Italy leads way in MX des Nations.

The Italian team of Andrea Bartolini, Alessio Chiodi and Alex Puzar lived up to their pre-event hype as favourites for the 2002 Motocross des Nations by taking pole position for Sunday's races.

Two of the squad, Bartolini and Chiodi, were part of the 1999 winning threesome and both clocked times in their respective qualifying groups to place the tricolour trio in the number one slot ahead of France, Finland and Spain.

Sunshine and perfect clear blue skies graced the first day's activities. The 17 participating nations had been split, one rider apiece, into three groups and each pack undertook two free practice sessions in the morning and early afternoon before qualification commenced at three o'clock, allowing 30 minutes for every timed period.

Practice naturally saw the usual suspects emerge at the top. In Group One, local favourite Javier Garcia Vico, Andrea Bartolini and Jussi Vehvilainen headed the timing screens with Gordon Crockard and Serge Guidetty not far away. Group Two saw Alessio Chiodi fastest in both sessions, while Group Three saw Marko Kovalainen, Alex Puzar and Tanel Leok on the pace.

Qualification occurred on a rough circuit baked dry after a slushy and well-watered surface greeted the teams in the morning. Vico, clearly inspired on home turf, ended up with the quickest qualifying lap in the first group, almost half a second over Bartolini and a full second from Guidetty for France.

The set of 17 riders meant the track was hardly crowded and rapid lap-times were constantly being posted. Vico waited until the seventh of his nine circulations to record the best possible effort for his team. Jussi Vehvilainen was fourth for Finland on the Honda 450 he will ride in the 500cc GP class for 2003. Crockard for Ireland was in fifth, steering the prototype KTM 450 that will contest the 2003 250cc World Championship.

Portuguese rider Rui Gon?alves surprisingly ended up leading Group Two, knocking Italian Chiodi into second with a lap only three-tenths of second faster. Jocke Karlsson gained ninth for Sweden, despite a huge crash in the whoops when the Husaberg threw him over the bars, smashing up the front of his helmet and forced him to sit out the rest of the session.

The final qualifying group saw Marko Kovalainen come out top for Finland by two-tenths of a second from France's Thierry Bethys. Tanel Leok gave Estonia their best time of the day with third.

The list of ranked teams divides into two for the semi-final heats tomorrow. All three riders will represent their country and the Nations, with the best results will form final 'B' and then the main event final 'A'. The top ten countries after Saturday are: Italy, France, Finland, Spain, Estonia, Czech Republic, Belgium, Slovenia, Sweden and Ireland.

The semi-final draw means that the Italians race the Finnish trio of Vehvilainen, Kovalainen and Antti Pyrhonen, the Estonian team and Belgium. The second heat race sees Guidetty, Christophe Martin and Bethys of France face Vico, Aaron Bernardez and Oscar Lanza of Spain, with the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Ireland also in the mix.

"On paper we are looking good with some strong times today," Chiodi said of his team's chances, having gained an individual second place at the 250cc GP in Bellpuig a mere six months ago, "The race is a different matter and when the format is now one moto, like the grands prix, you need some luck to do well."

"I like this track and I feel good at the moment, but Vico and Kovalainen - as well as Andrea - are also fast so I will need a good start and everything to go perfectly to win tomorrow."