The Valencian GP, which will bring an end to the 2005 season, has double importance for the Telefonica Movistar Honda MotoGP team, and it showed in the first day of qualifying.

Sete Gibernau wants to end the season with a win in front of his fans while Marco Melandri is looking to seal the runner-up title.

The Italian arrives at the final round in prime form and succeeded intaking provisional pole with a time of 1’33.464 which improved his time from this morning by four tenths. Sete also claimed a place on the front row at the track on which he claimed his first MotoGP victory back in 2001. The Movistar Honda rider ended the morning session just behind Carlos Checa and was just 59 thousandths behind his team-mate in the afternoon.

MARCO MELANDRI (1st, 1’33”464): “From the first moment I felt comfortable on the bike. I went out on to the track with a set-up which was a mixture of the one we found in pre-season here and the one which worked so well in Turkey. I know our rivals will improve tomorrow, but I’m in form and can improve as well. I hope to be up on the podium on  Sunday, but more important than winning is finishing the season as runner-up”.

SETE GIBERNAU (3rd, 1’33”523): “In the morning we focused on finding the compromise set-up that you need here at Valencia, a bike that is balanced in all aspects. The team gave me a bike I felt comfortable on right from the morning session, and I found a good rhythm on race tyres. In the afternoon we built on the good start we had made in the morning and we were solid throughout the day. Michelin has helped us with a good selection of tyres and we must confirmed tomorrow” 

LAP TIMES
1. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda)1’33”464
2. Carlos Checa (Spa/Ducati) + 0”042
3. Sete Gibernau (Spa/Honda) + 0”059
4. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) + 0”258
5. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) + 0”266
6. Alex Barros (Bra/Honda)  + 0”503
7. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) + 0”576
8. Max Biaggi (Ita/Honda) + 0”630