Loris Capirossi was fastest in the first Catalan Grand Prix 500cc qualifying session at Catalunya, Spain while arch rivals Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi encountered trouble, Rossi crashing but ending up fourth-fastest and Biaggi struggling to 13th-fastest. Times follow:

1. Loris Capirossi, Honda, 1:45.587
2. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:46.127
3. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:46.217
4. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:46.264
5. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:46.282
6. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Proton, 1:46.525
7. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki, 1:46.601
8. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:46.760
9. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:46.862
10. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:46.928
11. Alex Criville, Honda, 1:47.121
12. Garry McCoy, Yamaha, 1:47.251
13. Max Biaggi, Yamaha, 1:47.270
14. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:47.316
15. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:47.629


250cc Times, First Qualifying Session
1. Daijiro Katoh, Honda, 1:47.594
2. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:47.800
3. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:47.882
4. Tetsuya Harada, Aprilia, 1:47.915
5. Jeremy McWilliams, Aprilia, 1:47.944
6. Roberto Rolfo, Aprilia, 1:48.225
7. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:48.367
8. Klaus Nohles, Aprilia, 1:48.785
9. Randy de Puniet, Aprilia, 1:48.958
10. Alex Hofmann, Aprilia, 1:49.117


125cc Times, First Qualifying Session
1. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:51.820
2. Toni Elias, Honda, 1:52.785
3. Angel Rodriguez, Aprilia, 1:52.787
4. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:52.914
5. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:52.944
6. Max Sabbatani, Aprilia, 1:53.001
7. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 1:53.019
8. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:53.050
9. Pablo Nieto, Derbi, 1:53.227
10. Mirko Giansanti, Honda, 1:53.481