Barros to break win drought?

Alex Barros will start tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix alongside pole sitter Valentino Rossi, as top Honda rider, giving the Brazilian veteran a good chance to break his two-year win drought.

Barros last took victory at Valencia in 2002, just before his disastrous season at Yamaha, but the 33-year-old also came close to victory at the Malaysian circuit that year - before being pushed wide by Rossi, handing Max Biaggi victory.

A dream move to the factory Repsol Honda team for 2004 has so far failed to deliver the results hoped for - and now desperately needed. With the championship long since gone, Barros is now aiming to win at least one of the remaining three rounds - and so save HRC from the embarrassment of a whole season without victory. Something that hasn't happened for a long, long time.

Barros had qualified just 14th yesterday, but found a massive 2.85secs this afternoon to jump back into contention as the only RCV rider on the front row - a feat achieved after he became one of the few riders who improved on his last lap, despite rain starting to fall.

"We played it pretty tactical in that session," revealed Alex afterwards. "We used a qualifier early to put in a good time and then we work on race set-up. We all seem to have grip problems here - normally this is not at issue at Sepang but this weekend it is terrible!

"The race will be very tough. It'll be really hard on the tyres towards the end of the race; both the front and the rear. I just hope to make a good start and keep out of trouble and try and fight for the victory," he admitted.

Repsol Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden also made progress, albeit more modestly, advancing from a provisional 11th to 6th on tomorrow's grid.

"The whole day was a lot better than yesterday," smiled Nicky. "The team has done a great job with the Showa guys. We tried a whole load of stuff on the bike and it all feels a lot better. I'm feeling so much more confident than yesterday. The conditions are so different here than they were back in February for the tests. Unbelievable.

"Anyhow - we made a big step forward today - we really need another big step tomorrow. It's so close out there. Other than Rossi the times are real close; you just have to squeeze everything out of the qualifiers. Pretty excited about the race tomorrow," he added.