Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Tamada wins action packed race two at Sugo

By Glenn Le Santo

Makoto Tamada powered to a win in race two at Sugo, and incredibly set a new lap record on the seventeenth lap.

Britain’s Neil Hodgson headed the pack for the first two laps before Haga pushed his way past. Then Hodgson got back in front of Haga to lead for a further eight laps until Tamada reeled him in on lap 16. Once Tamada was in front there was no stopping him.

Colin Edwards also got by Hodgson but just couldn’t catch Tamada. Meanwhile behind them Bayliss had started to close in on the leading group. But Bayliss couldn’t find enough steam to get past fellow Ducati rider Hodgson and had to settle for a fourth place finish, but that was probably far more than he expected before the start of the weekend. The result leaves Bayliss 24 points in front of Edwards.

Ben Bostrom looked on for a good finish early in the race but slipped back to seventh. Noriyuki Haga again started well and yet again faded as the race wore on, leading to speculation that his fitness is not what it might be for such fierce world championship competition.

Sugo World Superbike Race Two Results:

1. Makoto Tamada, Japan, (Honda), 37:26.628s,
2. Colin Edwards, USA, (Honda), 37:29.925s,
3. Neil Hodgson, GB, (Ducati), 37:30.097s,
4. Troy Bayliss, Australia, (Ducati), 37:30.308s,
5. Noriyuki Haga, Japan, (Aprilia), 37:34.084s,
6. Akira Yanagawa, Japan, (Kawasaki), 37:36.190s,
7. Ben Bostrom, USA, (Ducati), 37:39.361s,
8. Wataru Yoshikawa, Japan, (Yamaha), 37:47.325s,
9. Ruben Xaus, Spain, (Ducati), 37:54.849s,
10. Takeshi Tsujimura, Japan, (Yamaha), 37:55.163s.

14. Eric Bostrom, USA, (Kawasaki), 38:05.139

Championship points after four of 13 rounds:
1. Bayliss, 174 points
2. Edwards, 150 points
3. Hodgson, 98 points
4. B. Bostrom, 95 points
5. Haga, 87 points
6. Xaus, 86 points
7. Toseland, 57 points
8. Walker, 52 points
9. Hitoyasu Izutsu, 47 points
10. Tamada, 45 points.

More from an Aprilia press release:

SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – Fourth Round

JAPAN – Sugo Circuit, 3.737 m. – Race (two 25-lap legs)

APRILIA MAKES PODIUM IN SUPERBIKE JAPAN GP

SUGO (Japan), Sunday 21 April 2002 – Noriyuki Haga scored a third-place finish in the first leg of the Japan GP, in the fourth round of the Superbike World Championship. The Playstation2-FGF Aprilia Team ace had secured a brilliant pole position in the qualifying sessions, placing the Aprilia RSV Mille for the first time ever ahead of the entire pack on the home circuit of Japan’s industrial giants. In the second leg, Haga had some problems with grip and came in fifth. Nevertheless, Aprilia was out in front for nine laps, showing off its potential in the most difficult round of the season. As in the test sessions, the RSV once again proved to be the fastest bike on the track with a speed of 276.9 kph.

NORIYUKI HAGA (Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team rider) said: “I wanted to win, and after I took the pole in the qualifying sessions, I was sure I had the potential to do it. Making the podium is a great result, but I’d have liked to do better. The Aprilia RSV Mille has a great engine but we’ve got to do more on the settings to climb up even higher than we did today.”

GIACOMO GUIDOTTI (Technical Manager, Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team) commented: “We decided to start out with a different tyre from the one used by the winner, Tamada: we didn’t know it and didn’t want to make a shot in the dark. In the first leg, Haga pushed really hard and held the lead for many laps. He came in just four seconds from victory. So in the second leg, we opted for the same choice of tyres, making just a few tweaks to the set-up. Haga had never ridden Aprilia on the circuit, and just four test sessions weren’t enough to accumulate the same number of references available to Honda, which is on its home track here. Outright victory would have incredible, but third place is still a great result.”

More from a HM Plant Ducati press release:

Superbike world Championship
Round four: Sugo, Japan
Sunday 21 April 2002
Race two

HM Plant Ducati/GSE Racing take to the podium

HM Plant Ducati/GSE Racing star Neil Hodgson scored his best result of the year so far in race two of the fourth round of the Superbike World Championship at Sugo, Japan. The 28-year-old Briton rode an incredible race to take his first podium of 2002. With this impressive third placed finish, Hodgson moves up to third place in the championship standing. His team-mate James Toseland rode a well-judged race and picked up five points for his 11th placed finish to maintain a solid seventh placed championship ranking.

After leading the race for ten of the 25 laps, Hodgson showed remarkable composure and strength of character as he fought tooth-and-nail to hang on to the 16 points that his position carried. The race was eventually won by home-turf wild card Makoto Tamada, but not before the lead had been valiantly contested for by the rider of the #100 HM Plant Ducati and another Japanese rider, Noriyuki Haga.

Hodgson rocketed to the head of the field after getting a great launch from the line. The next 15 laps became a high-speed game of cat-and-mouse in which the Burnley-born rider acquitted himself admirably. A commanding display of aggressive and defensive riding kept Hodgson on point, and it wasn’t until lap 16 that Tamada was able to pass the orange Ducati 998.

The final stages of the competition saw Hodgson just pipped to second place by Colin Edwards, but he would not let the American get away and it certainly could not detract from Hodgson’s fantastic achievement. “That was unbelievable,” said the Englishman. “I was so pleased to get the lead – it relaxed me – and to be the top Ducati rider in both races is really encouraging. I’m very happy with the HM Plant Ducati, my Chief Engineer understands me perfectly now and I have the kind of set-up I need to begin to push the bike hard. The team has gelled really well and my confidence levels are sky-high, so I can’t wait to get to Monza and get on with it.”

James Toseland rode a good race, again holding off the challenges of more experienced riders. “I’m really pleased for the team, ” said the 21-year-old from Sheffield, “we’ve had four rounds and eight decent point-scoring finishes. Things aren’t going to be any easier on our return to Europe, but it’ll be good for everyone not to be away from home for as long. Personally, I know that I have to go faster from the start and that’s what I’ll be working on for the next round.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
By Beth Wyse

Vesrah Suzuki won the second round of the WERA/G.M.D. Computrack National Endurance Series, a 6-hour race at North Florida Motorsports Park Saturday, by two laps. Army of Darkness finished second. The riders for Vesrah included Mark Junge, Tray Batey and John Jacobi.

The 32 teams entered in the race had to deal with hot and humid weather, with temperatures near 90 degrees.

Army of Darkness finished second overall and first in the Mediumweight Superbike class on a Suzuki GSX-R600 with Jim Williams and Mark Crozier sharing the riding duties.

Third overall and second in Mediumweight Superbike was the Vesrah Suzuki II team of Mark Junge, Brian Stokes, David Yaakov and Darryl Saylor. The team finished a lap down from Army of Darkness, and was already a lap-and-a-half down when Junge was hit by another rider bike in turn one, knocking out the Vesrah II bike’s rear axle pin. The team lost more time when officials required the team to make an extra stop with Saylor on board, to replace the missing pin.

Jesse Basille and Jerry Russell of J&J Motorsports won in the Heavyweight Superstock class entry, finishing fifth overall on a Suzuki GSX-R750.

The Lightweight Superbike class was won by MB Motorsports, which finished sixth overall and seven laps ahead of the second-place Lightweight Superbike team. Bradley Champion, Bernie Hunt, Rich Conicelli and Brian Livengood were riding the MB Motorsports Suzuki SV650.

Seventh overall and first in Mediumweight Superstock class was taken by the Team Velocity Suzuki GSX-R600 ridden by Paul Aalderks, Chuck Ivey, Steven Breckenridge and Scott Gardner. The riders attributed their victory to the pit crew, which changed the rear wheel in less than 90 seconds.

Batey started the race on the Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000 Heavyweight Superbike entry. He battled during the early part of the race with Mike Smith on the Team Xtreme Suzuki GSX-R750 before pulling a small gap over the field.

By lap 7, the leaders had already caught lapped traffic on the 2.0-mile course.

The first red flag came out in the third hour of the race for a bike lying on the track. It was quickly cleaned up, a new grid was formulated, and the race continued, with Vesrah Suzuki again taking the lead.

The race was red-flagged a second time with 40 minutes left to go, and the race was called complete when clean-up could not be completed prior to the last 30 minutes of the race.

RESULTS:
1. Vesrah Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R1000, HSB, 226 laps

2. Army of Darkness, Suzuki GSX-R600, MSB, 224 laps

3. Vesrah Suzuki II, Suzuki GSX-R600, MSB, 223 laps

4. Team Xtreme, Suzuki GSX-R750, HSB, 221 laps

5. J&J Motorsports, Suzuki GSX-R750, HSS, 215 laps

6. MB Motorsports, Suzuki SV650, LSB, 215 laps

7. Team Velocity, Suzuki GSX-R600, MSS, 215 laps

8. Team Chicago, Yamaha YZF-R6, MSS, 214 laps

9. 14k The Movie, Suzuki GSX-R600, MSB, 214 laps

10. Team Life, Yamaha YZFR6, MSS, 213 laps

POINTS AFTER ROUND TWO, OVERALL:
1. Vesrah Suzuki, 217.34
2. Army of Darkness, 186.4
3. Team Xtreme, 170.62
4. J&J Motorsports, 159.24
5. Vesrah Suzuki II, 156.66



In National Challenge Series sprint races on Sunday, 11 races had 11 different winners.

Mike Smith won the Open Superstock race on board a Suzuki GSX-R1000 after a red flag on lap four. Smith was riding with Team Xtreme for the weekend. During the race, Smith set a new track record of 1:17.20, but was later protested for running Showa GSX-R750 forks instead of the stock Kayaba GSX-R1000 forks.

Vesrah Suzuki’s John Jacobi took the win in the Dunlop 600cc Superstock race on board his Suzuki GSX-R600. Jacobi had a gap over the rest of the field, leaving Scott Harwell and Lee Acree to battle for second place. After several laps of close racing, Harwell took second.

Bradley Champion won the Lightweight Twins race on the MB Motorsports Suzuki SV650 endurance bike. Champion crashed in morning practice and was loaned the endurance bike for his sprint race.

In the 125cc GP race, Jason Peters won by a big gap over Brian Kcraget, both riding RS125 Hondas. Kcraget had made some suspension changes to the bike just before the race and was unable to ride as well because of them.

John Haner passed Tray Batey at the halfway point in the 750cc Superstock race and went on to win.

Donald Tingle, Jr. won the Formula 2 race on is Yamaha TZ250, with Kcraget again finishing in second. Peters had a clutch failure on the start and did not complete the race.

Shogun rider Adam Coco won the 600 Superbike race after being loaned a Suzuki GSX-R600 by Crazy Cajun Racing. Coco crashed his bike in practice the day before the race.

In Heavyweight Twins, Tray Batey won by the length of the entire front straight on his Suzuki TL1000R. Batey was happy to get the win after having taken second in 750 Superstock.

Ken Snyder won the 750 Superbike race on his Suzuki GSX-R750. He had an early battle with David Yaakov, who was also on a GSX-R750. In the final laps of the race, Yaakov barely held off Andy Caldwell to take second.

Formula One was the final race of the day, and Geoff May finished first on his Suzuki GSX-R1000. Keith Holleman got the lead on the first lap, but May had the first spot by lap three and held onto it for the rest of the race.

Because of the extremely hot weather during the event, pieces of the track were coming up through some of the tighter sections. Riders were having problems running through the holes left by the asphalt coming up and with running over the little pieces of pavement left lying on the track.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Chambon takes championship lead at Sugo

By Glenn Le Santo

Stephane Chambon fought off his teammate Katsuaki Fujiwara to take his first win of the World Supersport season. With Andrew Pitt finishing down in seventh the result means that Chambon now leads by seven points.

In a crash-packed race Chambon quickly got to the front of the pack which turned out to be the safest place as an incident in the chicane saw two riders crash out on the second lap. Piergiorgio Bontempi and Chris Vermeulen both fell after Fabien Foret touched the back of Vermeulen’s Honda in the middle of the chicane. As Vermeulen went down he swept Bontempi away with him.

Fujiwara almost crashed late in the race as he pushed hard for a home win. After the slide he calmed down realising that second was better than a trip to the kitty litter.

Paolo Casoli led the race for four laps after passing Chambon the fourth lap. But a mistake at Rainbow Corner cost him the lead. He didn’t crash but his impromptu grass tracking put him back several places. He finished fourth, better than his team mate James Whitham who crashed out of the race.

Behind Chambon and Fujiwara, Fabien Foret recovered from the chicane incident to set a new lap record on lap four as he hunted down Karl Muggeridge. Foret caught and passed Muggeridge to finish third. Both Casoli and Kellner got by Muggeridge in the final stages of the race; although Kellner left it until right on the line to claim fifth place.

Sugo World Supersport Race Results:

1. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, 25 laps
2. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, +0.282 second
3. Fabien Foret, Honda, +5.995 seconds
4. Paolo Casoli, Yamaha, +8.194 seconds
5. Christian Kellner, Yamaha, +12.435 seconds
6. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, +12.436 seconds
7. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, +27.086 seconds
8. Werner Daemen, Honda, +29.190 seconds
9. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, +29.588 seconds
10. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha, +29.603 seconds
11. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, +35.778 seconds
12. David De Gea, Honda, +39.306 seconds
13. James Ellison, Kawasaki, +45.962 seconds
14. Stefano Cruciani, Yamaha, +46.413 seconds
15. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha, +63.777 seconds
16. Mark Willis, Yamaha, +73.917 seconds
17. Diego Giugovaz, Yamaha, +74.168 seconds
18. Robert Frost, Yamaha, DNF, 18 laps
19. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati, DNF, 7 laps
20. Jamie Whitham, Yamaha, DNF, 2 laps
21. Iain MacPherson, Honda, DNF, 2 laps
22. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Ducati, DNF, 1 lap
23. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, DNF, 1 lap


More, from a Ten Kate Honda press release:

Brilliant podium finish for Foret after a tough weekend in Japan


Fabien Foret showed his true form at Sugo today when he set a new lap record on his way to a third place finish.

Foret recovered from a poor start and an incident in the chicane on the second lap to power his way through to the podium. On lap two his bike touched Chris Vermeulen’s in the chicane. Unfortunately Vermeulen crashed, taking Bontempi down with him.

“It was a racing accident,” said Team Manager Ronald ten Kate after the race, “with twenty riders pouring through a tight chicane early in the race it’s just the sort of thing that can happen.”

“The chicane cost me my chance of fighting for a race win,” said Foret. “I had a bad start and was battling my way back through the field when it happened. I lost a bit of time and that allowed the two Suzuki’s to escape at the front. There was too much time for me to make up after that.”

After a weekend when the team struggled to find a good race set up third, and the lap record, was a brilliant result. “We took a little longer to find a good race set up than we would have hoped for,” admitted Ronald ten Kate. “But we studied the data really hard on Saturday night and came up with a set up that worked very well in the morning warm up, and subsequently in the race.”

“The result keeps me in touch with the championship leaders,” said Foret. “Now we are going back to Europe and to some of my favourite tracks, so I am very confident for the rest of the season.”

Foret’s team mate Iain MacPherson didn’t have such a good weekend, crashing out of the race when he ran over dirt left on the track by a previous crasher, “Iain must have had more than his share of bad luck by now,” commented Ronald ten Kate. “But hopefully it’s all behind him now and he’ll have better luck on our return to Europe. Despite all his misfortune in qualifying Iain was fast in the morning warm up and that proves his real potential.

“We’re all looking forward to the next race at Monza. We have great race tyres from Pirelli, superb suspension from WP and a very fast Honda CBR600FS. We are aiming to break the 300kph barrier at Monza.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Chuck Graves won four of the five WSMC races that he entered Sunday at Willow Springs International Raceway, including the featured Toyota Cup WSMC Unlimited Formula One Grand Prix.

Riding a Yamaha YZF-R6 and a Yamaha YZF-R7/R1 hybrid Superbike, both on Dunlop tires, Graves won in Roadracing World 600cc Superstock, 600cc Modified Production, Open Superbike and the 10-lap Formula One final.

In the Formula One race, Graves led Jeremy Toye, Stoney Landers, Jack Pfeifer, Richard Headley and Kevin Lacombe into the first corner. Graves, Toye and Headley pulled away from the field just before Headley slowed with a blister on the 16.5-inch Dunlop rear slick of his 2002 Ducati 998RS Teststretta.

In winning, Graves led every lap with Toye, riding a Superstock Suzuki GSX-R750 on Dunlop slicks, never more than a few bikelengths behind. Headley held on for third ahead of GSX-R750-mounted Landers, Pfeifer, Lacombe, Vincent Haskovec on a Ducati 748RS, Clinton Whitehouse, Stephen Hewitt and Claudio Szyszkowski.

The only time Graves was beaten during the day came in the Hyper-Club WSMC Formula Two Grand Prix. Graves took the early lead and looked set to runaway with low-1:24 lap times, but Haskovec charged through the field on his new Ducati to catch Graves on lap five of six. Haskovec and Graves went back and forth several times in the final laps, before Haskovec led out of the final corner on the last lap. Graves was in the perfect position for a draft pass to the line but came up inches short. Haskovec won in a line call over Graves with young gun Jason Perez third on a Suzuki GSX-R600, Robbie Dowie fourth on another Suzuki GSX-R600 and Roadracing World Editor John Ulrich fifth on a Yamaha TZ250.

Nicolodi Racing’s Haskovec also won the red-flag-shortened Formula Twins race on his Ducati 748. The Formula Twins race was marred by a bad crash in high-speed turn nine when Formula Twins class leader Headley tried to overtake a 250cc Grand Prix class competitor, Keith Almond, late in the race. (The Formula Twins field started as a second wave behind 250cc Grand Prix and ahead of the 125cc Grand Prix third wave.)

According to Headley, he was trying to pass Almond on the outside of the final corner when TZ250 rider Almond pushed wide, the two made contact and went tumbling off into the run-off area at over 100 mph. Headley was relatively uninjured. According to Race Director Danny Farnsworth, Almond had “somewhat stable” vital signs but was unconscious when he was airlifted to a local hospital.

Other WSMC race winners on the day included Lee’s Cycle’s Jeremy Toye (750cc Modified Production, 750cc Supestock), Dianetics’ Stoney Landers (750cc Superbike), Team Orthopedics’ Jack Pfeifer (Open Modified Production, Open Superstock), Concept 5’s Jason Perez (650cc Superbike) and Frank Aragaki (250cc Grand Prix).

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

South African 125cc Grand Prix Results:

1. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 41:26.120, 24 laps
2. Arnaud Vincent, Aprilia, +0.270 second
3. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, +0.826 second
4. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, +1.098 seconds
5. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, +1.187 seconds
6. Alex De Angelis, Aprilia, 1.583 seconds
7. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, +1.830 seconds
8. Simone Sann, Aprilia, +12.839 seconds
9. Masao Azuma, Honda, +13.942 seconds
10. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, +19.201 seconds

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

South African Grand Prix 250cc Results:

1. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 42:52.972, 26 laps
2. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, +2.962 seconds
3. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, +5.213 seconds
4. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, +6.290 seconds
5. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, +6.675 seconds
6. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, +8.102 seconds
7. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, +22.571 seconds
8. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, +24.171 seconds
9. Alex Debon, Aprilia, +28.161 seconds
10. David Checa, Aprilia, +36.261 seconds
11. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, +47.211 seconds
12. Jay Vincent, Honda, +47.886 seconds
13. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, +53.106 seconds
14. Dirk Heidolf, Aprilia, +62.767 seconds
15. Leon Haslam, Honda, +64.093 seconds
16. Toni Elias, Aprilia, +73.435 seconds
17. Jarno Janssen, Honda, + 1 lap


More, from an Aprilia press release:

MS Aprilia Racing Press Information
2002 MotoGP World Championship
Welkom (RSA) 19/20/21 April 2002
250 Class – Sunday 21 April

Sensational victory for Marco Melandri at Welkom

Three Aprilia 250s on the podium.

A clean win by Marco “Macio” Melandri whose roar was heard loud and clear in the land of lions. Three Aprilia 250s on the rostrum: Battaini 2nd, Nieto 3rd. The last time Aprilia made a clean sweep of the podium was in Barcelona, 1998 (Rossi-Harada-Capirossi).

Marco built up his victorious strategy with a shrewd choice of race tyres – very hard on both front and rear. To this he added a great launch off the line and a gradual build-up which enabled him to increase his lead over the pack with stunning perseverance, until he was over eight seconds clear. Once he had a good gap, Marco just had to think about keeping his cool and concentration right the way through to the chequered flag.

This is Macio’s second victory in the 250 class, which he adds to another seven victories in 125.

Marco Melandri # 3 (MS APRILIA RACING) – 1st – 42’38.066

“Hard tyres for the race and a fast start: after three laps I realised I could move out ahead and gradually build up to make my escape. The most important thing in the second half of the race was to keep up my concentration, and indeed I lowered my pace even though the tyres would have let me stay down at 1′ 37” . I wanted to keep my advantage under control and, at this point, I decided on a “tactical” race. The bike and engine were as generous as ever, even though it felt like I had 500 revs less when I got onto the track, but then it cleaned out and everything went fine. It was hot and the tyres slipped, but I had no problems. I’m really happy: this result has paid off a lot of hard work I did this winter preparing for the championship. I made an enormous effort, so I think I’ll dedicate this important victory to myself. The entire team did a fantastic job. A lot of work was done during the test sessions over the past few days, and we sure saw the results today.”

Marco Melandri
Victories: 9 (2 –250) (7 – 125)
Poles: 7 (1 –250) (6 – 125)
Podiums: 31 (14 – 250) (17 – 125)

Fujiwara on pole at home round

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Japanese World Supersport rider Katsuaki Fujiwara will start Sunday’s
World Supersport race from pole position.


Fujiwara claimed pole after winning a fierce qualifying battle with Suzuki team mate Stephane Chambon, who finished second fastest. Last year’s race winner Paolo Casoli will start from third on the grid and Honda UK rider Karl Muggeridge claimed his first front row start of the season.

Fabien Foret was pushed back onto the second row after a day spent struggling with chattering problems. Another rider suffering from chatter was Yamaha rider James Whitham who qualified back in ninth. “It feels like I’ve got a square back wheel, I could get off and push it around some corners faster!” grumbled the British rider.

Wild Card rider Tatsuya Yamaguchi collided with Iain MacPherson and won’t start tomorrow’s race. MacPherson was unhurt but after three crashes in one weekend he’s down to one bike for Sunday’s free practice and race. Christian Kellner is also doubtful for the race after a massive crash in qualifying.

World Supersport Final Qualifying Times:

1. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, 1:32.334
2. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:32.369
3. Paolo Casoli, Yamaha, 1:32.506
4. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, 1:32.607
5. Fabien Foret, Honda, 1:32.853
6. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:32.890
7. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Ducati, 1:32.989
8. Christian Kellner, Yamaha, 1:33.079
9. Jamie Whitham, Yamaha, 1:33.155
10. Werner Daemen, Honda, 1:33.161
11. Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Honda, 1:33.371
12. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, 1:33.375
13. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:33.384
14. Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:33.402
15. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha, 1:33.437
16. David De Gea, Honda, 1:33.880
17. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, 1:33.925
18. Stefano Cruciani, Yamaha, 1:34.175
19. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha, 1:34.460
20. James Ellison, Kawasaki, 1:34.613

More from a Ten Kate Honda press release:

Ten Kate Honda still searching for ideal Sugo set up

Things didn’t go according to plan for the Ten Kate Honda team at Sugo today. After a successful first day’s qualifying the team took a step
backwards as unexpected problems beset the last session of qualifying.

“We all expected a little more from final qualifying,” admitted Team Manager Ronald ten Kate. “Iain MacPherson had bad luck today, he had
only ridden three laps before an unfortunate collision with one of the Wild Card riders wrecked his bike. We had hoped to get him into a rhythm so he could build up to a good qualifying performance but the crash threw those plans out of the window. With only one bike and not a lot of
time left in the session it was a real struggle for Iain.”

MacPherson confirmed Ronald ten Kate’s sentiments, “I’m just not having any luck this weekend,” said MacPherson. “I haven’t been able to
complete as many laps as I needed to all weekend. In final qualifying I only managed three laps before I got tangled up with Yamaguchi and
crashed.” Later, on his spare bike, MacPherson looked set for the front row as he raced through the first three splits only marginally off the
pole pace. Unfortunately a big slide stopped his charge. This time MacPherson’s luck held and he saved the slide without crashing.

Fabien Foret just missed a front row start when fellow Honda rider Karl Muggeridge pushed him off the front row late in the session.

“We took a step backwards on set up today,” observed Foret. “Yesterday things seemed to be going in the right direction but the changes we made today reversed our progress. I would have liked to have got on the front row but the race is the important thing. Now we need to work hard to try to get things right for the race.”

Ronald ten Kate realises there’s plenty of work still to be done before Sunday’s 25 lap race, “We want to give our riders the best possible set
up for the race so they can both show their true potential. We have a great package, the two riders, the Pirelli tyres, the WP Suspension and
the Honda CBR600FS bikes, they are all first class components. But we just need to find the set up that allows them all to work together
properly. You can be sure the whole team will work very hard to achieve that goal.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

First to 19th separated by 1.5 seconds!

Final MotoGP Qualifying Times:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 1:34.660
2. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, 1:34.692
3. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, 1:34.875
4. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:35.064
5. Garry McCoy, Yamaha YZR500, 1:35.378
6. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:35.396
7. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:35.476
8. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, 1:35.508
9. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR50, 1:35.554
10. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:35.560
11. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, 1:35.695
12. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, 1:35.717
13. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, 1:35.718
14. Daijiro Katoh, Honda NSR500, 1:35.728
15. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, 1:35.804
16. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, 1:35.995
17. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, 1:36.092
18. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, 1:36.161
19. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, 1:36.164
20. Pere Riba, Yamaha YZR500, 1:37.623


More, from an Aprilia press release:

MS Aprilia Racing Press Information
2002 MotoGP World Championship
Welkom (RSA) 19/20/21 April 2002
MotoGP – Saturday 20 April – qualifying sessions

Cube makes progress with each session. Eighteenth place does little justice to painstaking work by technicians and Régis Laconi

Eighteenth place on the starting grid hardly does justice to the enormous work done by Régis Laconi and the technicians who have been working with such dedication on the RS Cube. Yet progress has been made in every session over the last two days. The top speed recorded today in the final qualifying sessions – 1:36.161 is just 1.5 seconds from Rossi’s pole. It is worth noticing how, after Suzuka, today’s grid has all the competitors grouped within a bare 2.9 sec. Just the slightest improvement on the fast lap would make it possible to move up some precious places. During the free practice in the morning, Régis immediately lowered yesterday’s qualifying time and, on a number of occasions, he went flat out for the fastest lap time. In his penultimate attempt, after a few in which he was held up by heavy traffic, he managed to squeeze into 15th provisional place. Unfortunately he did not manage to make the final rush he needed to ensure a better starting position.
# 55 Régis Laconi – (MS APRILIA RACING) – 18th 1:37.536
“Yet again we improved on the morning, taking off over a second, but it still wasn’t enough to claim a better place on the grid tomorrow. I needed just a few wee tenths to move up the ratings. Sometimes a bit of traffic, but never a really good group to latch onto and make use of for the fast lap. I prepared the bike for the race with very hard tyres: they give a bit less grip at the outset, but last much better over long distances. The work we’ve done on the set-up is great, and the Cube behaved perfectly over the rough track, even when entering the second curve in the sector where you’re breaking all the way. In view of tomorrow’s race, today’s performance was positive: we’re one and a half seconds from the pole, which just shows we’re able to make excellent progress. The warm-up will be useful to get the last few details sorted out. Then the Cube will be off on the second race in her still very young life.”


And now this from John Hopkins:

“I’m very happy with the time that I got today. It’s amazing how close the times are and I’m excited because I’m only 1.4 seconds off pole which is my best yet. I’m improving little by little. This morning, we tested the tires and found what we were going to use for the race. Set up wise, we tested here and there but decided to use the same original set up from yesterday
afternoon. This morning’s session, we did half of a race distance on the tire we chose for the race and Garry and I actually decided on the same one. I got down to a pretty descent lap time. I went a bit faster then the Friday session. The track is getting better now that we’ve been on it more. When we first got on it Friday, it had about a half inch of dirt all around. It’s a key element to stay on line cause’ there is a good chance you could go down. It’s going to be really hard to pass, so a good start will lead to a good
race.

“During the qualifying session, the last 25 minutes, we were using softer and softer tires until I got a good rythm going. I was able to put in a strong lap time on a qualifier on the last lap which was completely by myself. The track is as bumpy as Loudon, without riding on the oval yet similar to Willow Springs. All in all, the tests have been good, and looking forward to tomorrows race.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

250cc Qualifying Times:

1. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:37.604
2. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:38.066
3. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:38.118
4. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:38.134
5. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:38.185
6. Raul Jara, Aprilia, 1:38.542
7. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:38.546
8. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:38.624
9. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:38.657
10. Naoki Matsuda, Yamaha, 1:38.792
11. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:38.798
12. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:38.814
13. Horuchika Aoki, Honda, 1:38.943
14. David Checa, Aprilia, 1:39.152
15. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:39.304

125cc Qualifying Times:

1. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:42.522
2. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:42.580
3. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:42.588
4. Arnaud Vincent, Aprilia, 1:42.614
5. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:42.852
6. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:42.975
7. Angel Rodriguez, Aprilia, 1:43.152
8. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, 1:43.164
9. Jaroslav Hules, Aprilia, 1:43.216
10. Stefano Bianco, Aprilia, 1:43.219

More from an Aprilia press release:

MS Aprilia Racing Press Information
2002 MotoGP World Championship
Welkom (RSA) 19/20/21 April 2002
250 Class – Saturday 20 April – Qualifying Sessions
Marco Melandri second fastest in qualifying sessions. Eight Aprilia 250s in top nine places.
Right from the early stages of the free practice in the morning,
an all-out battle was fought for the very top end of the ratings. Marco Melandri repeated the feat he managed to pull off yesterday, making the quickest time in the session. Then came the afternoon qualifying sessions but, near the end, intense traffic prevented Macio from bringing to bear all the potential at his disposal and he failed to make first place. So Marco is second. He was fastest on race tyres and will be out on the front row of the grid tomorrow.
Pole goes to Franco Battaini (Aprilia) – 3rd Rolfo (Honda) – 4th De Puniet (Aprilia).
Marco Melandri # 3 (MS APRILIA RACING) – 2nd – 1’38.066
“I did the last ten minutes of the session in first gear. What I mean is I was often blocked by a number of other riders. That’s when things get really hot and everyone’s trying to climb up and go even faster, then they slow down, try to tailgate those in front, and then shoot off again. In these conditions – on the borderline of fair play – it’s hard to find a free piece of track and go for pole. The bike’s fine – I’m really pleased, because the indications we picked up yesterday were right and got us working in the right direction. The bike in its race configuration is all set to go, so I’m confident about tomorrow. This is an important race: the best riders didn’t post that many points in Suzuka, so we’ll be starting off about level.”