Pacific GP. 1st qualifying practice

Rossi, Elías, Nieto and Pedrosa take front row positions
Daniel Pedrosa takes provisional pole in the 125; Elias is second and Nieto fourth in the 250, and Rossi third in MotoGP
 The World Championship visits Japan for the second time this season and the high temperatures have surprised all those who were at the Motegi circuit today. Valentino Rossi, recently crowned 2002 World Champion in the MotoGP category, suffered gastroenteritis during todays practices, which didnt hinder him from setting the third fastest time and taking the third position of the provisional starting grid behind Kato and Biaggi. His team-mate Tohru Ukawa, focussed in setting up his Repsol Honda RC 211 V, finished eighth. The presence of the new four-stroke Kawasaki ridden by Yanagawa (12th) in the premier category and Alex Barros debut on a Honda RC211 V, have been the most outstanding facts of this first practice day. In the 250cc, Marco Melandri has been the quickest on the Japanese track, followed by a very active and fast Toni Elias. Fastest during some parts of the timed session, the Repsol rider was finally overtaken by the rival in the fight for the title of his team-mate Fonsi Nieto. Nieto, suffering the effects of the jet lag and the problems due to the sudden time change, was not able to perform at a 100%, having to settle for a fourth provisional position. In the 125cc, Dani Pedrosa wants to forget his crash in Brazil as fast as he can and the best way to do it is setting the fastest time, as he did this afternoon in Motegi. With an advantage of more than half a second over the second qualified, Pedrosa feels optimistic in a circuit on which he feels extremely comfortable and managed to get on the third step of the podium last year. His team-mate Joan Olivé, with tyre problems, made the twenty-fourth fastest time.