McWilliams two-stroke surprise in Sachsenring.

The MotoGP season until now has been dominated by the Honda RC211V, and more concretely by reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi. While today's set of practice sessions may not represent the end of their hegemony over the category, it certainly shows that the Cinzano Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland offers the best opportunity so far for the old guard two-stroke 500cc machines to prove they still have what it takes to be on pole or to be victorious. Great Britain's Jeremy McWilliams will hold pole position overnight after a fantastic late charge at Sachsenring this afternoon, which saw him push Rossi back into third position, and knock Olivier Jacque off top spot after the Frenchman also rode superbly throughout the hour.

The Northern Irish rider's time came in the final moments of the hour-long practice, and this was despite having registered the lowest average speed around the twisty circuit, demonstrating the advantages of a lighter and more flexible machine at the 3,704 metre circuit. McWilliams himself seemed relatively unsurprised by his efforts on the Proton KR three-cylinder, "It was actually quite easy putting in that quick lap, and while I was on the edge there were none of those hairy moments that normally come associated with a pole position time. I'm slowest through the speed traps, but we make up a lot of time on the first two sections. We are using the new chassis and it is less difficult to go through the early curves where the four-strokes must really be finding it hard to steer."

McWilliams will almost certainly have to improve tomorrow to hang on to pole as the other teams look to make an impression on his new circuit best time, yet the closest of those to him was another 500cc machine, the YZR of Olivier Jacque. With Alex Barros in fourth position after the first day, Rossi in third knows that he has his work cut out to claim his eighth pole of the season under a revived challenge from the rest of the pack. All fans will be praying that the rain clouds hold off as they did today to give the best conditions for what promises to one of the most electrifying qualifying sessions seen this year.

Behind the unexpected front row line-up, Biaggi was fifth on the Yamaha M1, the Italian keen to repeat the victory he took here last year. He has been unable to reach such heights so far in 2002, but has not looked as near to doing so as he has over recent races. Daijiro Kato emerged onto the track in the afternoon fresh from a press conference where it was announced he will ride the Honda RC211V four-stroke bike from Brno until the end of the season. He ended in sixth position today as he rides in what will ultimately be his final weekend on the NSR500, after having been close to pole throughout. His compatriots Tohru Ukawa and Shinya Nakano finished off the provisional second row, both of whom will be keen to pick up a good result this weekend for differing reasons.

The battle for 250 supremacy rages on, and while Marco Melandri may have won the four last races in the quarter-litre class, Fonsi Nieto does not intend to lie down and let the Italian run away with the title. The Spanish Aprilia rider took provisional pole in the first day's qualifying today, with his rival Melandri breathing down his neck in second position. Sebastian Porto continued his good streak of form by taking third place, ahead of France's Randy de Puniet. Only five riders finished within 1.3 seconds of Fonsi's time, Honda's Rolfo and Fonsi's team-mate Elias both performing well to keep in touch.

Manuel Poggiali has not won for the last two rounds of the 125 Championship, and despite still holding a sixteen point lead he will be keen to get back on the top of the podium and improve his advantage here in Sachsenring. He certainly started with that aim in mind as he took provisional pole today, ahead of last week's winner Arnaud Vincent, locally born Steve Jenkner, and the victor in Assen two weeks previously, Dani Pedrosa. With those four all in the top five in the championship it certainly promises to be an intense struggle for supremacy at the Sachsenring over tomorrow and Sunday in the 125cc class.