Losail Grand Prix, Qatar - Practice
GOOD START FOR DUCATI MARLBORO MEN AT LOSAIL
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau
each made positive starts on the opening day of the first
flyaway round of the 2006 MotoGP season, with Capirossi fifth
fastest overall and Gibernau tenth; still well in touch with
the leading riders.
The two opening sessions were held in cooler and more overcast
conditions than is the norm in the Qatari desert, but the
MotoGP pace was as hot as ever, with Capirossi, in perfect
shape after his Jerez success, a mere 0.126 from the new circuit
best, set by Kenny Roberts Junior, who got the best time of
the day whilst following the Italian rider. Gibernau was just
over half a second from the fastest lap on the opening day.
Gibernau has never tested the Desmosedici at Qatar before,
making his opening day effort all the more noteworthy.
LORIS CAPIROSSI, fifth fastest, 1m 57.031s
"Coming back to Qatar was a big question mark for us
after winning at Jerez. I am very satisfied at this stage
and special thanks to Bridgestone for their great commitment.
The front is OK, and we tested some new rears. On my final
out lap I improved my time with a tyre that had already completed
a few laps. In the afternoon session we worked on the geometry
of the bike to find improvements and tomorrow we will continue
in that way. We started the season in the best possible conditions
and we want to continue in the same way. The track conditions
are much better than in the past and with 15 degrees less
air temperature this time, it makes it much kinder on the
riders."
SETE GIBERNAU, tenth fastest, 1m 57.569s
"Tenth position is not so good but we improved a lot
after the morning session and the bike is getting much, much
better. We know with our settings that we have to work a lot
and every hour I think we will see an improvement. We have
a long way to go and at present it is difficult to set up,
but I am starting to feel much better. Hopefully tomorrow
we will improve a lot but we are only about half a second
off the pace right now. We knew it was going to be a challenge
on the first day and tomorrow will be a long, hard day."
Temperatures: Ambient: 27 degrees. Track: 43 degrees
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