Motor Cycling: Japanese rider puts sick Rossi in shade

The newly crowned world champion, Valentino Rossi, battled against a stomach bug yesterday as the home hero Daijiro Kato stole the show during qualifying for the Pacific Grand Prix at Motegi in Japan.

Rossi, who sealed his second world title in Brazil two weeks ago, admitted after setting the third-fastest time that he had not been at his best. The Repsol-Honda rider said: "I am still not feeling myself yet. My head is not 100 per cent. After the big weekend in Rio I have to approach this race like any other. Maybe the pressure is off but I still turn up to win.

"The bike feels OK. We've made some adjustments to the forks and the front feels a lot better. I was arriving at the turns a little wide every time, but it's a little better now and I can brake later."

Kato made a blistering start to qualifying by breaking the pole position record with a lap of 1min 49.052sec to edge out Marlboro-Yamaha's Max Biaggi by just over a tenth of a second. Rossi was a further half-second back in third, although he will get the chance to improve today in the final, decisive qualifying session.

The Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams took his Team KR Proton to ninth fastest, almost two seconds slower than pacesetter Kato as he battled against the chipped collar-bone suffered in a fall at the last round in Brazil.

In the 250cc class the Earl Shilton-born rider Jason Vincent languishes in provisional 19th while his Cibertel Honda team-mate Leon Haslam, from Derby, lies 27th.