First pole at Portuguese circuit

Defending world champion Valentino Rossi took pole position for the Grand Prix of Portugal on his Yamaha, to pile the pressure on MotoGP series leader Nicky Hayden.

The Italian, chasing a sixth consecutive world title in motorcycling's top division and eighth in all, clocked 1min 36.20sec to beat Alex Barros's qualifying record set in 2005. Teammate Colin Edwards was second fastest with 1min 36.478 while Honda rider Hayden was third on 1min 36.549.

It was Rossi's fourth pole position of the season, the 44th of his career but first at the Portuguese circuit. Rossi has eaten into Hayden's advantage in recent weeks and now stands on 224 points compared to Hayden's 236, cutting the gap by 39 points during the last four races.

His record here is also superior. He has won four times in the past while the American has yet to make the podium. Rossi, with five wins under his belt in 2006, had been only eighth fastest in Friday's practice with Hayden the second quickest on the day. But he was in great form in the latter part of Saturday's session, which had earlier been dominated by Australian Honda rider Casey Stoner.

"This is a crucial race for the title," said Rossi who is aware that after Portugal just one race remains in Valencia later this month. "There have been two good days and the last three sessions were very good. The course will be very, very interesting and I'm happy that Colin is beside me on the grid."