Alex Barros ended MotoGP fp1 in 4th place, ahead of Nicky Hayden in 5th place. Recovering Ducati rider, Loris Capirossi, today managed to make 22 laps, setting time which put him in 6th position, in front of Valentino Rossi in 7th place. Max Biaggi ended fp1 in 8th place, in front of second Gauloises Yamaha rider, Colin Edwards. Makoto Tamada completed top 10 fastest riders today.

First free MotoGP practice was not incident free, as it saw Capirossi and Nakano crashing together, but fortunantely walking away without injuries. However, Nakano crashed again later during the practice and his current state is still unknown. From wildcard riders, best was Kiyonari on Camel Honda, who ended fp1 in 14th place. Suzuki's Aoki finished fp1 in 16th place. Team Roberts has also returned to the paddock, with Kurtis Roberts in role of team rider, but as expected, outdated machinery put him on the last place on the time sheet, 3.722 seconds behind Checa.