Toni Elias keeps the pole in Portugal despite not taking part in the second qualifying practice
After crashing at the end of the free session in the morning, suffering concussion, the Repsol rider was taken to Lisbon for a medical check.
Intense second practice day at the Estoril circuit with a bad start for Fonsi Nieto and Toni Elias. During the morning free practice session, Nieto had some off-tracks and a light crash, while Elias was knocked off by another rider in the last instants of the session. A strong bang on his head hindered Toni from taking part in the qualifying practice. He was taken to a hospital in Lisbon to have a CAT to confirm that there is no serious injury. But in spite of everything Elias kept the pole because none of the other riders managed to improve the time he had clocked yesterday afternoon. If after the medical check the doctors consider that he is able to take the start tomorrow, he will be starting from the leading sport of the grid. His team-mate Fonsi Nieto continued with the technical problems in the afternoon, setting the twelfth fastest time of the rather slow session due to the wind, with blasts of up to 25 km/h.. Thanks to the time he set yesterday, Nieto will be starting tomorrow from the second row of the grid with the eight fastest time. Sebastián Porto will be starting from the same row with the fifth fastest time. Joan Olivé clocked the seventeenth fastest time and his team-mate Faubel finished twenty-first. In the MotoGP class, Loris Capirossi, Max Biaggi, Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau protagonised an exciting battle for the pole. The Italian Ducati rider was finally the fastest, followed by Biaggi, Rossi and Gibernau, who suffered a light crash without physical consequences at mid-practice. Valentino Rossi tried hard until the very last moment to clinch the pole but despite not having made it he is satisfied with the place on the grid and with the rhythm for the race. Nicky Hayden, despite setting the eighth fastest time in the morning, was not able to improve his time in the afternoon, finishing the second qualifying session in fifteenth position.In the 125cc, Dani Pedrosa was once again one of the fastest riders of his class. Pedrosa set the fastest time in the morning free practice session, but had to settle for second in the afternoon behind a strong Alex De Angelis, who had already been fastest yesterday, thus joining him on the front row of the starting grid. Pablo Nieto, who managed to solve the technical problems he had yesterday, set the thirteenth fastest time in the morning and the fifth fastest in the afternoon, allowing him to take the start tomorrow from the second row of the grid. Less luck for his team-mate Héctor Barberá, who is still dealing with the same problems he had yesterday and had to settle for the twenty-second place and a start from the sixth row.