ROUND 14 - MARLBORO GRAND PRIX OF QATAR, LOSAIL
01 OCTOBER 2005 - MOTOGP RACE RESULT

NAKANO IMPRESSES WITH SEVENTH PLACE IN QATAR

A sweat-soaked Shinya Nakano rode his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR into a rewarding
seventh place in today's Qatar Grand Prix.

After failing to finish in the previous two races, in Japan and Malaysia,
Nakano's top ten finish in heat wave conditions came after another consistent,
mistake-free performance.

Nakano finished just 1.6s behind Carlos Checa, both riders using Bridgestone
tyres, in the 22-lap race won by Valentino Rossi. Bridgestone riders had won the
previous two races.

After a sharp start from seventh on the third row, Nakano made a forward move
into turn one, before being squeezed back to tenth as the pack battled for early
track position.

Nakano passed Yamaha's Toni Elias to be ninth at the end of lap one, and by lap
eight had settled into seventh, after going ahead of Roberto Rolfo and race
winner in Japan and Malaysia, Loris Capirossi.

Over the final 14 laps Nakano gave chase to Checa, and at one stage closed to
within 0.6s of his Spanish rival, with a series of fast, consistent laps on the
mostly one-line Losail Circuit.

By the end of the race Nakano had pulled a seven second gap on Elias, to record
his eighth top ten finish of the season.

The result consolidates Nakano's tenth place in the World Championship standings
with three races remaining.

Nakano was the sole representative for the Kawasaki Racing Team in today's race,
following the withdrawal of Olivier Jacque, who a suffered shoulder and neck
injury in the opening practice session on Thursday.

Shinya Nakano: #56 - Seventh

"I'm happy to finish a race after the problems of the past two weeks. Seventh is
okay, I had expected to be closer to the front group, but it wasn't possible
today. Once I got behind Checa we had a great race, but I could only follow him,
we had the same tyres and the same lap times - it wasn't possible to pass. The
Bridgestone tyres were consistent today and the increased top speed of the
latest ZX-RR motor a big help. But we still need more acceleration to race the
front group. My start was normal but many riders went to the inside, and Rolfo
was very strong on the brakes, and we almost touched. I didn't want to take a
risk and crash, I wanted to finish this race."

Ichiro Yoda: Technical Manager

"These very hot conditions made this a very tough race for Kawasaki. I'm happy
for seventh but also a little disappointed, we anticipated being closer to the
front group today. The upgraded motor was a step forward, but we still need to
work on controllability and acceleration."

Harald Eckl: Team Manager

"Shinya rode another very consistent race today and seventh is about the level
of the our ZX-RR package at the moment. It was very important for the team to
finish this race in the top ten and Shinya delivered for us, as he always does
when given the opportunity. Keeping Shinya in the top ten of the championship
points is now our priority for the remainder of the season."

MOTOGP RACE RESULT

 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team  43'33.759
 2. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP      +1.670
 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda                 +5.536
 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team      +14.737
 5. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP      +20.431
 6. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team        +31.432
 7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team       +32.983
 8. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Yamaha Team           +39.888
 9. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda                  +41.792
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team     +44.252