Valentino Rossi and Fonsi Nieto set the pace in Britain.
Provisional pole for Rossi and Nieto, Pedrosa second in the 125cc and Barberá fourth.
First qualifying practice of the British Grand Prix and Valentino Rossi keeps on setting the pace in the premier category, clocking the fastest time both in the morning’s free practice and in the afternoon’s timed session. The Repsol rider has dominated the first timed practices from the beginning to the end. Troy Bayliss, on his Ducati was the only one to snatch the leading position but only for a short instant. His team-mate Nicky Hayden, getting used to the new circuit, showed a good performance, riding constantly among the top twelve, finishing twelfth fastest after his first contact with the British track.
In the 250cc, Fonsi Nieto was the man who set the pace in the class, clocking a time half a second quicker than the second fastest, Manuel Poggiali, also on an Aprilia. Toni Elias has also been among the fastest riders taking the lead on several times during the session. He finished fifth, however, after making several changes on his bike that did not bring the expected results. Sebastián Porto was tenth, Joan Olivé sixteenth and Héctor Faubel nineteenth.A highly contended timed session in the minor category, with an intense fight for the provisional pole position between several riders; Dovizioso, Pedrosa, Perugini, Barberá, Jenkner and Pablo Nieto were on the top of the sheet during the last ten minutes of the session. A masterful lap of Dovizioso in the last minute allowed him to snatch the provisional pole, followed by Pedrosa, only three hundreds of a second behind him. Héctor Barberá set the fourth fastest time, while Pablo Nieto was set back due to the heavy traffic on the track during his last fast lap, having to settle for the eighth fastest time of the session.
