Qualifying quotes from the Pacific Grand Prix.

"I was surprised (the time) was good enough for pole." - Max Biaggi.

Max Biaggi was able to carry his overnight pole through to race day after improving his time in today's second qualifying session. Biaggi would appear to be able to consistently get the best from his qualifying tyres, he said " In the beginning of the season, we were struggling a little bit with tyres, trying to find the right one for the race. But I wasn't happy with that, so later on we tried something different, we changed the tyres, different compounds. I was able to go faster, and also more constant............ At the end (of the session), I put on qualifying tyres like everybody, but I had so much traffic in front of me. I tried my best and this lap time came out. I have to say, I'm surprised because I had traffic, but it was enough to put me in pole position."

Kenny Roberts Jr. will line up second on the grid, despite once again not getting the best from his (soft) qualifying tyres "My best time came on my tenth lap on a hard-compound race tyre. After that, I was too excited to go faster. I went out again - kept screwing up; put on a soft tyre - screwed up again. That's okay. The changes made were real positive, and that's the way I'm feeling. Whether it's wet or dry tomorrow, we're okay. Now that I don't need to worry about playing safe to protect my points position, my aim is to win the race".

Emerson Honda Pons rider Loris Capirossi qualified an excellent third in front of the factory Honda machines and believes he can deliver in tomorrows race, he said "I think that the two bikes of the team in the first row again confirm that we are very competitive and we will be a reference team to fight for the title next year. Tomorrow I will try to win, because I am convinced I have the same possibilities as the rest and, of course, I would like to compete for victory in the last turn with my team mate."

Teammate Alex Barros had this to say after fourth position in qualifying "I think the machine is not 100 percent adjusted yet. We still have a few problems with the front side suspension. I'll try to improve a little bit tomorrow in warm-up. I'm happy. I think making 51 constant is good. This should be the lap time in the race. If the lap times are 51 or lower, I think I can stay in the front. I'm very happy, except I need to make a little adjustment in the front suspension for tomorrow, then I should be more competitive."

In the 250cc class Marco Melandri was unable to overturn Katoh's overnight pole, but remained his only real challenger in the second session "I might have been able to go a little faster but there were some yellow flags being waved and I had to slow. Still I'm very happy. We've found the right tyre for the race. I hope to be able to stay close to Katoh tomorrow. I think he will be the only one capable of pulling away. I followed him a little at the start of this afternoon's session and that helped me discover some new lines. But I didn't see him again after that so I don't know just how fast he can go."

Tohru Ukawa had a difficult qualifying suffering from handling problems, but is still aiming to impress tomorrow in front of his home crowd, " It was difficult this afternoon, with other riders always in the way, and my machine was not perfect. We made many changes this morning, but nothing good, so this afternoon it is almost back to yesterday's settings. I'm having a little trouble coming out of the corners -- spinning the rear, sliding, and running wide. We will try some changes for tomorrow. I am happy to be on the front row -- there is not a long distance from the start line to the first corner, so it's important to be on the front. I'm expecting a hard battle, like Rio, with four or five riders. My plan is to win."

Pole position man in the 125cc class was Roberto Locatelli who scored a physiological advantage over rival Ui by setting fastest time - while Ui crashed in both sessions, he said " Today we have improved the engine check-out, trying also different solutions for the chassis, but not every of them was the right one. Anyway, I'm able to ride, more or less, in 1'59'', so I will try to do a solitary race. I'm afraid of the rain, so I hope riding on a dry racetrack. As for Ui, I believe he is living a bad period, he is tense. On the contrary I'm not worried: I have never been very fit as I am now, both physically and psychologically".

Ui, third on the grid, confessed to being less confident for the race saying, "I'm a bit confused. I had never crashed twice in the qualifying sessions of a Grand Prix. I'll try to do it better tomorrow, taking into account I'm riding home. But it won't be easy to win. Locatelli is very strong. I lost a place on the grid but this fact is not as serious as crashing twice".

Ui's teammate Poggiali also had a difficult second qualifying but remains upbeat for the race, as he explained;" I had engine problems. It was impossible for me to keep yesterday's seventh position. If we can sort it all out before the race, I'm positive about getting a good result here".