The Telefónica Movistar Honda MotoGP team will start tomorrow’s Catalunya Grand Prix from the front of the grid, with Sete Gibernau on pole position and Marco Melandri immediately to his right as the pair aim to excel in a race where the high temperatures and tyre choice could be the key.

In the free practice this morning last year’s MotoGP World Championship runner-up was already on the pace, finding a good set-up for his bike and gathering the confidence to ride on the limit in the afternoon. With 15 minutes remaining, Sete moved to the top of the time sheets with a lap some two tenths of a second inside his 2004 pole record and 2.3 seconds inside his own circuit record.

Marco Melandri was also on top form once again at a circuit he feels comfortable with after positive winter tests here. In the afternoon he was the only rider capable of getting close to his team-mate, with the pair separated by just 0.053 seconds at the end of the session.

Fausto Gresini’s team hope to celebrate their 150^th Grand prix in style tomorrow as they look to add to an impressive total of 26 victories and 72 podiums.

SETE GIBERNAU (1^st, 1’42”337): “We’ve done a good job today, especially in the morning – the pace was very good. But we can’t get carried away at this stage because the race will be very tough tomorrow if the temperatures stay like they were during qualifying today. We haven’t tested too much in warm conditions and with a few extra degrees on the track this afternoon the grip levels were much lower and the performance of the bike was very different. We have to take a good look at the data and prepare ourselves as well as possible for the race.”

MARCO MELANDRI (2^nd, 1’42”390): “Today was a very positive day. Yesterday we found the right path to work along and we continued to make improvements today. The track conditions changed a lot from the morning to the afternoon and the heat made the bike slide around quite a lot. Michelin helped us to find more grip on the qualifying tyre and we also set a good time on race tyres. I made a small mistake in turn one on my fast lap but I’m very happy with this second place.”

LAP TIMES AND GRID POSITIONS

1. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda)        1’42”337
2. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda)       + 0”053
3. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha)        + 0”386
4. Max Biaggi (Ia/Honda)                  + 0”419
5. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda)           + 0”510
6. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati)           + 0”655
7. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha)        + 0”772
8. Carlos Checa (Esp/Ducati)            + 0”792
9. Alex Barros (Bra/Honda)               + 0”822
10. Makoto Tamada (Jap/Honda)         + 0”870