Gibernau and Rossi want to bounce back after retirements in Brazil

The Spaniard, who is tied on points with Valentino Rossi at the top of the championship, took provisional pole with a one minute 23.247 seconds lap.

Nicky Hayden was a shock second, just 0.206secs adrift on his Repsol Honda, while Rossi, riding for the Gauloises Yamaha team, was 0.3secs off the pace.

Alex Barros took fourth late on, pushing Kenny Roberts Jr into fifth.

Rossi was unperturbed and said: "We worked with qualifying tyres this afternoon but only for a short time.

"I'm feeling a lot better here, all the riders are very close and pretty fast.

"Sete set a good time but we are not far behind. We made some small changes and I think tomorrow I can do even better on the qualifiers.

Camel Honda rider Max Biaggi, who has yet to win this season but is just 13 points of the championship lead after a consistent run of points finishes, was well off the pace.

He ended the one-hour session down in ninth, over half-a-second slower than Gibernau.

Jeremy McWilliams continued his recent good form on the troublesome Aprilia, taking 14th spot on Friday as he looks for a third consecutive points finish.

The Ulsterman was only a second slower than Gibernau - but his team-mate Shane Byrne was further down the field, in 20th, after failing to get within 2.5secs of provisional pole.

Britain's Neil Hodgson, the World Superbike champion, was 18th on his D'Antin Ducati, 1.8secs down on Gibernau, while Chris Burns took his Harris WCM to 24th place, 4.5secs adrift.

Results for Friday's first qualifying: