ASSEN, Netherlands -- World champion Valentino Rossi took provisional pole position on Thursday for Saturday's Dutch MotoGP Grand Prix.

The Italian posted a time of two minutes, 0.496 seconds on his final lap in sunny conditions, a pole record for the Assen circuit and 0.181 seconds quicker than his compatriot and Honda teammate Max Biaggi.

Loris Capirossi, winner of the last race in Spain, was third fastest on his Ducati, with Alex Barros fourth on a Yamaha and American Colin Edwards fifth on his Aprilia.

Times
MotoGP
1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Honda     2 minutes 00.496 seconds
2. Max Biaggi (Italy) Honda     2:00.677
3. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati     2:00.698
4. Alex Barros (Brazil) Yamaha     2:01.040
5. Colin Edewards (U.S.) Aprilia     2:01.608
6. Carlos Checa (Spain) Yamaha     2:01.812
7. Olivier Jacque (France) Yamaha     2:01.872
8. Tohru Ukawa (Japan) Honda      2:01.968
9. Marco Melandri (Italy) Yamaha     2:01.984
10. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Honda     2:02.019
11. Troy Bayliss (Australia) Ducati     2:02.109
12. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Yamaha      2:02.318
13. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda      2:02.346
14. Noriyuki Haga (Japan) Aprilia     2:02.815
15. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Honda     2:02.849
16. Alex Hofmann (Germany) Kawasaki     2:03.308
17. Yukio Kagayama (Japan) Suzuki     2:03.349
18. John Hopkins (U.S.) Suzuki      2:03.363
19. Andrew Pitt (Australia) Kawasaki     2:04.603
20. Jeremy McWilliams (Britain) Proton     2:04.928
21. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Japan) Honda     2:06.049
22. Garry McCoy (Australia) Kawasaki     2:06.330
23. Nobuatsu Aoki (Japan) Proton      2:07.169

Leading 250cc times
1. Fonsi Nieto (Spain) Aprilia     2:04.866
2. Toni Elias (Spain) Aprilia      2:05.049
3. Manuel Poggiali (San Marino) Aprilia 2:05.106
4. Roberto Rolfo (Italy) Honda     2:05.787
5. Randy De Puniet (France) Aprilia     2:05.922
6. Franco Battaini (Italy) Aprilia     2:06.167
7. Sebastian Porto (Argentina) Honda     2:06.309
8. Anthony West (Australia) Aprilia     2:06.594
9. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Aprilia     2:06.671
10. Erwan Nigon (France) Aprilia      2:07.089

Leading 125cc times
1. Alex De Angelis (San Marino) Aprilia     2:11.398
2. Casey Stoner (Australia) Aprilia     2:11.632
3. Youichi Ui (Japan) Aprilia      2:11.700
4. Hector Barbera (Spain) Aprilia     2:11.741
5. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Derbi     2:11.903
6. Mika Kallio (Finland) Honda     2:11.957
7. Steve Jenkner (Germany) Aprilia     2:12.134
8. Gino Borsoi (Italy) Aprilia     2:12.203
9. Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Aprilia     2:12.267
10. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda     2:12.398