This Sunday’s South African 500 Grand Prix will find Honda’s Sete Gibernau on pole, with Loris Capirossi (also on a Honda), Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and Carlos Checa (Yamaha) filling out the front row of the grid.
Two early favorites, including defending Champion Alex Criville (Honda) and Yamaha’s Max Biaggi qualified further back than expected, with Criville in seventh and Biaggi in tenth.
Young Valentino Rossi, the Honda-mounted, two-time 250 GP champion, qualified very respectably in fifth place for his first 500 GP. Rossi’s first year on a 500 finds him under the tutelage of five-time 500 GP champion Mick Doohan.
In 250 qualifying, Yamaha’s Shinya Nakano took pole over a trio of Hondas filling out the rest of the first row, including those of Tohru Ukawa, Daijiro Katoh and Anthony West.
250cc Qualifying Results (Top 10)
1. Shinya Nakano (#56 - YAMAHA) 1.37.705 2. Tohru Ukawa (#4 - HONDA) 1'37.778 3. Daijiro Katoh (#74 - HONDA) 1'37.882 4. Anthony West (#14 - HONDA) 1'38.895 5. Olivier Jacque (#19 - YAMAHA) 1'38.937 6. Franco Battaini (#21 - APRILIA) 1'38.943 7. Ralf Waldmann (#6 - APRILIA) 1'39.091 8. Marco Melandri (#13 - APRILIA) 1'39.324 9. Luca Boscoscuro (#37 - APRILIA) 1'39.477 10. Alex Debon (#30 - APRILIA) 1'39.772
500cc Qualifying Results (Top 10)
1. Sete Gibernau (#5 - HONDA) 1'36.273 2. Loris Capirossi (#65 - HONDA) 1'36.397 3. Kenny Roberts (#2 - SUZUKI) 1'36.679 4. Carlos Checa (#7 - YAMAHA) 1'36.711 5. Valentino Rossi (#46 - HONDA) 1'36.832 6. Tadayuki Okada (#8 - HONDA) 1'36.841 7. Alex Criville (#1 - HONDA) 1'36.970 8. Jeremy McWilliams (#99 - APRILIA) 1'37.044 9. Garry McCoy (#24 - YAMAHA) 1'37.129 10. Max Biaggi (#4 - YAMAHA) 1'37.208
