Troy On Top: In the first timed qualifying session of the 2005 World Superbike season Troy Corser (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) secured provisional pole, with a new track Superbike best of 2’01.244. Setting his time in the final minutes of the one-hour session, Corser, like all his fellow competitors, found the track surface in good condition, it having dried out quickly after a morning of sustained rainfall. Second fastest rider was Yamaha SBK rookie Jose Luis Cardoso (DFX Extreme Sterilgarda Yamaha) only 0.144 seconds down on Corser, with factory Xerox Ducati rider Regis Laconi third; the only other rider in the 2’01 bracket.

New Kids Show Pace: Two riders facing their first full World Superbike season, Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) and Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) had outstanding first qualifying displays. Gimbert took a brilliant fourth fastest time, but an unexpected fifth place for the 2004 World Supersport ‘Rookie of the Year,” was a tremendous reward for 21-year-old Neukirchner and his team, which has joined him in the step up to Superbike this year. His result put four different manufacturers’ machines in the top five positions, with Neukirchner top Honda rider on the day.

Four Cylinders To The Fore: Fastest man in Losail pre-season testing, Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) could not quite reach the heady heights again, setting sixth best time, just over a second from his team-mate. Unlike Corser, he did not resort to qualifying tyres in this session. Winston Ten Kate rider Chris Vermeulen, embarking on his second season in the premier production class, had recovered from a serious bout of ‘flu to some degree. He took seventh, one ahead of new Klaffi Honda recruit and SBK senior member Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda).

Haga and Toseland Top Ten: Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) and reigning champion James Toseland (Xerox Ducati 999F05) completed the top ten, with Toseland recovering still from a big crash in testing, which left him battered and bruised.

Wild Card Heaven: Ivan Silva Alberola (La Glisse Yamaha) continued his good Qatar testing form with 11th fastest time in the first session, only some 1.5 seconds from provisional pole - during what is a wild card weekend before he embarks on a full Spanish Championship season. He is endeavouring to compete in more races as a wild card, and has shown he could do more than just add to an already heavily subscribed grid.

Top Sixteen: Should day two final regulation qualifying dawn wet then the top 16 riders who would qualify for the Superpole competition on Friday 25th (by which method the final four front rows of the grid are determined). Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia), Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor

France), Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki), Marco Borciani (DFX Ducati) and finally Giovanni Bussei (Bertocchi Kawasaki) would be the 16 if times stay as they are now.

Runners and Riders: With such intense competition for the championship showing up at such an early stage, some big name riders were out with provisional Superpole qualification. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati SC Caracchi) and Karl Muggeridge (Winston ten Kate Honda) slipped to 17th and 18th, with Muggeridge another of those struck by pitlane flu. Fonsi Nieto (Ducati SC Caracchi) went 19th fastest, while a sterling effort from Steve Martin (Petronas FP-1) netting him a top 20 time on his outgunned 900cc triple. His team-mate Garry McCoy was 25th fastest, but worse luck was to befall seven times SBK race winner and 2005 prodigal son Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji). He fell during his fifth lap of the hour-long session, and failed to rejoin the competition due to machinery damage.

Supersport: Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Sebastien Charpentier held off the attack of his team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara, setting a stunning time of 2’03.841 in the process. This was 0.967 seconds better than Fujiwara, and over a second faster than third place rider Michel Fabrizio (Italia Megabike Honda).  The second Team Megabike runner, Fabien Foret, secured fourth place, for a provisional front row Honda whitewash.

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) was fifth fastest, 1.355 seconds down on Charpentier. Returning WSS veteran Christophe Cogan (Moto 1 Suzuki) was top Suzuki runner, 2.5 seconds off the pace. Fastest Ducati qualifier was Gianluca Nannelli on his SC Caracchi 749R.

Final qualifying in SBK and WSS, and Superpole in World Superbike, take place on Friday 25th; in the morning for Superbike competitors, the afternoon for Supersport. Superpole, the exciting discipline where the top 16 riders complete a single flying lap in which they earn their ultimate grid position, is at 16.00 hours Qatari time (GMT +3 Hours).

The 18 lap races, two for Superbike and one for Supersport, take place at the usual local times, with Qatar three hours ahead of GMT.