Biaggi improves to keep pole.

Max Biaggi found time in his pace-setting Yamaha to keep pole position out of reach of his GP500 rivals at Brno.

The Italian spent much of the hour-long session attempting to perfect his race set-up for tomorrow's Czech Republic GP, and waited as his closest challengers edged closer to his overnight pole time before going for a new mark of his own.

Loris Capirossi again proved to be Biaggi's biggest threat lowering his Friday time to within a couple of tenths of top spot, despite riding with a fresh fracture on his right hand after crashing in the morning practice session. Although the injury was heavily taped, the Italian Honda Pons rider found a tenth in his bike on one of his sporadic outings, forcing Biaggi to swap tyre testing for a shot at security.

Kenny Roberts held third place without even trying, having spent the entire hour working on a viable set-up for Sunday. The championship leader did not appear to concerned at the post-session press conference either, claiming that his Suzuki was 'pretty much dialled in' when it was unloaded off the transporter.

The battle for fourth, however, was a lot more intense, and overnight place holder Alex Criville was the biggest loser. Although safe from the initial threat posed by Garry McCoy, the Spaniard fell foul of Valentino Rossi's first improvement of the session to drop to fifth. Then, despite finding time of his own on the Repsol Honda, the reigning champion could only watch as a late McCoy effort dumped both Rossi and himself back to the second row.

They will be joined there by the Yamaha of Norick Abe and the first of the twins, in the hands of Tetsuya Harada. The Japanese rider found time late in the session, which was again run in hot conditions, and deposed both team-mate Jeremy McWilliams and Dutchman Jurgen van der Goorbergh. McWilliams had been the man on the move mid-session, bettering his Friday time without gaining any places before going faster still and jumping to sixth. The improvement was in vain, however, as others found time in pushed the Irish rider back to ninth. A late crash did not help matters, although McWilliams was at least able to get back to the pits under his own steam.

Row three was completed the off-key Alex Barros, who crashed heavily at the start of the session and spent the rest of the hour watching himself slide back through the order. Joining the Brazilian in the gravel were championship challenger Carlos Checa, who qualified 15th as a result, and Luca Cadalora, just as an improvement looked possible for the Modenas rider.

Full results will follow at the end of the day's action....

Leading qualifiers - GP500.

1. Max Biaggi Yamaha 2mins 01.291secs
2. Loris Capirossi Honda 2mins 01.675secs
3. Kenny Roberts Suzuki 2mins 01.713secs
4. Garry McCoy Yamaha 2mins 01.936secs
5. Valentino Rossi Honda 2mins 02.096secs
6. Alex Criville Honda 2mins 02.208secs
7. Norick Abe Yamaha 2mins 02.481secs
8. Tetsuya Harada Aprilia 2mins 02.631secs