ROBERTS HEADS MOTOGP CLASSIFICATION ON FIRST DAY IN QATAR
06 April 2006 - Moto GP

On-track action got underway in Qatar today, with the Losail circuit playing host to the first practice sessions ahead of Saturday''s Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar.

Kenny Roberts Jr. was the fastest rider of the day, heading the standings with a lap of 1''56.905. The American rider was faster than Loris Capirossi''s pole-setting time from last year on his flying lap, the first time in a long while that the Team Roberts man has topped the timesheets in a dry session.

Behind him, Australian Casey Stoner braved a lack of sleep after a late arrival in Qatar to come in second, six thousandths of a second off Roberts. One of MotoGP''s young rookies, Stoner will be looking to improve still further from his great sixth place result in Jerez. The young LCR Honda rider only reached the circuit at 9.30 this morning directly from Doha airport after several flight delays, making the run which gave him the fastest time in the morning session all the more impressive.

Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards couldn''t join Roberts and Stoner in breaking the 1''57 barrier, but came in third and fourth fastest of the day, followed by series leader Loris Capirossi and World Champion Valentino Rossi. The Honda trio of Dani Pedrosa, Toni Elias and Nicky Hayden, ahead of Ducati''s Sete Gibernau, completed the top ten.

Randy de Puniet is still suffering with hand problems from his crash during warm-up in Jerez. The French Kawasaki rider struggled through both sessions today, finishing second last in 18th, and will have another medical check in the morning to see if he is fit to continue the weekend.

Hector Barbera and Jorge Lorenzo finished the day at the top of the 250cc classification yet again. The two Aprilia riders have been continually fastest in testing and in the first Grand Prix of the season, and once more led the pack in Qatar, with Barbera finishing first. Alex de Angelis rounded off the top three positions, ahead of a resurgent Sebas Porto and Roberto Locatelli.

Outside the 2''03 barrier, Andrea Dovizioso, Jakub Smrz, Hiroshi Aoyama, Yuki Takahashi and Marco Simoncelli were the other five riders in the top ten.

Italian Mattia Pasini rode quicker than the 125cc pole time from last year by nearly two seconds, earning the provisional pole in 125cc with a lap of 2’07.628. The MVA Master Aspar team dominated the day, and repeated their feat from the morning session by taking the top four places, with Sergio Gadea, Alvaro Bautista and Hector Faubel completing the top four.

The top ten was completed by Lukas Pesek, Mika Kallio, Julian Simon, Gabor Talmacsi, Pablo Nieto and Joan Olive.

Like De Puniet in MotoGP, several riders were walking wounded through the paddock today, with the 125cc class being hit by a spate of foot injuries. Michele Pirro will race his first Grand Prix of 2006 on Saturday after a broken leg, whilst both Malaguti riders Tomoyoshi Koyama and Alexis Masbou can be seen on crutches around the Losail Circuit.

1st - Kenny Roberts Jr.: 1''56.905

''It''s been a long time for the team and for me but it feels good to be back at the top. When you''ve got such a great engine and such great tyres then it comes easy to go fast. To be honest I felt I could have gone faster on my own but Loris Capirossi came out in front of me and it actually held me up a little. I set the time when I was behind him but I know we have the pace. Hopefully we can keep it going for the rest of the weekend because this team have been waiting too long for a top result and they deserve one. The other riders will improve tomorrow so we will have to be on our game again.''

1st - Hector Barbera: 2''02.081

“My hand is still a little swollen, but I''m enjoying riding the bike and I am picking up some of the confidence I lost last year. I got the provisional pole at Jerez too, but I ended up fifth there, so we can''t rest on our laurels, we just have to keep working as hard as we have been and be consistent. ”

1st - Mattia Pasini: 2''07.628

“I felt comfortable throughout the session. The team has done a good job as we were able to sort out a few set-up problems we had in the morning session. We still have to decide which tyres we will use for the race. The most important thing on Saturday will be the start – I don''t want to make the same mistake I made at Jerez.”

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