Hayden tops qualifying

American Nicky Hayden is on provisional pole for the British Grand Prix on Sunday, beating the circuit record lap by over one and a half second in dry and sunny conditions.

Hayden waited until the last of his 28 laps to record the time of 1:29.295 around the Donington circuit, to put his Repsol Honda on provisional pole. Valentino Rossi qualified second with 1:29.584, with a resurgent Loris Capirossi on the factory Ducati completing the front row with 1:29.681.

Carlos Checa is was fourth fastest, with Sete Gibernau, Colin Edwards, and Max Biaggi all under 1:30.00. Top British rider is Neil Hodgson is 14th on the D’Antin Ducati, with a time of 1:30.478. Jeremy McWilliams is 18th on the Aprilia, two places in front of team-mate Shane Byrne, while Chris Burns on the WCM is in 24th place.

Will Hayden stay fastest during qualifying on Saturday? We’ll have news and results from Donington throughout the weekend, but you can make your predictions, here.