SOUTH AFRICAN GP Welkom, 9th of October, 1999

TADAYUKI OKADA ON POLE, SETE GIBERNAU ON FRONT ROW
 

Starting grid ? Welkom - 500cc

1. Tadayuki OKADA JAP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1:35.930
2. Max BIAGGI ITA Marlboro Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1:36.320
3. Sete GIBERNAU SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1:36.436
4. Kenny ROBERTS USA Suzuki Grand Prix Team SUZUKI 1:36.516
5. Juan BORJA SPA MoviStar Honda Pons HONDA 1:36.713
6. Alex CRIVILLE SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1:36.731
7. Carlos CHECA SPA Marlboro Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1:37.019
8. Alex BARROS BRA MoviStar Honda Pons HONDA 1:37.160
9. John KOCINSKI USA Kanemoto Nettaxi Honda HONDA 1:37.207
10. Jurgen vGOORBERGH NED Team Biland GP1 MUZ WEBER 1:37.224

from repsol:
As expected, yesterday's lap times had little meaning for today's qualifying practice. With the Welkom circuit being brand new, it proved quite slippery yesterday. But the more people ride on the track, the more rubber is being laid down and the level of grip is improving all the time. Even though Tadayuki Okada ended the first qualifying session very close to the provisional pole, his time would not even have put him in the top fifteen today. But Okada and his Repsol Honda team-mate Sete Gibernau have been among the biggest improvers this afternoon. Both men set the pace in the morning session with Okada second and Gibernau third. During the second qualifying practice, they once again proved blindingly fast. Okada was untouchable as he became the only rider to dip under the 1:36 mark and claimed his third pole position of the year. Gibernau is back on form after some difficult races due to injury. He will start tomorrow's race from third place on the grid. Despite still suffering from the combined effects of a broken wrist and a bad case of flu, Alex Crivillé was also among the best riders this morning. He clinched the fifth fastest time in the free session and has ended up a creditable sixth overall.

TADAYUKI OKADA : 1st  1:35.930 "That was just one fast lap. We put on a new tire and just went for it. It was just a matter of keeping my concentration up through the whole lap. I only did one lap under 1í36 but for the rest of the session, I was able to consistently lap in the 1:36s. That makes me very optimistic for the race as well. I think the track will continue to improve and therefore it seems likely that the race pace will be quite fast, even compared to this session. Judging by today's track and weather conditions, I think we can expect the race pace to be around 1:36. So right now we are looking good. Also, the bike is working very well. Let's hope everything stays like this for tomorrow."

SETE GIBERNAU : 3rd  1:36.436 "Physically, I feel a lot more comfortable so I'm able to ride a lot harder. I already felt better in Australia and I was fast as soon as I got to this track. As I've always said, the most important is to work hard and team Repsol Honda is being very helpful. But we still have some work to do. Our main worry here is that they are so many more right hand corners. We hope the tires won't start wearing too much on the right side although we're confident for tomorrow. We've made some suspension changes that have worked very well and we also did some endurance testing this afternoon that have yielded some good results. I found I was able to do some fast laps on worn tires but I did fit a new one to do my best time. My first aim for tomorrow is to finish the race and learn as much as possible. After that we'll see."

ALEX CRIVILLE : 6th  1:36.731 "I feel a lot better than yesterday. My flu is a lot better but my hand is still a problem. I can feel it worst when changing direction through the fast sections of the track. The most important thing for me will be to get a good start tomorrow. I'm not too far down on the grid and some of my split times are very good so I expect to be able to keep up with the others. As I said yesterday, I will be satisfied with a top six finish but I really want more from this race. I would love to win, of course, but Tady is very fast here. More than Kenny Roberts. We had no tire problems here but we still have a little bit of work to do on the suspension settings in tomorrow's warm-up."

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