Cataluña GP. 1st qualifying practice

High temperatures postpone the fight for the pole in the three categories until tomorrow
Temperatures of over thirty degrees and an especially dry weather surprised today riders, technicians and teams in the first qualifying practice of the Gran Premi de Catalunya. In MotoGP things are especially thrilling with fourteen riders within only one second. Today’s pole has been for the Italian Loris Capirossi, with Tohru Ukawa third, just one tenth away and Valentino Rossi fifth The last five minutes of the 250cc session where the most exciting with seven riders relieving one another in the lead. The surprise came in the last moments, with De Puniet leading the classification, followed by Melandri, Rolfo and Porto. Fonsi Nieto has been fifth, despite some problems with the suspension settings, while Elias finished sixth fastest after having been on the provisional pole during the session. In the 125cc Daniel Pedrosa showed once again that he is one of the fastest riders of the category, making the second fastest time, after the current World Champion, Gilera rider Manuel Poggiali. One outstanding detail is that in the most contended category of the Championship – instead of what could be expected – only two riders, i.e. Poggiali and Elias managed to ride around the ’51s, while the fourth fastest rider is over a second behind the provisional pole.