WSBK first qualifying

[pink69]

First qualifying for WSB Doha races:
1 Troy Corser (Aus) Suzuki 2mins 01.244secs
2 Luis Cardoso Jose (Spa) Yamaha 2:01.388
3 Regis Laconi (Fra) Ducati 2:01.980
4 Sebastien Gimbert (Fra) Yamaha 2:02.217
5 Max Neukirchner (Ger) Honda 2:02.236
6 Yukio Kagayama (Jpn) Suzuki 2:02.284
7 Chris Vermeulen (Aus) Honda 2:02.469
8 Pierfrancesco Chili (Ita) Honda 2:02.507
9 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Yamaha 2:02.687
10 James Toseland (Gbr) Ducati 2:02.754

14 Chris Walker (Gbr) Kawasaki 2:02.921

[x_dt]

The surprises here have to be Cardoso (2nd) and Neukirchner (5th) though Cardoso has been strong in preseason testing as well. A dark horse for success this year?

[f1manoz]

Isn't it great to see a variety of manufacturers back in WSBK! It's going to be one hell of a year....

[Hazza]

That's a huge field - take out Corser and you'd be hard picked to find a sure favorite!

Time to eat my hat - do I get mustard with my order

[D.R.T.]

Awesome, this is going to be some year. Corser must be loving this, after spending 3 years struggling through the Foogy, now on the form bike.

Look for Haga and Vermulen to put in a strong showing.

[ATF]

Grid has been decided and it's Laconi on pole. All this talk of Ducatis not being on the pace of Yamaha/Suzuki/Honda has been thrown out of the window! Still Corser has still got to be my favourite for the races tomorrow.

WSBK Grid Times

Also good to see Gimbert, Pitt, Kagayama, Chili, Vermeulen in the top 10 but Toseland 13th!!

And the biggest surprise this season so far has to be Ben Bostrom. 28th out of 29 - what on earth is going on there?!!!

[N I Tram]

I'm surprised at how well Regis has done, although he's only on pole by about 0.05 seconds. Neither Neunkirchner or Cardoso have matched their Friday position, which is hardly surprising, but both have humbled more experienced riders on the same bike. The lack of a dry qualifying 2 session means that a few people you'd expect to be fast have missed Superpole, such as Nieto and Muggeridge - in reality both are probably faster than Borchiani or Bussei. Other than the local wildcard, Bostrom is the slowest of all by 2 seconds - he's got a lot of work to do.

[goughy]

Renegade who Bostrom rides for had stock motors, as in the same motor that comes with the standard Honda you or I could buy. The proper pukka race motor is due to be delivered to the circuit in time to be fitted for the race.

However, BB managed to do his best to destroy the bike early in first qualifying, hence he missed the rest of the session (spare bike not race prepared) and as 2nd qualifying was effectively rained off he has found himself starting last for the races. Rider in 29th is not racing as he was not within the qualification time.

To fair to BB though he had not even sat on the bike before 1st practice, absolutely no pre-season testing, so this was his first experience of the tyre’s etc. In fact the bike was ready just in time for the event, and its believed that perhaps a rear shock linkage problem may have caused the crash.

This is a problem a lot of teams have faced with an early start to the season, so with the 5 week break between this and the 2nd round, expect a big improvement by many by then.

[gomick]

go pitty that is great.... any idea what the weather forecast is - some of those wet weather times were interesting...

[bestfit]

go pitty that is great.... any idea what the weather forecast is - some of those wet weather times were interesting...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=2162

Sunny intervals.
With a relative humidity of 76%, rain must be a real possibility.

If it does rain, I will have a lazy $20 on Gary McCoy!!!

[BootsOntheSide]

Sounds like Ben's had an unlucky set of circumstances, so it's clearly too soon to form an opinion on his performance. The grid is a bit mixed-up thanks to the lack of dry running, but it's clear that Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and Ducati are all competitive. I just wish I didn't have to wait until Sunday evening to see the action.

[Dani Filth]

my money is still on Laconi for the title . but the suzukis are very strong .

[chunder]

Think you will find that Bostrom tested with all the temas at Qatar before the race, and yes he had a nightmare, but was getting a little quicker as the weekend wore on.
As for Honda motors y'know the Klaffi bikes loked pretty quick in the second race and FRankie was quicker than Vermin for most of the race
Even Neukirchner was in there and getting stuck in to his credit. THink Chris was on a total flyer in qually too until Kagayama got in his way and he binned it in a fit of frustration!
Seems the Gixxer is the clas of the field though, but fair play to Ducati, the bike is there and quick in both riders hands, they even managed a few slipstream moves, but the Suzuki was simply faster than anything on the straights