Capirossi on pole for Assen GP

Loris Capirossi has taken pole position for the Dutch MotoGP race on Saturday with a 1:59.770 lap, moving him ahead of countrymen Max Biaggi and Valentino Rossi.

Throughout practice and qualifying the three Italians have been heading the field, but until now it had been reigning champion Rossi who was fastest.

In the second practice session all three Italians dipped under the two-minute barrier for the first time, with Biaggi and Rossi separated by 0.23 of a second. Fourth is Carlos Checa on the Fortuna Yamaha M1, followed by the Gauloises Yamahas of Oliver Jacque and Alex Barros.

1) Capirossi 1:59.770. 2) Biaggi 1:59.941. 3) Rossi 1:59.964. 4) Checa 2:00.169. 5) Jacque 2:00.294. 6) Barros 2:00.501. 7) Gibernau 2:00.501. 8) Melandri 2:00.553. 9) Edwards 2:00.579. 10) Nakano 2:00.693. 11) Ukawa 2:00.929. 12) Hayden 2:00.998. 13) Bayliss 2:01.147. 14) Haga 2:01.188. 15) Kagayama 2:01.601. 16) Hopkins 2:01.715. 17) Hofmann 2:02.172. 18) Tamada 2:02.351. 19) McWilliams 2:02.996. 20) Pitt 2:03.371. 21) McCoy 2:03.407. 22) Kiyonari 2:03.707. 23) Aoki 2:06.172.

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