Daijiro Kato
During the Saturday qualifying, it is Valentino Rossi who has grabbed pole position with a time of 2:04.226. Behind him is Loris Capirossi, veteran Shinichi Ito and Carlos Checa in second, third and fourth place. The second row of the grid consists out of Max Biaggi in fifth, rookie Daijiro Kato in sixth, wildcard rider Akira Ryō in seventh and Olivier Jacque in eighth position. Spanish rider Pere Riba did not qualify for this race.