Daijiro Katoh went half-a-second quicker in the final 250cc qualifying session at Suzuka and will start on the pole for Sunday’s 250cc Grand Prix of Japan. Marco Melandri did not better his first-session time but will still start second on the grid. Top times follow, listed down to 22nd place because 10th through 22nd are all on the same second:

1. Katoh, Honda, 2:07.414
2. Melandri, Aprilia, 2:08.546
3. Locatelli, Aprilia, 2:08.633
4. Debon, Aprilia, 2:09.295
5. McWilliams, Aprilia, 2:09.363
6. Battaini, Aprilia, 2:09.450
7. Matsudo, Yamaha, 2:09.563
8. Harada, Aprilia, 2:09.683
9. Rolfo, Aprilia, 2:09.741
10. De Puniet, Aprilia, 2:10.013
11. Porto, Yamaha, 2:10.046
12. F. Nieto, Aprilia, 2:10.251
13. Nohles, Aprilia, 2:10.261
14. Aoyama, Honda, 2:10.264
15. Sekiguchi, Yamaha, 2:10.463
16. Nakatomi, Honda, 2:10.477
17. Boscoscuro, Aprilia, 2:10.497
18. Hofmann, Aprilia, 2:10.528
19. Alzamora, Honda, 2:10.594
20. De Gea, Yamaha, 2:10.598
21. Yuzy, Yamaha, 2:10.678
22. Allemand, Yamaha, 2:10.732

Katja Poensgen qualified 31st out of 32 qualifiers, with two entrants (D. Tomas of Spain and C. Barros of Brazil) not qualifying because their times were not within 107 percent of pole time. Poensgen took three seconds off her first-session time and turned a 2:15.821.

Originally scheduled for Sunday, November 4, the final round of the FIM Grand Prix World Championship season at Nelson Piquet Circuit in Rio, Brazil, has been moved up one day. The Brazilian Grand Prix will now be held on Saturday, November 3rd, with practice and qualifying also moved up a day each to Thursday and Friday, November 1-2.

Honda’s Valentino Rossi was quickest in Saturday morning 500cc practice for the Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka, the only rider to break into the 2:05s with a 2:05.715.

Top times follow:

1. Rossi 2:05.715
2. Haga 2:06.369
3. Ukawa 2:06.659
4. Biaggi 2:06.872
5. Roberts 2:06.985
6. Abe 2:07.116
7. Barros 2:07.122
8. Criville 2:07.162
9. Checa 2:07.219
10. Nakano 2:07.264
11. Capirossi 2:07.551
12. McCoy 2:07.631
13. Gibernau 2:08.035
14. Cardoso 2:08.366
15. Goorbergh 2:08.751
16. Ryo 2:09.197
17. Walker 2:09.655
18. Jacque 2:10.570
19. Haslam 2:10.930
20. Aoki 2:11.918

Daijiro Katoh was the quickest man on a 250 and Youich Ui was the quickest man on a 125 in the first round of qualifying for the Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on Friday afternoon, Japan time.

Top times follow:

250cc First Qualifying Session
1. Daijiro Katoh Honda 2:07.943
2. Marco Melandri Aprilia 2:08.546
3. Naoki Matsudo Yamaha 2:09.563
4. Jeremy McWilliams Aprilia 2:09.742
5. Tetsuya Harada Aprilia 2:09.898
6. Roberto Locatelli Aprilia 2:10.005
7. Roberto Rolfo Aprilia 2:10.009
8. Franco Battaini Aprilia 2:10.255
9. Fonsi Nieto Aprilia 2:10.264
10. Emilio Alzamora Honda 2:10.673
11. Shahrol Yuzy Yamaha 2:10.678
12. Sebastian Porto Yamaha 2:10.892
13. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 2:11.414
14. Klaus Nohles Aprilia 2:11.518
15. David De Gea Yamaha 2:11.619


125cc First Qualifying Session
1. Youichi Ui Derbi 2:15.334
2. Hideyuki Nakajoh Honda 2:16.293
3. Masao Azuma Honda 2:16.485
4. Noboru Ueda TSR-Honda 2:16.534
5. Hiroyuki Kikuchi Honda 2:16.713
6. Max Sabbatani Aprilia 2:16.843
7. Steve Jenkner Aprilia 2:16.902
8. Gianluigi Scalvini Italjet 2:17.139
9. Antonio Elias Honda 2:17.163
10. Stefano Perugini Italjet 2:17.229

Max Biaggi turned the quickest time in the first 500cc Qualifying session, on Firday afternoon (Japan time) of the Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit.

Top qualifiers follow:

1. Biaggi 2:06.056
2. Abe 2:06.426
3. Rossi 2:06.475
4. Nakano 2:06.510
5. Barros 2:06.599
6. Ukawa 2:06.630
7. Criville 2:06.714
8. Capirossi 2:06.765
9. Roberts 2:06.921
10. Haga 2:06.935
11. Checa 2:07.222
12. Gibernau 2:07.276
13. McCoy 2:07.558
14. Ryo 2:08.264
15. Cardoso 2:08.469
16. H. Aoki 2:08.906
17. Goorbergh 2:09.330
18. Walker 2:10.250
19. Jacque 2:11.790
20. L. Haslam 2:12.298

Daijiro Katoh was quickest in Saturday morning 250cc practice and Youchi UI was quickest in Satruday morning 125cc practice at Suzuka Circuit for the Grand Prix of Japan. Top times follow:

250cc Practice
1. Katoh 2:08.431
2. Locatelli 2:09.279
3. Nieto 2:09.289
4. Matsudo 2:09.575
5. Melandri 2:09.600
6. Battaini 2:09.617
7. Debon 2:09.908
8. Alzamora 2:09.978
9. McWilliams 2:09.979
10. Sekiguchi 2:10.739

Katja Poensgen was 31st quickest of the 34 250cc entrants, at 2:18.443.


125cc Practice
1. Ui 2:14.597
2. Azuma 2:15.211
3. Perugini 2:15.518
4. Cecchinello 2:15.607
5. Ueda 2:15.627
6. Giansanti 2:16.035
7. Elias 2:16.120
8. Borsoi 2:16.174
9. A. Nieto 2:16.470
10. Sanna 2:16.563

Yoichi Ui qualified fastest and earned the pole for Sunday’s 125cc Japanese Grand Prix, topping the time charts in the final qualifying session held Saturday afternoon Japan time. Top times follow:

1. Ui, Derbi 2:14.686
2. Poggiali, Gilera 2:14.832
3. Cecchinello, Aprilia 2:14.941
4. Azuma, Honda 2:14.986
5. Jenkner, Aprilia 2:15.253
6. Borsoi, Aprilia 2:15.292
7. Ueda, TSR-Honda 2:15.614
8. Perugini, Italjet 2:15.899
9. Sabbatani, Aprilia 2:16.265
10. Nakajoh, Honda 2:16.293
11. A. Nieto, Honda 2:16.414
12. Scalvini, Italjet 2:16.537
13. Hules, Honda 2:16.602
14. De Angelis, Honda 2:16.648
15. Kikuchi, Honda 2:16.713

Sonomafest 2001 begins April 27 with the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days West, as the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) marks its fifth annual visit to Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California.

Aside from the normal slate of racing, AHRMA will highlight Indian motorcycles to celebrate the brand’s 100th anniversary. Indian motorcycles will be displayed and Bobby Hill and Bill Tuman have been named Grand Marshalls. Hill and Tuman were both members of the legendary “Indian Wrecking Crew.”

Road racing, flat track, observed trials, motocross, a bike show, a swap meet, seminars, a vendor midway, and organized rides will all be part of the 10-day event, which concludes May 6 with the AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike races at Sears Point Raceway.

Tickets for the event are available by calling 1-800-870-RACE or you can call 1-800-AMA-JOIN or visit www.amadirectlink.com for more information.

BMW has announced the schedule for the 2001 Boxer Cup racing series to be held in conjunction with selected 500cc Grand Prix and Endurance World Championship rounds. In its third year of existence, the Boxer Cup requires that riders race on a close-to-stock version of the BMW R1100S with special mufflers boosting output to nearly 100 horsepower.

Organizers say that three-time World Champion Luca Cadalora and American Grand Prix hero Randy Mamola will participate in the series, which will be televised on Eurosport.

The series features a cash purse of 225,000 Euros (about $198,000) and the overall series winner also receives a BMW Z3 car. The series runner-up will receive a BMW R1150R with third place in the championship getting a BMW C1.

Bmw also announced that it will no longer participate in the Paris-Dakar off-road rally and that it will instead concentrate on the Boxer Cup.

2001 BMW Boxer Cup Schedule

4/14 Le Mans, France*
6/2 Mugello, Italy**
6/16 Catalunya, Spain**
7/14 Spa Francorchamps, Belgium*
7/21 Sachsenring, Germany**
8/11 Oschersleben, Germany*
9/15 Bol d’Or, France*
*FIM Endurance World Championship Round
**FIM Grand Prix World Championship Round

Valentino Rossi turned the fastest lap and his Honda NSR500 reached the highest top speed during the first 500cc practice for the Grand Prix of Japan, held Friday morning Japan time.

Rossi turned a lap at 2:06.602 and reached 300.6 kph (186.79 mph). The rider with the best lap-time-to-mph ratio was third-quickest Noriyuki Haga, who turned a 2:07.107 with a top speed of 290.9 kph (180.77 mph).

Top riders in lap time order follow:

1. Valentino Rossi Honda 2:06.602 300.6 kph
2. Tohru Ukawa Honda 2:06.997 298.4 kph
3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha 2:07.107 290.9 kph
4. Alex Criville Honda 2:07.290 295.9 kph
5. Loris Capirossi Honda 2:07.387 290.6 kph
6. Norick Abe Yamaha 2:07.450 292.8 kph
7. Shinya Nakano Yamaha 2:07.493 292.3 kph
8. Kenny Roberts Suzuki 2:07.506 289.5 kph
9. Max Biaggi Yamaha 2:07.512 298.2 kph
10. Carlos Checa Yamaha 2:07.748 294.8 kph
11. Alex Barros Honda 2:07.757 290.2 kph
12. Garry McCoy Yamaha 2:07.879 297.6 kph
13. Akira Ryo Suzuki 2:08.809 288.0 kph
14. Sete Gibernau Suzuki 2:08.894 293.3 kph
15. J.L. Cardoso Yamaha 2:10.172 286.8 kph