WEATHER THE MAIN FACTOR ON OPENING DAY
With early morning rains continuing for most of the day at Losail, the first untimed session proved to be fully wet, even though the timed afternoon session was held in slowly drying conditions. Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) proved to be the rider with the greatest feel in the semi-wet track surface, scoring provisional pole with a time of 2’17.326. His team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi played it safe on day one, with better conditions expected on the second and final day, scoring 27th fastest time. An eclectic provisional front row included the PSG-1 Kawasakis of Regis Laconi (2nd) and Chris Walker (4th), with third place taken by the reigning World Champion, Tory Corser (Alstare Suzuki).

BARROS TOP HONDA RIDER ON DAY ONE
Riders with long experience, or accustomed to riding in a wide variety of extreme weather conditions, performed well on the ever-changing surface at Losail, as Yamaha Motor France IPONE rider Sebastien Gimbert proved by going fifth fastest on his R1. Gimbert’s team-mates, Norick Abe and Shinichi Nakatomi, went 12th and 24th fastest respectively. An SBK ‘rookie’ but the most experienced former MotoGP rider of all, Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) was an impressive sixth fastest in his first competitive session, putting good knowledge of Qatar to the best possible use. Yamaha Motor Italia riders, Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga took their red and white Yamaha R1s to seventh and eighth places, each handling the transitional track conditions with a cool head.

KAWASAKI RIDERS MAKE GOOD EARLY STARTS IN LOSAIL
New SBK™ inductee Franco Battaini (Kawasaki Bertocchi) may be riding a privateer 2005-spec ZX-10R for the first time this year, but his knowledge of Losail, allied to his impressive abilities, delivered him to ninth place on the provisional front row. A great opening day for Kawasaki riders in general put third Kawasaki PSG-1 rider, Fonsi Nieto, just behind Battaini, making him the fourth ZX-10 rider inside the top ten.

CHILI LEADS MIDFIELD HONDA RIDERS
DFX Treme Honda rider Pierfrancesco Chili called on all his seasons of experience to finish 11th fastest, with his young rookie SBK™ team-mate, Michel Fabrizio, in 20th place. Going the wrong way with settings in the changeable track conditions, the Winston Ten Kate Honda duo of Karl Muggeridge and James Toseland had an unhappy first day. Muggeridge scored 13th place, with Toseland 18th.

DUCATI MAN ROLFO FORGES ON
Another SBK™ ‘new boy’ Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi 999) made an assured debut for his team, finishing 14th out of 29 entrants, and ahead of Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra second rider, Yukio Kagayama. The top 16 was rounded out by a second year SBK™ rider, Max Neukirchner (Pedercini Ducati), competing in his first competitive Ducati session. The Petronas duo of Steve Martin and Craig Jones scored 17th and 23rd respectively. Despite still recovering from a broken leg, Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) scored 21st best time, putting in 17 laps in the hour-long session.

SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (WSS™)
Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Honda Ten Kate) showed immense speed and commitment in his first ever World Supersport qualifying session, overcoming wet track conditions to score provisional pole by almost two seconds. Reigning champion Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) only went 12th fastest, having set nine tentative laps in the 45-minute session. Yamaha’s new R6 machine, in the hands of Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) was second quickest, with Gianluca Nannelli (Kopron Edo Racing Yamaha) third, and Curtain’s team-mate Broc Parkes fourth. Norwegian rider Kai Borre Andersen added a splash of Suzuki colouring to the provisional grid, taking his all-new Hoegee Team GSX-R600 to fifth. Top Ducati was the LBR Racing 749 of Christian Zaiser, ninth.