Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

250cc Qualifying Session One Times:

1. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:38.408
2. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:38.463
3. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:38.723
4. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:38.737
5. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:39.149
6. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:39.151
7. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:39.165
8. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:39.324
9. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:39.366
10. Raul Jara, Aprilia, 1:40.008
11. Shahrol Yuzy, Yamaha, 1:40.023
12. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:40.265
13. David Checa, Aprilia, 1:40.465
14. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:40.507
15. Vincent Philippe, Aprilia, 1:40.756
16. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:40.762
17. Hugo Marchand, Aprilia, 1:40.788
18. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:40.966
19. Dirk Heidolf, Aprilia, 1:41.011
20. Jay Vincent, Honda, 1:41.012
21. Taro Sekiguchi, Yamaha, 1:41.099
22. Leon Haslam, Honda, 1:41.250
23. Hector Faubel, Aprilia, 1:41.264
24. Jarno Janssen, Honda, 1:41.720

More from an Aprilia press release:

MS Aprilia Racing Press Information
2002 MotoGP World Championship
Welkom (RSA) 19/20/21 April 2002
250 Class – Friday 19 April – qualifying sessions
Marco Melandri makes second best time and provisional front row. Quickest qualifying time achieved by Franco Battaini (Aprilia).
Marco Melandri, who led the way in the morning’s free practice, came second in the timed laps. A tough track even for the 250s: bumps and unevenness put the riders’ skills to the test – this can be clearly seen in the times, markedly lower than those posted last year. Marco worked on setting up his RSW 250 but, more than anything, he concentrated on finding the right front tyre for Sunday’s race.
Marco Melandri # 3 (MS APRILIA RACING) – 2nd: 1’38,463
“There’s no end of potholes on the track: you have to follow the trajectories you know. If ever you stray, you risk finding a new one you haven’t come across before. Things weren’t quite right, or at least we weren’t getting the most out of it. We’ve still got a few more tests to do. More than anything, I want to find a more efficient front tyre solution, and we’ve still got some comparative tests to do on the rear one. The one I liked best after trying it out in the two sessions today almost certainly wouldn’t get me through the entire race. The frame isn’t the same as last year’s, so we still need to do some work on the settings: each track this year’s going to need new adjustments to suit this new component.”