Round 1 , Losail (Qatar)
Thursday 24th February 2005
1st Qualifying

Circuit: 5.380 kms
Weather: Morning wet
afternoon dry, 23C

TROY ON TOP AFTER A WORD FROM NOT SO LITTLE A BIRD!

Troy ended the day exactly where wanted to be - at the top of the standings
after the first day of qualifying at Losail today. He posted a lap of 2:01.244,
a tenth of a second quicker then his nearest rival Jose Louis Cardoso (Yamaha),
with Regis Laconi (Ducati) third and Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha) fourth. Troy and
his team mate Yukio Kagayama only completed the afternoon timed session because
the morning practice was hit by strong rain and neither wanted to go out on the
slippery surface and make any mistakes. Only nine riders braved the morning
practice and most only completed a few laps - such was the greasy nature of the
track.

TROY - 1st, 2:01.244

"I knew it was going to be dry in the afternoon, because of a bird! Yesterday we
did a bit of a photo-shoot with some camels and some falcons. I held this superb
falcon on my hand (gloved of course!) and his owner took the hood off his head
and eyes. The falcon was looking around, but didn’t seem at all concerned and
was really quite calm. So I asked the owner if the bird was always so quiet and
he said it is because the bird knows it is going to rain tomorrow! He said ‘the
bird always goes quite just before it rains and don’t forget, it doesn’t rain
that much here, so we take notice.’ So because of that I didn't go out in the
morning. It would’ve been a pointless exercise anyway, because we would not have
learnt anything. In the afternoon we made a few little adjustments and also did
a bit of work on the mapping and we made some improvements in all areas, so I am
happy. I think today’s lap times are going to be similar to the race times and I
know I can go quicker if I have to, so I feel pretty relaxed about it all so
far. The only problem is that this is not an easy track for overtaking, so a
front row start is pretty crucial. Of course, I’ll be hoping to start from pole
position and leave the rest to sort themselves out behind me."

Thursday qualifying:

 1 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)  2:01.244
 2 Cardoso (E-Yamaha)                             2:01.388
 3 Laconi (F-Ducati)                              2:01.980
 4 Gimbert (F-Yamaha)                             2:02.217
 5 Neukirchner (D-Honda)                          2:02.236
 6 Kagayama (J-Suzuki)                            2:02.284
 7 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda)                          2:02.469
 8 Chili (I-Honda)                                2:02.507
 9 Haga (J-Yamaha)                                2:02.687
 10 Toseland (GB-Ducati)                          2:02.754