Friday Apr 7 2006
Qualifying - Qatar

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau qualified second and seventh respectively for the Qatar GP, putting Capirossi on the front row and making Gibernau the first rider on row three.
Capirossi was firmly on target for his second pole of the season until Casey Stoner took a new circuit best lap, leaving Capirossi's 1'55.721s lap time only 0.038 seconds from pole. The Italian rider backed up his qualifying prowess with fully competitive times on race tyres, filling his team with confidence for a strong race result. Gibernau had the misfortune to miss a second row start by only 0.101 seconds, in what was the Spanish rider's first visit to Qatar on the Desmosedici GP6. He was less than half a second from pole, thanks to a best lap of 1'56.177s, having already made improvements in his race pace in the earlier practice session.



Loris Capirossi (second fastest, 1:55.721)
"I missed pole by only 38 thousandths of a second. On my final fast lap I tried too hard in last part of the track and the bike slid a couple of times. I lost a few tenths and missed my second pole of 2006. It doesn't matter so much, because last year I was on pole at Qatar but not so competitive in the race. This year we have a very good race tyres. This morning things were a little difficult as the track was dirty and we made some modifications to the set-up, which did not work the way we expected. So we went back to our existing settings on the front of the bike and that allowed me to be fast, on both qualifiers and race rubber. The championship has just started but it is important to be competitive all the time. The track is proving to be less difficult for us than expected and we made a nearly perfect job this weekend. Bridgestone has done a great job in these months! I think we can be an important part of the game tomorrow."

Sete Gibernau (seventh fastest, 1:56.177)
"The race lap times are not too bad so it's a pity to be so close to the second row and not get there. Normally that's as far as you want to be back from pole. We have some work to do in the morning warm up to get more feeling on the front because we are still playing catch-up a little. We need to find two or three tenths to be able to fight for a good race finish and the start will be crucial. Before I have to think about the start I want to make the bike a little bit easier to ride, because now we are pushing the front a bit too much."

Temperatures: Ambient: 32 degrees. Track: 45 degrees