Round: 1 - Qatar
Circuit: Losail Circuit
Date: 25 February 2006
Crowd: 1000
Temp: 30ºC
Weather: Sunny

Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt took a podium finish apiece as the 2006 Superbike World Championship fired into life with two sensational races at the Losail circuit in Qatar.

The duo each took a third place finish, although Haga could well have stood on the top step of the podium had he not crashed on the final lap of the opening race. The Japanese star led for most of the race, hotly pursued by fellow countryman Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki). Kagayama took the lead going into the last lap but typically the Yamaha man would not settle for second. Haga tried to repass Kagayama at the left handed turn six but asked too much of the front end of his machine and slid into the gravel. Kagayama was the unfortunate victim of Haga's crash, allowing James Toseland (Honda) to take the win, with Pitt promoted to third behind Troy Bayliss (Ducati).

Race two was similar to the first, with the two red Yamahas racing into the lead. Haga set a new lap record on lap two, but both he and Pitt slipped back when their front tyres wore later in the race. That allowed Australians Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati) to fight out a dramatic last few laps, world champion Corser taking the flag after a slight error from his countryman. Haga held onto third by the narrowest of margins, crossing the line one thousandth of a second ahead of Toseland, with Pitt in fifth.

Yamaha Motor France trio Norick Abe, Sebastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi had a tough start to the season but were able to record valuable points. Abe was forced to switch bikes for race one after finding a technical fault on the sighting lap. He came from dead last to finish 11th place, a performance he repeated in race two. Frenchman Gimbert scored three points for 14th and 15th places, while Nakatomi took 16th and 17th places in what were his first races outside his native Japan.

After today's two exciting races, Bayliss leads the championship with 40 points to Corser and Toseland's 38. Pitt is fourth on 27 points, with Haga's 16 points in race two putting him seventh in the overall standings. Round two takes place at Australia's Phillip Island circuit next Sunday and if the racing proves half as good as that in Qatar then the fans are in for a treat.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"The second race was very close with Toseland. He passed me going into the chicane but I could not close the door as my tyres were gone. I was able to get into his slipstream though and thankfully my bike was quicker than his. The first race crash was 100 percent my fault. On the last lap every rider pushes hard and I just braked harder than before and I lose the front end. I crashed and I am sorry that my bike hit Yukio and made him crash too. I saw the 600 race and our friend Katsuaki Fujiwara also crashed there. Maybe it is special unlucky corner for Japanese riders!"

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"I'm delighted to get that first podium and I can go to Australia a lot more relaxed now that I've reached that target. The overall package is just so much easier to ride this year and there's still a lot more potential in the bike. We've still got a bit of work to do in making our tyres last a bit longer because you could see both Nori and I were sliding around a bit at the end when the others still had a bit left. I went for a different front tyre in the second race, the same as the other guys had, and it definitely allowed me to run a lot more consistent lap times. We used the same rear though and I still lacked some side grip, so we will work on that and hopefully find some improvements in the coming races."

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"I had a broken bike in the warm up lap (of race one) so I had to use the spare machine and start form the back of the grid, so I had to work hard to get through. I changed my setting from first to second race, and the lap time was a bit better, better than qualifying. At this point I am happy but it was difficult to pass the top riders."

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
"It was much better than last year, because I made many laps faster than before. Unfortunately I lost time at the start so my main work is to learn how to start well, because my lap times were not so bad."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Compared to where we were this time last year we have improved a lot. Our riders led 21 of the 36 laps here this weekend and although we were not able to lead at the flag we were able to take a lot of confidence from the performances. I believe that our performances prove that the direction we are taking with the bike development is the right one and I am sure that we will see the benefits of this in the coming season. The whole team has done a fantastic job this weekend and the riders have repaid them with good results."

Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "Some points, so not so bad for the first race of the year. Everyone came home OK in the races and we had only two sessions of dry set-up on a track we do not know so well. It was also more difficult for our beginner (Nakatomi) because of this."

Kevin Curtain gave the 2006 Yamaha YZF-R6 a promising debut, taking second place in today's opening world supersport round in Qatar.

The Yamaha Motor Germany rider rode a cautious race to take the flag behind world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda). Although despite having only had 90 minutes dry weather practice at the circuit, Curtain was still able to run under lap record pace to start the season with 20 valuable points.

Charpentier had made a good start to lead from the line and pull away in the opening laps, while the Australian rider endured some inimical moves from Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda).

Curtain was able to break away from his young Turkish opponent, running several laps on record pace to close right up with the champion. But Charpentier was able to increase his pace and build a gap over Curtain, who decided discretion was the better part of valour. Unsure of the endurance of his front tyre, he decided to bring his R6 home in a safe second place, five seconds behind Charpentier but a similar distance ahead of third placed Sofuoglu.

Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes' Qatar outing was a short one, ending in the gravel on lap two. The Australian burnt the clutch out on the startline but continued anyway, only to be caught out by a lack of engine braking caused by the slipping clutch.

The new R6 is powering the bulk of riders in this year's championship with Spanish privateer Javier Fores showing the potential of the machine with a fine fourth place. Italian riders Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello also finished in the top 10 on their Lorenzini by Leoni entered R6s. Anthony Gobert's world supersport debut saw him end up 12th on the Yamaha GMT94 machine.

Round two takes place in eight days' time at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, Curtain and Parkes' home race.

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany)
"We're not that far off for the first time in a race with the new bike. We have a little bit to go yet but I'm really happy we can just about match them, especially in top speed. It was close but not close enough. Sebastien ran a fast race today, and the opposition has shown that they are still strong this year. But I am happy that the new R6 has performed this well this quickly so it can only get even better. We didn't have much time in the dry and I wasn't sure if the front tyre could last the distance. In the end it was fine but I didn't want to risk a DNF at this stage. Now it's off to Phillip Island, where we've already tested and have a good set-up, so that's something to look forward to."

Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany)
"I burned the clutch on the start line and I could feel that after a few corners it was not right, but I decided to continue anyway. As I went into one corner it was just slipping all the way, no engine braking at all, and then I ran into the gravel and couldn't save it. Of course, it's a disappointing start to the season but there's a long way to go and I'm looking forward to racing at Phillip Island next weekend."

Javier Fores (SLM Racing)
"I thought I would get fifth but then Fujiwara crashed, so it was a bonus to get fourth. I didn't know that there was a rider closing on me until near the end, but I managed to hold the gap to him. The bike was revving to the red line even in the top gears so I think we could have done something else with the gearing and gone even faster."

Anthony Gobert (Yamaha GMT94)
"I struggled a bit at the start but once I got going and into the groove of it, it went better. There were so many things different today, the suspension, the gearing shorter and so on. By the time I had adjusted to the new settings I was 24th but then worked my way back up to 12th at the finish."