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Troy Corser takes the first Superpole of the 2008 season at Losail (41st of his career). He is joined on the front row by Xaus, Biaggi, and Neurkirchner.

Troy Corser - Yamaha Italia
I do like this track although the grip levels are not always that good. The bike is in balance even if I did have some sort of a tank-slapper halfway through the Superpole lap - mainly because I was pushing it so hard. I had chosen a soft race tyre over the qualifying tyre because it makes the bike easier to control. For the qualifying lap you just need to ride very smoothly and it worked out fine. During the regular qualifying sessions today we did some long runs in order to test tyre life and I am confident we have a good set-up for tomorrow. Last year, when I joined Yamaha, it took a couple of races to adapt. We ended the year on a high note, however, and started that way again this year. I have to thank my team and our new Ohlins technician. I pretty pleased with my latest Superpole win and looking forward to starting from the first row.

Reuben Xaus - Sterilgarda Go Eleven
I lapped fast both with qualifying tyres, soft tyres and race tyres. I think I've found an excellent set-up, which suits perfectly my riding style. I have what it takes to aim for great results in both the race.

Max Biaggi - Sterilgrada Go Eleven
I'm really satisfied, lap by lap I bettered my times until the Superpole when I was able to gain the first line. Tomorrow's warm-up will be helpful to make the last settings for the race although we already have an idea. The first row rewards both me and all the members of the team; they have been trusting in me since the beginning. My best compliments to Ruben who did better than me.

Max Neukirchner - Alstare Suzuki
I'm very happy with how my Superpole lap and getting on the front row of the grid. Today my bike worked very well on the Superpole lap and whenever I tried a really soft tyre, but it didn't work so well when I tried to do a long run. So now we will look at all the data and telemetry and see if we can adjust the bike so that it works as well in a race distance. I hope we can find out what to do so that I can run with the top guys throughout the race, but whatever happens, this has been a very good start and that makes me happy.

Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Italia
I almost made a perfect Superpole lap but at one point the rear started chattering, so I missed a bit of time there. Otherwise I am quite satisfied with Superpole, because we tried so many things for our race set-up that I didn't find a great feeling with the Superpole tyre before I started my lap. I am thinking about race strategy tonight, but I can't make too many predictions. This track is peculiar, but I will try to do my best as always.

Troy Bayliss - Xerox Ducati
We changed bikes just before the session and I didn't feel totally happy. I think it would have been better to do Superpole on a race tyre. I was really happy earlier this afternoon when we used race tyres during the session so that's a positive thing. It doesn't take much for the lap to be less than perfect and there are several of us running with times that are really close , so the result is that I've taken seventh place which is not as good as I had hoped.

Superpole Times - Qatar

 1. Troy CORSER       (Yam YZF-R1)     1:58.053
 2. Ruben XAUS        (Duc 1098RS)     1:58.689
 3. Max BIAGGI        (Duc 1098RS)     1:58.767
 4. Max NEUKIRCHNER   (Suz GSX-R1000)  1:58.964
 5. Lorenzo LANZI     (Duc 1098RS)     1:58.975
 6. Noriyuki HAGA     (Yam YZF-R1)     1:59.017
 7. Troy BAYLISS      (Duc 1098F08)    1:59.224
 8. Yukio KAGAYAMA    (Suz GSX-R1000)  1:59.285
 9. Carlos CHECA      (Hon CBR1000RR)  1:59.417
10. Michel FABRIZIO   (Duc 1098F08)    1:59.450
11. Fonsi NIETO       (Suz GSX-R1000)  1:59.921
12. Jakub SMRZ        (Duc 1098RS)     1:59.984
13. Gregorio LAVILLA  (Hon CBR1000RR)  2:00.095
14. Kenan SOFUOGLU    (Hon CBR1000RR)  2:00.313
15. Roberto ROLFO     (Hon CBR1000RR)  2:01.208
16. Ayrton BADOVINI   (Kaw ZX-10R)     2:01.238
17. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1)     2:00.554
18. Karl MUGGERIDGE   (Hon CBR1000RR)  2:00.607
19. David CHECA       (Yam YZF-R1)     2:00.643
20. Ryuichi KIYONARI  (Hon CBR1000RR)  2:00.698
21. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Kaw ZX-10R)     2:00.854
22. Russell HOLLAND   (Hon CBR1000RR)  2:00.971
23. Makoto TAMADA     (Kaw ZX-10R)     2:01.303
24. Luca MORELLI      (Hon CBR1000RR)  2:01.396
25. Regis LACONI      (Kaw ZX-10R)     2:01.429
26. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1)     2:01.675
27. Shuhei AOYAMA     (Hon CBR1000RR)  2:02.059
28. Loic NAPOLEONE    (Yam YZF-R1)     2:05.516