The pace was certainly high both yesterday and today, Kato having shattered last year's pole set by Capirossi by three-quarters of a second, and with six other riders also riding within this time. Kato remarked, "I actually crashed my number one bike at the start of the session and had to take it back to the pits, so I was unable to improve my time with the spare bike. I am riding in my home country so this is good start for tomorrow."

Another rider unable to improve on his Friday time was Max Biaggi, but like Kato before him, he did not slip any positions after today's sessions, and will line up alongside the Japanese rider in second on the grid. A last-gasp attempt from Loris Capirossi put him into third on the grid, with the never-say-die Italian evidently delighted with his flying lap after having put in 24 circuits of the track. Carlos Checa finished off the front row positions to make it two Yamaha and two Honda machines in the front four.

Alex Barros' first outing on the Honda V5 this weekend has looked promising so far for the Brazilian. Having briefly held pole during the first qualifying practice yesterday, Barros eventually settled for fifth on the grid, relegating the newly-crowned World Champion Valentino Rossi into sixth. Tohru Ukawa improved his time by nearly a second to rise up into seventh position on the grid, with American Kenny Roberts following up his podium finish in Rio with a solid eighth. Row three is made up by Jacque, McWilliams, Gibernau and Laconi, with Aoki and the three Yamahas of Abe, McCoy and Hopkins on row four. Kawasaki will start their first Grand Prix for twenty years from 18th place with Akira Yanagawa on board.

Fonsi Nieto claimed his seventh pole position of the year with a brave last lap charge to deny Marco Melandri, his rival and championship leader. The Spaniard clenched his fist in acknowledgement of his new pole position record time, as he looks to get his nose in front of Melandri on the track, and at least put some pressure on the Italian who is comfortably in front in the standings with just four races remaining. Melandri was second in front of Frenchman Randy de Puniet, on a high after his first career pole two weeks previously, with wildcard rider Yuki Takahashi finishing off row one on the new Honda RS250 evolution machine. 

Casey Stoner qualified in 21st place.  "I never thought I would feel happy qualifying 20th but after all our problems of yesterday it feels quite good. This morning we made a lot of improvements and I was very confident of a good qualifying position this afternoon. Unfortunately my engine seized on the second lap before I could ever think about going fast. As I do not have a spare bike we had to bring the bike back and rebuild the engine. The mechanics worked a miracle and everyone in the team was involved to get the bike back on the track with 16 minutes to go. I then had to run the bike in for three laps before I could go fast. The suspension settings felt great. But unfortunately I did not have time to go fast on the new settings. I still have tomorrow morning to get used to these settings and am confident of a good finish. Thank to every one for their great efforts."

Like Kato, Dani Pedrosa hung on to the pole position he set on Friday, the Spaniard notching up his fifth of the season as he aims to cap what has been an impressive season on the Honda 125. The youngster has been disappointing in recent weeks, but seems to have regained his composure as he tries to maintain a challenge for the title. Manuel Poggiali is also looking to make up ground on championship leader Arnaud Vincent, the Gilera rider taking second today despite having suffered engine problems throughout the weekend. Steve Jenkner was third on the Aprilia, just in front of Vincent, a strong looking front row for what promises to be a fantastic day's racing in Motegi.

1. Kato 1m49.052
2. Biaggi 1m49.162
3. Capirossi 1m49.169
4. Checa 1m49.224
5. Barros 1m49.492
6. Rossi 1m49.530
7. Ukawa 1m49.755
8. Roberts 1m49.859
9. Jacque 1m50.160
10. McWilliams 1m50.171
11. Gibernau 1m50.208
12. Laconi 1m50.306
13. Aoki 1m50.342
14. Abe m50.533
15. McCoy 1m50.702
16. Hopkins 1m50.849
17. Nakano 1m50.954
18. Yanagawa 1m51.234
19. Yoshikawa 1m51.278
20. Goorbergh 1m51.863
21. Harada 1m51.908
22. Riba 1m53.131