Round 1, Losail, Qatar
Thursday qualifying, 22nd February
Circuit: 5.380 kms. Conditions: Dry, sunny 21-25C
 PROVISIONAL
FRONT ROW FOR MAX!
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi continued
his superb progress with the new GSX-R1000 K7 at Qatar today,
ending up with the third fastest time. His team mate Yukio
Kagayama was not far behind, finishing seventh fastest in
the overall standings. Max and Yukio 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. It was Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
who 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 Max third and former Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser (now Yamaha) fourth.
MAX - 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 raceday.
YUKIO - 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.
Thursday qualifying
1 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:59.019, 2 Toseland (GB-Honda) 1:59.056,
3 MAX BIAGGI (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 1:59.369, 4 Corser
(Aus-Yamaha) 1:59.440, 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:59.459, 6 Bayliss
(Aus-Ducati) 1:59.507, 7 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) 1:59.805, 8 Xaus (E-Ducati) 2:00.244, 9 Rolfo
(I-Honda) 2:00.258, 10 Nieto (E-Kawasaki) 2:00.309,
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