Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri put everything into the final qualifying session of the season and will start from the front row of the grid in the final Grand Prix of the season at Valencia.

After a magical lap Sete Gibernau celebrated his fifth pole of the season and the eleventh of his career.  Tomorrow he will try  and provide the perfect end to a season in which he has again been the fastest and most consistent qualifier.  The BMW he will receive in a special ceremony tomorrow is proof of that fact, with Sete beating Valentino Rossi by three and half seconds in the overall qualifying classification. 

His fastest time (1’31”874) represents the fastest ever lap in the history of the circuit, knocking six tenths off the previous best, held by Rossi since 2003.

Marco Melandri also fought for pole position until the final second of the session, when a small mistake forced him to settle for second place.  The battle with Nicky Hayden, who also starts from the front row, for the runner-up spot in the Championship is sure to be intense.

SETE GIBERNAU (1^st 1’31”874): “This pole gives me a lot of pride and I want to dedicate it to the people who continue to believe in me, my family and myself.  Even though a lot of people have focused on the negative side of the season, in my view, there have been a lot of positive aspects: we have been fastest in qualifying, spent most laps leading the races and due to bad luck and the occasional mistakes, we have not been able to make the most of this hard work at every Grand Prix.  I hope to do it here, at home, in the final race of the year.  I want to fight for the podium and the victory if it is possible, and finish with my best result of the season.”

MARCO MELANDRI (2^nd 1’32”111): “I am happy with the result of the qualifying – to start from second is very good, although I am a bit annoyed because I made a small mistake on the last qualifying tyre and when I changed to a new one the bike was sliding around and I lost time.  In any case, in the afternoon we were very competitive after suffering a little bit in the final free practice this morning.  Now we are ready to give our best and tomorrow I will do everything I can to finish second in the Championship.”

LAP TIMES
1. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) 1’31”874
2. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) + 0“237
3. Nicky Hayden (USA/Honda) + 0”343
4. Carlos Checa (Esp/Ducati) + 0”500
5. Max Biaggi (Ita/Honda) + 0”510
6. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) + 0”582