCV. Britain’s Jeremy McWilliams was tenth on the Kenny Roberts’ Proton, nearly one and a half seconds off the pace.

1)C Checa 1:52.086 2) M Biaggi 1:52.197 3) V Rossi 1:52.201 4) L Capirossi 1:52.592 5) T Ukawa 1:52.768 6) K Roberts 1:52.974 7) J Hopkins 1:53.350 8) A Barros 1:53.350 9) S Gibernau 1:53.464 10) J.McWilliams 1:53.510

The 250 and 125 qualifying positions will be added shortly.