Honda's Hayden on provisional pole
LONDON, England -- Nicky Hayden grabbed provisional pole for Sunday's British Grand Prix with a lap record in the first qualifying session at Donington Park.
The American Honda rider scorched around the 2.5 mile track in 1:29.29, nearly 1.5 seconds quicker than the previous fastest lap at the track which took Max Biaggi to pole position last year.
World champion Valentino Rossi of Italy was second fastest for Yamaha, 0.28 seconds behind Hayden and just 0.09 ahead of Loris Capirossi on a Ducati.
Rossi leads the championship by one point over Honda's Biaggi.
The Italian's team mate Carlos Checa was fourth fastest ahead of one-time championship leader Sete Gibernau, who has dropped 13 points behind Rossi after failing to finish the last two races.
Biaggi, who was handed the win here last year when Rossi received a 10-second post-race penalty, had a poor day and finished seventh fastest behind the Honda of former world superbike champion Colin Edwards.
Hayden was Rossi's team mate last year when the Italian won his third straight world crown for Honda and the former American superbike champion was expected to be a title challenger this year on the RCV.
After a disappointing start, the native of Kentucky, who will be 23 next week, has finished on the podium in third place for the last two races.
The last American to win a grand prix in the top category was Kenny Roberts junior, who won at Motegi on his way to the 500cc world title in 2000.
The second qualifying session takes place on Saturday.
