Capirossi takes pole

Loris Capirossi is on pole for the first round of the 2006 MotoGP championship at Jerez following a qualifying session which had to be red-flagged due to six riders crashing.

The session was only running for around five minutes when the Pramac Ducati of Alex Hofmann dropped oil first onto the rear tyre, and then onto the track as the German rider approached the Nieto corner. The next riders to arrive all fell, including Valentino Rossi, Kenny Roberts and both factory Kawasakis, meaning riders were forced onto their second machines when qualifying restarted.

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The second qualifying attempt saw Capirossi take pole with 1:39.064 from team-mate Sete Gibernau with 1:39.285, and Kawasaki’s Shinya Nakano with 1:39.526. Repsol Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa were fourth and fifth, while Valentino Rossi qualified in ninth position on the Camel Yamaha. Britain’s James Ellison managed 18th position, in front of last rider Alex Hofmann, but he has consistenly improved his times throughout the weekend, finishing up with a best of 1:42.341. Click here for the full time sheet.

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Jorge Lorenzo will start the 250cc GP event from pole on the Fortuna Aprilia, qualifying with a time of 1:43.270. Second fastest was Yuki Takahashi, with 1:43.684, followed by Hector Barbera in third, Shuhei Aoyama in fourth and Alex de Angelis in fifth. Britain’s Chaz Davies will be happy with a strong 16th position on the grid for the TicinoHosting Campetella Racing Aprilia team. For the full time sheet, click here.

125cc final qualifying: Mattia Pasini has qualified for the first pole position of his career in the final qualifying session for the 125cc GP at Jerez. The Master MVA Aspar Aprilia rider posted a time of 1:46.937, just pipping team-mate Alvaro Bautista, who lapped in 1:47.043. Third on the grid will be Lukas Pesek for Derbi Racing with 1:47.069, followed by Julian Simon and Hector Faubel. British rider Bradley Smith has qualified 24th on the grid for his GP debut with a time of 1:49.130 on the Repsol Honda. For the full time sheet, click here.

Morning practice:

Marco Melandri has gone fastest in the third free practice session for the opening round of the 2006 MotoGP championship on Sunday, March 26, 2006.

The Italian Fortuna Honda rider recorded a time of 1:40.699 as he racked up 26 laps during the session, closely followed by the Ducati of Loris Capirossi on 1:40.790, the factory Honda of Dani Pedrosa on 1:40.811, and the Ducati of Sete Gibernau on 1:40.961. Valentino Rossi was tenth quickest with 1:41.383. Britain’s James Ellison improved this morning to go 17th quickest with 1:43.005, heading Jose Luis Cardoso and Alex Hofmann. Carlos Checa and Randy de Puniet suffered minor crashes. For the full time sheet, click here.

In the 250cc GP second practice session, Jorge Lorenzo recorded the fastest time of 1:43.984 on the Fortuna Aprilia, followed by Alex De Angelis on the MVA Aspar machine with 1:44.284 and Hector Barbera on the other Fortuna Aprilia with 1:44.478. Britian’s Chaz Davies was 18th quickest with 1:46.643 riding effectively a standard Aprilia bike. For the full time sheet, click here.

In the second free practice session for the 125 GP class, Alvaro Bautista posted a fastest time of 1:47.049. Julian Simon was second quickest with 1:47.787, and Hector Faubel was third quickest with 1:47.836. Britain’s Bradley Smith was 26th quickest on the Repsol Honda with 1:49.966. KTM Red Bull Junior rider Stefan Bradl will miss the race due to a recurrence of a testing injury. For the full time sheet, click here.

MotoGP Qualifying times:

1. Loris Capirossi 1:39.064

2. Sete Gibernau 1:39.285.

3. Shinya Nakano 1:39.526.

4. Nicky Hayden 1:39.666.

5. Dani Pedrosa 1:39.734.

6. Toni Elias 1:39.875.

7. Marco Melandri 1:39.932.

8. Randy de Puniet 1:40.146.

9. Valentino Rossi 1:40.160.

10. Colin Edwards 1:40.181.

11. Chris Vermeulen 1:40.215.

12. John Hopkins 1:40.340.

13. Kenny Roberts 1:40.497.

14. Carlos Checa 1:40.851.

15. Casey Stoner 1:40.982.

16. Makoto Tamada 1:41.119.

17. Jose Luis Cardoso 1:41.749.

18. James Ellison 1:42.267.

19. Alex Hofmann 1:42.341.

250cc GP second qualifying times:

1. Jorge Lorenzo. 1:43.270

2. Yuki Takahashi 1:43.684.

3. Hector Barbera 1:43.870.

4. Shuhei Aoyama 1:44.019.

5. Alex de Angelis 1:44.166.

6. Anthony West 1:44.274.

7. Hiroshi Aoyama 1:44.578.

8. Marco Simoncelli 1:44.784.

9. Alex Baldolini 1:44.795.

10. Roberto Locatelli 1:44.869.

11. Andrea Dovizioso 1:44.967.

12. Dirk Heidolf 1:44.990.

13. Jakub Smrz 1:45.056.

14. Arturo Tizon 1:45.772.

15. Alex Debon 1:45.863.

16. Chaz Davies 1:46.194.

17. Martin Cardenas 1:46.207.

18. Manuel Poggiali 1:46.254.

19. Sylvain Guintoli 1:46.431.

20. Arnaud Vincent 1:46.440.

21. Jordi Carchano 1:46.726.

22. Sebastien Porto 1:46.947.

23. Alvaro Molina 1:47.359.

24. Jules Cluzel 1:48.188.

25. Michele Danese 1:48.402.

26. Luca Morelli 1:48.507.

27. Alessio Paulumbo 1:48.729.

28. Hans Smees 1:49.710.

DNQ: Sinan Sofuoglu, Taro Sekiguchi.

125cc GP second qualifying times:

1. Mattia Pasini 1:46.937.

2. Alvaro Bautista 1:47.043.

3. Lukas Pesek 1:47.069.

4. Julian Simon 1:47.365.

5. Hector Faubel 1:47.474.

6. Mika Kallio 1:47.603.

7. Gabor Talmacsi 1:47.908.

8. Sergio Gadea 1:47.967.

9. Pablo Nieto 1:48.009.

10. Joan Olive 1:48.133.

11. Mike Di Meglio 1:48.183.

12. Raffaele De Rosa 1:48.289.

13. Simone Corsi 1:48.371.

14. Angel Rodriguez 1:48.483.

15. Andrea Iannone 1:48.646.

16. Thomas Luthi 1:48.659.

17. Michael Ranseder 1:48.674.

18. Lorenzo Zanetti 1:48.685.

19. Alex Espargaro 1:48.693.

20. Sandro Cortese 1:48.813.

21. Lorenzo Baroni 1:48.923.

22. Nicolas Terol 1:48.956.

23. Federico Sandi 1:48.973.

24. Bradley Smith 1:49.130.

25. Fabrizio Ladi 1:49.178.

26. Mateo Tunez 1:49.338.

27. Imre Toth 1:49.930.

28. Vincent Braillard 1:50.034.

29. Hugo van den Berg 1:50.043.

30. Manuel Hernandez 1:50.117.

31. Karel Abraham 1:50.167.

32. Michele Conti 1:50.237.

33. Esteve Rabat 1:50.237.

34. Daniel Saez 1:50.919.

35. Enrique Jerez 1:51.190.

36. Simone Grotzkyj 1:51.782.

37. Joey Litjens 1:52.343

38. Ivan Maestro 1:52.552.

39. Roberto Tamburini 1:53.147

DNQ: Alexis Masbou, Stefan Bradl, Tomoyoshi Koyama.

MotoGP free practice three:

1. Marco Melandri 1:40.699.

2. Loris Capirossi 1:40.790.

3. Dani Pedrosa 1:40.811.

4. Sete Gibernau 1:40.961.

5. Casey Stoner 1:41.081.

6. Kenny Roberts 1:41.098.

7. Toni Elias 1:41.175.

8. Nicky Hayden 1:41.223.

9. Colin Edwards 1:41.374.

10. Valentino Rossi 1:41.383.

11. Randy de Puniet 1:41.526.

12. Shinya Nakano 1:41.549.

13. John Hopkins 1:41.550.

14. Chris Vermeulen 1:41.658.

15. Makoto Tamada 1:42.271.

16. Carlos Checa 1:42.763.

17. James Ellison 1:43.005.

18. Jose Luis Cardoso 1:43.113.

19. Alex Hofmann 1:43.155.

250cc GP free practice two:

1. Jorge Lorenzo 1:43.984.

2. Alex De Angelis 1:44.284.

3. Hector Barbera 1:44.478.

4. Anthony West 1:44.704.

5. Yuki Takahasi 1:44.882.

6. Alex Baldolini 1:45.023.

7. Roberto Locatelli 1:45.066.

8. Andrea Dovizioso 1:45.365.

9. Marco Simoncelli 1:45.417.

10. Dirk Heidolf 1:45.494.

11. Jakub Smrz 1:45.593.

12. Jules Cluzel 145.722.

13. Shuhei Aoyama 1:45.788.

14. Hiroshi Aoyama 1:46.058.

15. Arnaud Vincent 1:46.179.

16. Martin Cardenas 1:46.395.

17. Arturo Tizon 1:46.563.

18. Chaz Davies 1:46.643.

19. Alex Debon 1:46.684.

20. Manuel Poggiali 1:47.167.

21. Jordi Carchano 1:48.052.

22. Alvaro Molina 1:48.087.

23. Sebastien Porto 1:48.436.

24. Michele Danese 1:49.036.

25. Luca Morelli 1:49.344.

26. Alessio Palumbo 1:50.279.

27. Hans Smees 1;50.375.

28. Sylvain Guintoli 1:51.929.

29. Sinan Sofuoglu 1:52.624.

Taro Sekiguchi.

125cc free practice two:

1. ALvaro Bautista 1:47.049.

2. Julian Simon 1:47.787.

3. Hector Faubel 1:47.836.

4. Mattia Pasini 1:47.927.

5. Lukas Pesek 1:48.026.

6. Sergio Gadea 1:48.177.

7. Thomas Luthi 1:48.038.

8. Mika Kallio 1:48.497.

9. Andrea Iannone 1:48.593.

10. Pablo Nieto 1:48.671.

11. Joan Olive 1:48.687.

12. Simone Corsi 1:48.700.

13. Lorenzo Zanetti 1:48.828.

14. Fabrizio Lai 1:48.903.

15. Mike Di Meglio 1:49.092.

16. Gabor Talmacsi 1:49.145.

17. Sandro Cortese 1:49.211.

18. Alexis Masbou 1:49.212.

19. Angel Rodriguez 1:49.309.

20. Raffaele De Rosa 1:49.314.

21. Nicolas Terol 1:49.322.

22. Michael Ranseder 1:49.359.

23. Federico Sandi 1:49.362.

24. Tomoyoshi Koyama 1:49.684.

25. Alex Espargaro 1:49.740.

26. Bradley Smith 1:49.966.

27. Imre Toth 1:50.158.

28. Vincent Braillard 1:50.236.

29. Lornezo Baroni 1:50.433.

30. Mateo Tunez 1:50.443.

31. Manuel Hernandez 1:50.614.

32. Karel Abraham 1:50.920.

33. Esteve Rabat 1:51.485.

34. Hugo van den Berg 1:51.763.

35. Simone Grotskyj 1:51.815.

36. Michel Conti 1:51.826.

37. Daniel Saez 1:52.154.

38. Joey Litjens 1:52.306.

39. Enrique Jerez 1:52.420.

40. Roberto Tamburini 1:53.070.

41. Ivan Maestro 1:53.801.

Stefan Bradl