Jeremy McWilliams was 10th in the opening qualifying for the Italian MotoGP at Mugello.

The Belfast rider, who picked up his first points a fortnight ago in Le Mans, had a quickest lap of 1 minute 53.510 seconds.

McWilliams was ahead of his Proton Team KR colleague Nobuatsu Aokio who was 13th fastest.

Spain's Carlos Checa was quickest of the day after winning a last-minute shootout with the home favourites.

Checa left it late before beating Italian Yamaha team mate Max Biaggi into second place with a lap some three-tenths of a second quicker.

World Champion Valentino Rossi, who has won three of the four races this season, was pushed down to third.