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.”
Franco Battaini On 250 Pole, Daniel Pedrosa On 125 Pole For South African Grand Prix
Franco Battaini On 250 Pole, Daniel Pedrosa On 125 Pole For South African Grand Prix
© 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
![Franco Battaini On 250 Pole, Daniel Pedrosa On 125 Pole For South African Grand Prix](/wp-content/themes/racing-map/images/No_image_available.png)