Rossi takes first ever 500cc pole.

Valentino Rossi took his first ever 500cc pole position today, beating overnight pole sitter Loris Capirossi, with a last gasp effort in final qualifying for the South African Grand Prix.

Overnight pole sitter Loris Capirossi had been fastest in morning free practice, but ended the session second to fellow Italian Valentino Rossi - by just 0.001secs, with Ukawa third, Abe fourth and McCoy fifth.

The start of the 1-hour final 500cc qualifying session saw Kenny Roberts Jr. immediately on the pace and soon up into second behind Capirossi, the improvements made to the Suzuki overnight obviously suiting the American World Champion.

Morning pace setter Rossi then moved back in front of Rossi with 15mins gone, while Biaggi, who had suffered from chatter problems yesterday also improved - albeit more modestly - from an overnight tenth to ninth.

Next improver at the sharp end of the grid was 500cc rookie Tohru Ukawa, who jumped from sixth to second as he continued to impress on the #11 Repsol-YPF Honda.

20mins gone and Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy moved back into his overnight third position, as the Australian continued to stretch the laws of Physics, sliding sideways around the slippery Welkom circuit.

34 minutes into the session and Rossi shot to the top of the times, the World Championship leader setting a time of 1min 35.343secs lap, before pushing pole a further 0.307secs away from Capirossi (yet to improve) on his very next lap - and improving by 1.147secs on his personal best first qualifying time.

At the half way mark in the session Capirossi returned to the circuit to try and retake pole, however the West Honda Pons rider was unable to match Rossi's pace, although he improved his time from yesterday by 0.01secs.

The order at the front of the field with just over 20mins to go was: Rossi from Capirossi, Ukawa, McCoy, Nakano, Biaggi, Roberts and Haga.

A lull in the action then followed as the majority of the 500cc teams/riders prepared for their crucial final qualifying efforts.

First of the serious runners to return to the track and improve, with around 10mins left, was the #65 machine of Loris Capirossi who reduced Rossi's advantage to 0.069secs - before having second stolen by Shinya Nakano who reduced the already tiny margin to Rossi further.

Nakano, who had had a relatively low key qualifying session up to that point, then attempted to take Rossi's pole once again, ultimately losing out only in the final sector.

Just over 5 minutes left and the top teams performed a frantic quick rear tyre change, before sending their riders back out for a last gasp effort to shake up the 500cc starting order.

Rossi was already out on the track defending his time, but was unable to improve while Capirossi (third), now back out on track, began chipping away at his fellow countryman's time - and took pole, by 0.164secs, with 2mins to go.

Inside the last minute and Rossi fought back, and was quicker by 0.25secs at the second sector. The Nastro Azzuro rider duly crossed the finish line 0.243secs faster than Capirossi to take his first ever 500cc pole.

Another last gasp improver was Kenny Roberts Jr. whose never-say-die attitude saw him take fifth on his final lap.

Full times to follow...

1. Rossi - 1min 34.629secs
2. Capirossi - 1min 34.872secs
3. Nakano - 1min 35.216secs
4. McCoy - 1min 35.434secs
5. Roberts - 1min 35.476secs
6. Ukawa - 1min 35.537secs
7. Abe - 1min 35.692secs
8. Biaggi - 1min 35.921secs