Front row for Valentino Rossi, Fonsi Nieto, Sebastián Porto and Héctor Barberá.
Sebastián Porto clinches his first pole of the season in Germany.
Rivals getting stronger and some setting problems hindered Valentino Rossi from clocking the fastest time in the MotoGP class today. Rossi, who had been leading the time sheets until the last ten minutes of the session had to watch first Jeremy McWilliams and finally Max Biaggi clinching the pole. Biaggi took the pole by just 2 thousands of a second. Rossi will be starting tomorrow from the fourth position of the starting grid, while his team-mate Nicky Hayden will be starting from the fourth row, after setting the fifteenth fastest time. Hayden, who made a good free practice this morning, setting the seventh fastest time, three seconds behind the fastest rider, wasnt able to equal his times in the afternoon and will consequently have to make a good start tomorrow if he wants to finish among the top riders.
In the 250cc, the big surprise came with the YPF rider Sebastián Porto, who despite the differences between his bike and the Aprilia, has been able to leave the rest of the riders behind and set the fastest time of the session, clinching his first pole of the season and the second of his sports career. Fonsi Nieto, with the rain threatening to appear, decided to get on the track twenty minutes before the end of the session, with qualifying tyres, set his fastest time and then keep on working on the settings for the race. This intelligent manoeuvre allowed him to get a place on the front row, fourth, without having to join the fight for the pole and focussing on tomorrows race. His team-mate Toni Elias followed similar tactics a couple of minutes later, but with a different result. Problems with the set-up send the Repsol rider back to ninth place and he will be taking the start tomorrow from the third row of the starting grid. Héctor Faubel and Joan Olivé, trusting to give more than a surprise tomorrow, will be starting from the fourteenth and the fifteenth place respectively.
In the 125cc, Héctor Barberá has been the fastest of the Repsol riders. Despite finishing yesterday in a back twelfth position, the team and Barberá have done an excellent job today boosting him up to the third position of the starting grid. Barberá, who set the fastest time several times during the last minutes of the session, was finally passed by Perugini, pole, and De Angelis. His team-mate Pablo Nieto, third fastest after yesterdays session has not been able to keep his position and will be taking the start from the fourth row of the grid after setting the thirteenth fastest time. Nieto and his team hope to solve the problems theyve had for tomorrow in order to be able to fight for the race victory. Dani Pedrosa, who isnt really having his best race weekend of the season at the Sachsenring finished seventh fastest, but tomorrow hell be with no doubt one of the candidates for victory at the first race of the German Grand Prix.
