DUCATI MARLBORO MEN ENDURE RED-HOT QATAR
After scoring back-to-back wins over the past two Sundays the Ducati Marlboro Team had to be happy with something less than victory in today's Marlboro Qatar Grand Prix. Carlos Checa finished the race in sixth place while pole-sitter and early leader Loris Capirossi fell victim to Losail's notoriously treacherous surface, running off the track and ending up in tenth. Conditions could hardly have been tougher for round 14 of the 2005 MotoGP series - suffocating 39-degree heat and strong winds making for particularly difficult riding conditions.


"Today could've been better and it could've been worse," was the frank assessment of Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. "We knew that this wasn't going to be our race but we have to say that we are very satisfied with the overall result of these last three overseas GPs. We have to be optimistic, because if we can learn something from today then all the effort will have been worth it. To be honest, we had trouble with rear grip earlier than I'd expected. But our thanks, as always, to Bridgestone and to Shell Advance for all their help during this great run of 'flyaway' races."



CHECA CHOOSES HARD REAR FOR TOUGH RACE
Carlos Checa had a mostly uneventful run to sixth place, just six days after he'd scored his first podium of the year at the Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix. Starting from the second row the Spaniard was eighth after two laps, moving into sixth at one-third distance.
"Maybe the result isn't that great but I think we can be happy because we've done a good job here," said the Ducati Marlboro Team man. "When we came here in March we had front tyre wear problems, so Bridgestone have made a big step forward here and I know they'll improve again. I used a different rear from what I used in warm-up, I chose something harder for the race. That's why I couldn't push so hard early on but it allowed me to run a good, consistent pace later on"



CAPIROSSI CLOSER THAN EVER TO SECOND OVERALL
Loris Capirossi started today's race from pole position, just as he'd done at the two previous events, where he twice turned pole into race victory. But although the Ducati Marlboro Team rider took the lead at the start he wasn't able to stay there long. He dropped to fourth the next lap and then slipped to 12th when he ran wide and into a gravel trap on lap eight. Nevertheless Capirossi is now six points closer to second overall, following rival Max Biaggi's exit from the race.
"We came here knowing that this would be a difficult track for us,
but the main thing is that I finished and scored some points so we are even more in the battle for second overall," said the Italian. "Bridgestone did a great job with the front but we had some trouble with the rear. I took it easy in the first few laps, then after four or five laps I lost some rear grip. It wasn't spinning but I was losing grip when I flicked into turns, that's what happened when I went into the gravel."