Surprising Rubén Xaus on the first practice day of the Qatar Grand Prix.
The Repsol rider set the provisional pole after the first qualifying practice in MotoGP; Sebastián Porto sets the fastest time in the 250cc and Fonsi Nieto is third.
The first practices have been held today on the new Losail circuit in Qatar, where the high temperatures and a slippery track played the leading role, as expected. Given the equal conditions due to the fact of being a completely new track for everybody, Rubén Xaus made good use of his chance and became the fastest rider in the MotoGP class. Xaus, who had already set the fifth fastest time this morning, took the lead of the time sheets in the afternoon and kept it throughout the timed session after nearly ten minutes before the end of the session when all riders began to make use of their qualifying tyres to improve their times. Gibernau and Edwards joined the scene, overtaking Xaus in the fight for the top spot. But on a superb last lap, the Ducati rider moved up from third to first, an extraordinary result for the Repsol rider. The day has been quite different for both riders of the Repsol Honda Team. Nicky Hayden was tenth and Alex Barros fourteenth in the morning.
They were both able to improve their lap times in the afternoon but keeping a much more conservative attitude. On an extremely slippery tarmac where several riders went off the track, Hayden finished seventh and Barros eleventh.Good start of the Qatar Grand Prix for both of Jorge Martínez Aspar’s pupils, Sebastián Porto and Fonsi Nieto. First and fourth respectively in the morning’s free practices, both Repsol riders showed themselves highly competitive throughout the afternoon session. The fight for the pole was featured today by Sebastián Porto and De Puniet, who were swapping the leading place in the standings over and over again. The Argentinean rider was finally the one to set the fastest time, with an advantage of a bit more than a second over the French rider. Fonsi Nieto finished third after this first qualifying session.In the minor class, today has been a day of first contact with the new track both for Pablo Nieto and Sergio Gadea.
The riders of the 125cc class, the first ones to get on the track of the Losail circuit this morning, found themselves on an especially slippery track, so most of them decided to lap cautiously. Sergio Gadea finished the morning session on sixteenth place and Pablo Nieto was twenty-eighth. In the afternoon the asphalt grip improved and the times set in the morning were improved by more than six seconds. Pablo Nieto moved up to eleventh place and his team-mate Sergio Gadea was twentieth.
