Rio GP. First practice

Toni Elias arrives with strength in Rio and sets provisional pole
Valentino Rossi and Fonsi Nieto also in the front line
 The MotoGP class has lived this afternoon a contended first timed session, with four riders, including Repsol rider Valentino Rossi, fighting for the pole until the end of the session. Biaggi, Capirossi, Gibernau and Rossi have been swapping positions, finally finishing in the said order and with only 4 tenths of a second between them. Nicky Hayden, again on a circuit he hasn’t been before, has shown a clear evolution along the day, moving from the fifteenth fastest time in the free practice to the twelfth place in the timed one, improving his time by over two seconds. In the 250cc, Toni Elias, who has shown himself especially fast and secure on the Brazilian track, dominated the session. After his victory in Portugal, Elias has arrived in Rio with the intention of doing his homework from the first day, setting the fastest time right from the first practice session, three tenths ahead of Rolfo and of his teammate Fonsi Nieto, who finished third, four tenths behind. The YPF rider Sebastián Porto finished sixth fastest, Héctor Faubel tenth and Joan Olivé fourteenth. In the minor category, the fastest rider has been today Alex De Angelis on his Aprilia. For Dani Pedrosa, Héctor Barberá and Pablo Nieto, today’s session has been rather a first contact session, with Pedrosa finishing fastest of them in sixth place. Héctor Barberá followed closely behind with the seventh fastest time and Pablo Nieto finished ninth.