Capirossi on pole….

500 – Loris Capirossi flies to the Suzuka track and with his Honda shatters the record for the fastest lap in the 500 class. The Italian centaur won the first "pole" of the year during the second official test for the grand prix of Japan with a time of 2:04.777. Second is the Japanese Shinya Nakano, new to the category, on Yamaha. The pace maintained today will not be the pace of tomorrow's race, but the result obtained allows the Bolognese to start in an advantageous position in a race that is expected to be particularly tough for the high level of the bikes and the riders. Among the front rows there will also be another Italian, Max Biaggi, who set the best time in free practice yesterday with his Yamaha. He also holds the circuit record with 2:06.746.

This is the starting grid:
1. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Honda) 2:04.777
2. Shinya Nakano (Jap/Yamaha) 2:05.588
3. Max Biaggi (Ita/Yamaha) 2:05.703
4. Garry McCoy (Aus/Yamaha) 2:05.833
5. Tohru Ukawa (Jap/Honda) 2:05.924
6. Norifumi Abe (Jap/Yamaha) 2:05.927
7. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Honda) 2:06.140
8. Alex Barros (Bra/Honda) 2:06.295
9. Kenny Roberts (USA/Suzuki) 2:06.469
10. Noriyuki Haga (Jap/Yamaha) 2:06.597
11. Alex Crivill> (Spa/Honda) 2:06.714
12. Carlos Checa (Spa/Yamaha) 2:06.858
13. Jos> Luis Cardoso (Spa/Yamaha) 2:06.993
14. Sete Gibernau (Spa/Suzuki) 2:07.121
15. Akira Ryo (Jap/Suzuki) 2:07.580
125 – Manuel Poggiali on his Gilera was unable to do anything against Youichi Ui's Derbi. The Japanese driver won pole. At Suzuka the rider from San Marino ranked second on the second day of official testing, followed by Lucio Cecchinello on the Aprilia. Almost all the drivers managed to reduce the time recorded during the first day of testing. The circuit record belongs to the Italian Roberto Locatelli who stopped the clock at 2:15.406 on his Aprilia.

This is the starting grid:
1. Youichi Ui (Jap/Derbi) 2:14.686
2. Manuel Poggiali (Rsm/Gilera) 2:14.832
3. Lucio Cecchinello (Ita/Aprilia) 2:14.941
4. Masao Azuma (Jap/Honda) 2:14.986
5. Steve Jenkner (Ger/Aprilia) 2:15.253
6. Gino Borsoi (Ita/Aprilia) 2:15.292
7. Noboru Ueda (Jap/Honda) 2:15.614
8. Stefano Perugini (Ita/Italjet) 2:15.899
9. Max Sabbatani (Ita/Aprilia) 2:16.265
10. Hideyuki Nakajoh (Jap/Honda) 2:16.293
11. Angel Nieto (Spa/Honda) 2:16.414
12. Gianluigi Scalvini (Ita/Italjet) 2:16.537
13. Jaroslav Hules (Rch/Honda) 2:16.602
14. Alex De Angelis (Rsm/Honda) 2:16.648
15. Hiroyuki Kikuchi (Jap/Honda) 2:16.713
250 – Dajiro Katoh took the first pole position of the world championship season in the 250 class. The Japanese lapped in 2'07"414; behind him Marco Melandri on Aprilia (2'08"546) and Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia – 2'08"633).
He will start from the last row, but he will be there. Katja Poensgen, the first female rider in the world championship in the 250 class, achieved the 31st and penultimate time in the official tests. With her Aprilia she lapped in 2'15″ 821, two and a half seconds slower than the Japanese Katoh on pole. Yesterday, Poensgen had not achieved the qualifying time.

The starting grid
1. Daijiro Kato (Jap) Honda 2:07.414
2. Marco Melandri (Ita) Aprilia 2:08.546
3. Roberto Locatelli (Ita) Aprilia 2:08.633
4. Alex Debon (Spa) Aprilia 2:09.295
5. Jeremy Mcwilliams (GB) Aprilia 2:09.363