Final Qualifying Qatar Grand Prix, Losail, Qatar

[Andy]

Under new tyre regulations and with an 800c

capacity limit MotoGP 2007 got underway at a

sunny Losail circuit with a pole for Valentino

Rossi (Yamaha), second place on the grid for

Casey Stoner (Ducati) with the final front row

slot going to Colin Edwards (Yamaha).

With an ambient temperature of a modest 23

degrees, and with the track at 27 degrees,

conditions were ripe for riders to make the most

of this benign weather. They ripped around this

5.4km track without suffering the customary

privations of heat exhaustion when this race was

held in October here in the Qatar desert.

The circuit was also relatively dust free owing

to the Superbike race held here two weeks ago and

a series of local events that have laid down

rubber on the tarmac and made the track a much

grippier proposition than it has been in recent years.

As the hour long MotoGP qualifying session got

underway it was Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda

RC212V) who headed the timesheet before Carlos

Checa (LCR Honda RC212V) snatched pole away from

him, only for John Hopkins (Suzuki) to then

temporarily wrest number slot from them both.

But this was mere early skirmishing as riders put

in laps on prospective race rubber while

conserving a limited number of qualifying tyres

for the final minutes. With only 14 front tyres

and 17 rears available for each rider, longer

stints on track without constant returns to the pits for changes were the norm.

Twenty minutes into the session the order was

Edwards, Rossi, Hopkins, Loris Capirossi

(Ducati), Melandri and Checa. Then as per last

season Kawasaki was the first team to fit a

qualifier as Randy de Puniet sped to a 1m 56.331s

lap to hit pole with 30 minutes remaining.

Within the last twenty minutes Shinya Nakano

(Konica Minolta Honda RC212V), who had been

running in ninth spot, slid off at high speed

without injury. Meanwhile Stoner had hoisted

himself to second with Melandri third fastest and

Edwards on pole with a time of 1m 56.156s.

Stoner then upped the pace to go pole with a 1m

55.794s lap ahead of de Puniet, Hopkins and

Edwards who had now been bumped down to fourth on

row two. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) who

had been struggling here so far elevated himself

to fifth with a prodigious effort, before ending up ninth overall.

But Edwards was comfortable enough to squeeze yet

more speed from his bike and with seven minutes

left he managed a 1m 55.654s time to go pole

again. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) had not

been finding things easy here and his ride to

sixth with just five minutes to go was as much as

he could manage before ending up fifth overall

with a 1m 55.361s time on his very last lap.

It was Toni Elias (Fortuna Honda RC212V) who

found the most speed from his RC212V in the

closing moments when he flew to a 1m 55.358s

time, just 0.356s off the pole time, to head the

second row of the grid as fourth fastest qualifier.

Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR212V) could do no better

than 18th fastest, nearly two and a half seconds

shy of Rossi

[the addict]

Still got me money on Casey winning the title this year awsome 125 and 250 rider and the new 800's will really suit him. Nice to see Jezza putting one over on Pitty and Ilmor a little closer than test times by the look of things.

Bradley did well, mega close in the 125's and hopefully he will really go for it this season.

[scorpa3]

Still got me money on Casey winning the title this year awsome 125 and 250 rider and the new 800's will really suit him.

Nice one Just...... do you have a crystal ball?