Motorcyling:Valentino Rossi has recorded the fastest ever lap of the Ricardo Tormo circuit during free practice for the season-ending MotoGP in Valencia.
The 27-year-old Italian lapped the tight and twisty four-kilometre circuit in one minute 31.817 on his Yamaha, beating Sete Gibernau's previous mark set in 2005.
Rossi was 0.037 seconds faster than world championship title rival Nicky Hayden on his Honda, while Ducati rider Loris Capirossi was third.
The Italian was followed by Rossi's team mate Colin Edwards, Marco Melandri, world superbike champion Troy Bayliss and Dani Pedrosa.
The riders classes will compete for grid positions in official qualifying later today.
Rossi snatched the lead in the title race for the first time this season when he finished second in Portugal earlier this month.
He leads the championship by eight points from Hayden, who crashed out at Estoril after his Honda team mate Pedrosa ploughed into him on a corner.
The Italian will wrap up his sixth premier class crown if he finishes ahead of the American in Sunday's race. But Hayden can turn the tables if he wins and the Yamaha rider fails to finish second.
World champion Alvaro Bautista claimed his eighth pole of the season in the 125cc class with Aprilia team mates Hector Faubel, Sergio Gadia and Mattia Pasini completing the front row.