GOOD START FOR DUCATI MARLBORO MEN AT LOSAIL
06 April 2006 - Ducati Corse

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau each made positive starts on the opening day of the first flyaway round of the 2006 MotoGP season,

Capirossi was fifth fastest overall and Gibernau tenth; still well in touch with the leading riders.

The two opening sessions were held in cooler and more overcast conditions than is the norm in the Qatari desert, but the MotoGP pace was as hot as ever, with Capirossi, in perfect shape after his Jerez success, a mere 0.126 from the new circuit best, set by Kenny Roberts Junior, who got the best time of the day whilst following the Italian rider. Gibernau was just over half a second from the fastest lap on the opening day. Gibernau has never tested the Desmosedici at Qatar before, making his opening day effort all the more noteworthy.

LORIS CAPIROSSI, fifth fastest, 1m 57.031s
''Coming back to Qatar was a big question mark for us after winning at Jerez. I am very satisfied at this stage and special thanks to Bridgestone for their great commitment. The front is OK, and we tested some new rears. On my final out lap I improved my time with a tyre that had already completed a few laps. In the afternoon session we worked on the geometry of the bike to find improvements and tomorrow we will continue in that way. We started the season in the best possible conditions and we want to continue in the same way. The track conditions are much better than in the past and with 15 degrees less air temperature this time, it makes it much kinder on the riders.''

SETE GIBERNAU, tenth fastest, 1m 57.569s
''Tenth position is not so good but we improved a lot after the morning session and the bike is getting much, much better. We know with our settings that we have to work a lot and every hour I think we will see an improvement. We have a long way to go and at present it is difficult to set up, but I am starting to feel much better. Hopefully tomorrow we will improve a lot but we are only about half a second off the pace right now. We knew it was going to be a challenge on the first day and tomorrow will be a long, hard day.''

Temperatures: Ambient: 27 degrees. Track: 43 degrees

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