Rossi on provisional pole for Sunday

Valentino Rossi posted a new qualifying record lap to take provisional pole for Sunday’s Spanish GP at Valencia.

The Italian posted a time of 1:33.643 to lead an all-Honda front row. The only other ride to dip below 1:34 was his Repsol team-mate Nicky Hayden. The front row was completed by Sete Gibernau and Max Biaggi. First non-Honda was Carlos Checa in fifth, followed by Loris Capirossi. Jeremy McWilliams currently lies in 13th position, while Chris Burns has not posted a qualifying time.

1) Rossi 1:33.643. 2) Hayden 1:33.934. 3) Gibernau 1:43.205. 4) Biaggi 1:34.817. 5) Checa 1:34.855. 6) Capirossi 1:35.029. 7) Ukawa 1:35.128. 8) Barros 1:35152. 9) Bayliss 1:35.253. 10) Tamada 1:35.422. 11) Abe 1:35.522. 12) Edwards 1:35.811. 13) McWilliams 1:35.960. 14) Roberts 1:35.992. 15) Jacque 1:36.010. 16) Hopkins 1:36.183. 17) Nakano 1:36.280. 18) Aoki 1:36.333. 19) McCoy 1:36.725. 20) Pitt 1:36.864. 21) Kiyonari 1:36.933. 22) De Gea 1:37.678. 23) Haga 1:37.850

DNQ: Burns.

250cc:

1) De Puniet 1:36.957. 2) Guintoli 1:37.790. 3) Battaini 1:37.897. 4) Poggiali 1:37.970. 5) Debon 1:37.998. 6) Elias 1:38.126. 7) Rolfo 1:38.479. 8) West 1:38.586. 9) Porto 1:39.174. 10) Matsudo 1:39.192. 11) Smrz 1:39.383. 12) Faubel 1:39.438. 13) Nieto 1:39.993. 14) Heidold 1:40.044. 15) Nigon 1:40.324. 16) Davies 1:40.424. 17) Baldolini 1:40.495. 18) Bataille 1:40.536. 19) Marchand 1:40.543. 20) Olive 1:40.947. 21) Rous 1:41.017. 22) Stigefelt 1:41.044. 23) Pesek 1:41.145. 24) Lagemaat 1:43.010. 25) Gemmel 1:43.638

DNQ: Leblanc. Polzer. Lakerveld. Molina. Hules.

125cc:

Marco Simoncelli has taken his first provisional pole. The 16-year-old Italian emerged as the fastest rider in cold and windy conditions at the Spanish circuit.

1) Simoncelli 1:42.537. 2) Talmacsi 1:43.276. 3) Stoner 1:43.324. 4) Jenkner 1:43.402. 5) Dovizioso 1:43.459. 6) Vincent 1:43.491. 7) Bautista 1:43.730. 8) Giansanti 1:43.787. 9) perugini 1:43.810. 10) Luthi 1:43.830. 11) Kallio 1:44.030. 12) De Angelis 1:44.054. 13) Azuma 1:44.091. 14) Borsoi 1:44.150. 15) Ui 1:44.268. 16) Sabbatani 1:44.362. 17) Hernandez 1:44.441. 18) Lai 1:44.629. 19) Simon 1:44.662. 20) Nieto 1:44.700. 21) Gadea 1:44.764. 22) Cecchinello 1:44.951. 23) Lorenzo 1:45.053. 24) Barbera 1:45.340. 25) Toth 1:45.491. 26) Ballerini 1:45.517. 27) Giuseppetti 1:45.615. 28) Harms 1:45.769. 29) Bonache 1:45.944. 30) Corsi 1:46.215. 31) Di Meglio 1:46.438. 32) Locatelli 1:46.475. 33) Alzamora 1:46.554. 34) Bianco 1:47.135. 35) Pellino 1:47.293. 36) Ortega 1:48.115.

DNQ: Danese

Discuss the provisional grid on the MotoGP discussion board by following the link on the right. Both Neil Hodgson and Honda will be making announcements over the weekend (see link), and we’ll have the news first on motorcyclenews.com.