HONDA MEN MAKE STRONG SHOWING ON ESTORIL FRONT ROW
 

Honda riders Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500), Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500) and Tohru Ukawa (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500)  dominate the front row for tomorrow's Portuguese GP, even though Max Biaggi (Yamaha) will start the race from pole position.
 Italians Biaggi, Capirossi and Rossi battled for pole in stifling heat this afternoon, Rossi leading early on before Biaggi upped the ante and outpaced his title rival. Then with just minutes to go Capirossi found the pace,
 moving ahead of Biaggi and Rossi by a fraction, before Biaggi counter attacked. Rookie Ukawa rode a brilliant session, easing into third place with just three minutes remaining, for his first-ever 500 front-row start.
Capirossi was delighted with his day's work, which had him less than two tenths shy of on-form Biaggi. "The track temperature was around 50 degrees today, and if the conditions are the same tomorrow it will be a very
 difficult race," he said. "That's why I spent most of the session working on my race rhythm, and making sure we have the right settings and tyres for the whole race. I'm optimistic for the race, even though it will be a
 tough one."
 
World Championship leader Rossi had been fastest yesterday, a gaping 0.512 seconds ahead of his closest challenger but he couldn't quite hold on to pole today and slipped to third, albeit just 0.248 seconds off title-rival
 Biaggi. "The forecast I made yesterday proved to be correct, unfortunately!" grinned Rossi, currently 29 points ahead of his arch-rival.
 "We spent some of the session trying to improve stability under braking, but we were unsuccessful and the bike also lost some corner speed. We'll work to fix those things in warm-up and I think I can ride a good race. I
 don't even need to say who my main rivals will be - Biaggi and Capirossi, as usual."
 
Former 250 winner Ukawa was ecstatic after his ride to fourth, just 0.455 seconds off pole. "We've improved the balance of the bike, which gives me more feel going into the turns and that's what we'd been looking for,"
said the Japanese. "Also, the new construction 16.5 rear tyre we've been using since Brno has got rid of pretty much all the chatter we used to have."
 
Capirossi's team-mate Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) battled hard for a top-four slot and did move up to fifth in the dying moments, then dropped to sixth. "We tried to improve our set-up but we weren't getting anywhere, so we went back to yesterday's settings," explained Barros. "We'll try again in warm-up and even if we don't find any improvements I'm confident. I can ride a good race with what we've got Former World Champion Alex Crivillé (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) ended the day in 12th, not helped by a tumble in yesterday's session. The Spaniard was the last rider within a second of pole position, just 0.961 seconds off
 pole. "The times are very close," he said. "We need to make the bike more comfortable for the race, but starting from the third row it's difficult to see me making the podium again."
 
Daijiro Katoh (Telefonica Movistar Honda NSR250) had a good day in the 250s, ending up second, just 0.212 seconds behind title-rival Tetsuya Harada (Aprilia). The little Japanese still leads the World Championship
 by a healthy margin despite getting beaten at the last two races, so he's super keen to win again here. "Second is fine because I've been consistently fast in all the sessions and that makes me confident for the
 race," said Katoh who won here last year and has already won six GPs this season.
 
Team-mate Emilio Alzamora (Telefonica Movistar Honda NSR250) will start the Portuguese GP from row two after scoring sixth-best time. "I was hoping for the first row but this is okay," said the Spaniard who won last year's Portuguese 125 GP. "If we can improve our set-up in warm-up then I think I
 can challenge for a podium finish because this track suits the Honda. In this heat, however, we'll have to make sure we look after our tyres."
 
World 125 leader Toni Elias (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team Honda RSR125) missed out on a front-row start by just two hundredths of a second. Winner of two of the last four 125 races, the Spanish teenager is struggling with engine set-up in the heat. "I'm not so happy with the set-up because the heat is robbing the engine of power," he said. "The chassis is great, and I know what tyres we're going to run, we just need to work at getting some more power back."
 
Tomorrow's Portuguese GP is round 11 of this year's 16-race World Championship. The next round takes place at Valencia in Spain on September 23.
 
 
 HONDA TEAM QUOTES:
 
 500cc:
 Loris Capirossi, West Honda Pons, 2nd:
 "I spent the main part of the session looking for a high rhythm for the race and also trying to find the most suitable tyre to endure the hard conditions due to the heat. I am sure I could have lowered the time to
 1:39, but when I mounted a soft tyre at the end, I got a lot of problems and I could not do it. I am optimistic for the race, because both the bike and I are on the right path."
 
 Valentino Rossi, Nastro Azzurro Honda, 3rd place:
 "The forecast I made yesterday proved to be right..... unfortunately. The lap time I did yesterday, 1m 40.3s, was 0.5s better than anybody else, was not enough to keep pole position.. Both Biaggi and Capirossi bettered
 my time". "I was only able to improve by thousandths of a second because we were trying to make the machine more stable under braking. In fact we made it slower in the middle of the corner. So, finally, we lost time".
"Furthermore, today I believe I didn't ride as well as yesterday, my riding was not as fluid, or precise. In my first attempt with soft compound tyres I made a mistake in the last section of the track, and that cost me 4/10ths
 of a second. Without that I could have done 1m 40.1s".
 
 "But what really matters is that we will start from the front row of the grid, and that in both free practice and qualifying my pace was good"
 
"In the morning warm-up we still have to fix a few doubts about the bike, and the tyres. Then it should be possible to make a good race".
 
 "As in Brno it's very important to make a good start. Here in Estoril you can loose a lot of time if you have a slower rider in front of you.  The riders to beat? Needles to say, will be Biaggi and Capirossi".
 
 Tohru Ukawa, Repsol Honda Team: 4th:
 "Obviously, I'm quite happy with this result, as I hardly remember the last time that I started from the front row of the grid. This afternoon, we finally managed to find a good balance in the set-up of my bike, which
 transforms into a much safer way of riding for myself. Now I can go into the corners with a safety margin, the combination of tyres, chassis and suspensions is working on a high level. This will be the first time for me
 to start from the front row in a 500 GP, and I hope to match this with a good result. In the free practice session, things didn't go well at all, but in the afternoon, we managed to get the set-up right and the situation
 changed for the better. We concentrated on finding the best set of tyres for the race, and I think I achieved that."
 
Alex Barros, West Honda Pons, 6th:
 "We spent a lot of time trying to improve the set-up, but as we could not do it, we have come back to yesterday's configuration, making only a few modifications on the front. That has allow us to improve the times. We should have a little bit more time to find the ideal set up, but we will try again in the warm-up. If we do not find it, we know what we have and we will use it to do our best."
 
 Sito Pons, Team Owner, West Honda Pons
 "Our riders have good rhythm. Loris has been the most constant rider in fast times during this session and he's make a progress to fight tomorrow for victory. Alex has also improved and he will have the chance to battle
 for the podium."
 
 Antonio Cobas, Team Engineer West Honda Pons:
 "Today was even more hot than yesterday and the track reached the 50º. Choosing a tyre that will stand these hard conditions for a race will be the key to success."
 
 Alex Crivillé, Repsol Honda Team: 12th:
  "There is little to say, I am just nine tenths of a second behind the best time, but I'm still in a position way back on the grid. The times here are very close, there is hardly a second separating the first twelve in the
 classification. I didn't get comfortable riding, neither in the morning, nor in the afternoon, and now we are looking for ways to improve the bike. We will try some more changes in tomorrow's warm-up session in order to see if we can get the set-up right for the race. Ukawa made his best time behind me and is now fourth on the grid, but I didn't find anybody to follow on the last laps and I couldn't improve my time. To win here will
 be very difficult, but if we can improve the bike I'm sure that I can fight for the podium."
 
 
 250cc
 Daijiro Katoh, Telefonica MoviStar Honda NSR 250: Position: 2nd: "I havent won for two races, so my main goal here is to win again. Today at the end I got second, but I think its a pretty result anyway. Harada was very fast, but I feel confident because I rode constantly always with fast lap times during the free practice this morning and in the afternoon as well, so everything is ok and I will just do my race tomorrow.
 
 Emilio Alzamora, Telefonica MoviStar Honda NSR 250:  6th: "Im very satisfied as I succeeded in improving yesterdays lap time, so I will start from second row tomorrow.  Actually I hoped for first row, but sixth place
 is not that bad. We found a good set up for my machine, but of course the morning warm up will be very important to see if everything is really ok. I will aim to podium tomorrow and if I take a good start and keep a constant rhythm, I think I will get it. I just have to be careful with tyres from midrace on, since as soon as they get used I usually have some difficulties in keeping fast.
 
 David Checa, Fomma Honda, 8th:  "I'm very pleased with my time but we had to work hard to get it. The temperature was so high the engine was not producing power, so I stopped in the pit to cool the engine then try for my time. I really pleased because I set the time on race tyres."
 
 "The track here is tight and my team have given me a good chassis set-up. Yesterday I did 28 laps on race tyres so I will be OK for tyres. I need to get a good start and try and stay with some fast riders, anything can
 happen."
 
  125cc
 Toni Elias, Telefonica MoviStar Jnr Team, 5th: "I'm not so happy. The weather doesn't help my Honda, I feel it's a little down on power in these conditions, rather like it was at Donington Park. Chassis and tyres are
 fine but the team are working hard to find the lost power from the engine." 
 "Still, in a race everything can change. If I get a good start and be with the lead group I always have a chance. We are still taking the season race by race and not thinking about the championship."
 
 Jakub Smrz, Budweiser Honda, 7th: "That was not easy. The temperature is too high and my engine was running a little hot at 60'. But everything is OK The only thing I have to decide on are which tyres to use in the race." "This is my first time here as I missed the IRTA winter test   as I had
 crashed at Jerez the week before. I can go faster but not too much I
 think."
 
 Dani Pedroza, Telefonica MoviStar Honda, Jnr Team, 8th: "That's my best ever qualifying session and I'm very happy about that. Being here for the IRTA test in the winter really helped, it's the first circuit we have been
 to twice." "The bike is good but a little down on power in the very hot conditions. Everything else is fine, chassis and tyres. I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow."