Max Biaggi took pole for the Australian 500cc Grand Prix in Saturday’s final qualifying session at Phillip Island, Australia. Not only did Biaggi turn the fastest lap time, his Yamaha YZR500 also recorded the highest top speed on the 4.448-kilometer (2.764-mile) road course, reaching 305.7 kph (189.962 mph). Valentino Rossi’s Honda was second-fastest at 305.6 kph (189.900 mph). Conditions for the second of two qualifying sessions were dry.

500cc Final Qualifying Times
1. Max Biaggi, Yamaha, 1:31.984
2. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:32.408
3. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:32.421
4. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki, 1:32.473
5. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:32.477
6. Loris Capirossi, Honda, 1:32.513
7. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:32.622
8. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:32.768
9. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:32.840
10. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:32.905
11. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:32.934
12. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:32.963
13. Alex Criville, Honda, 1:33.009
14. Garry McCoy, Yamaha, 1:33.049
15. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Proton, 1:33.093
16. Anthony West, Honda, 1:33.714
17. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:33.731
18. Jose Cardoso, Yamaha, 1:34.039
19. Johan Stigefelt, Sabre, 1:35.035
20. Leon Haslam, Honda, 1:35.724
21. Barry Veneman, Honda, 1:36.043
22. Brendan Clarke, Honda, 1:36.840

500cc Top Speeds
1. Biaggi, 305.7 kph
2. Rossi, 305.6 kph
3. Ukawa, 305.4 kph
4. Criville, 303.1 kph
5. Abe, 302.4 kph
6. Capirossi, 302.2 kph
7. Nakano, 301.8 kph
8. Jacque, 301.5 kph
9. McCoy, 300.9 kph
10. Haga, 300.3 kph
11. Checa, 300.3 kph
12. Gibernau, 300.0 kph
13. Barros, 299.8 kph
14. Cardoso, 299.8 kph
15. Roberts, 298.4 kph
16. van den Goorbergh, 297.4 kph
17. Stigefelt, 289.1 kph
18. Aoki, 287.2 kph
19. Veneman, 282.5 kph
20. West, 282.1 kph
21. Clarke, 282.0 kph
22. Haslam, 277.3 kph


250cc Final Qualifying Times
1. Tetsuya Harada, Aprilia, 1:33.625
2. Jeremy McWilliams, Aprilia, 1:34.195
3. Daijiro Katoh, Honda, 1:34.368
4. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:34.405
5. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia. 1:34.642
6. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:34.789
7. Alex Hofmann, Aprilia, 1:34.862
8. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:34.887
9. David Checa, Honda, 1:34.950
10. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:35.023
29. Katja Poensgen, Honda, 1:39.996



125cc Final Qualifying Times
1. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:37.737
2. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:37.938
3. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:37.975
4. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, 1:38.770
5. Noboru Ueda, Honda, 1:38.928
6. Alex de Angelis, Honda, 1:38.936
7. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 1:38.989
8. Stefano Perugini, Italjet, 1:39.016
9. Arnaud Vincent, Honda, 1:39.062
10. Angel Nieto, Jr., Honda, 1:39.102
17. Toni Elias, Honda, 1:39.395