Report - First Qualifying - Suzuki

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi continued his superb progress with the new GSX-R1000 K7 in qualifying for the opening World Superbike Championship round in Qatar with the third fastest time today, as team mate Yukio Kagayama finished seventh.

Both riders were satisfied with the continuing-development of the new bike and both are working on improving the bike's acceleration in preparation for Saturday's two races.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) posted the day's fastest time with a lap of 1:59.019 - almost a second under the official lap record. Second fastest is James Toseland (Honda) with Biaggi third and former Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser (Yamaha) fourth.

Max Biaggi - 3rd, 1:59.369:
"I don't feel that there's been a big change to the track since we tested here recently, but for sure the hotter conditions this afternoon had an effect on the grip level. It's normal that when the track gets hot, the performance or grip goes down. That's when you have to understand your tyres and try and conserve them towards the end of a race. The rear is not a problem for me but the front tyre is worked much harder and that's why you have to work to get the best chassis set-up and balance to be able to run hard at the end of a race. At the moment, the area where we are working the most is on the acceleration of the bike. Of course, like all riders, I want better acceleration but I feel that it is in this area where we are a bit lacking. If we can improve that, without losing anything elsewhere, I think we can have a good race day."

Yukio Kagayama - 7th, 1:59.805:
"No big problems at all today and because of our recent tests, our bike is pretty much ok for this track. There was a little problem with chattering but we are working on improving the bike's acceleration, mainly because that's what I feel I need at the moment. For me, the track was a little slippery - probably because the strong winds in the past couple of days have deposited some sand on the surface. My two bikes here have slightly different engine characteristics and maybe I need a compromise between the two. We will try a couple of things tomorrow and see if we can make an improvement."

.