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Troy Corser set the early pace at the first round of the 2008 World Superbike season in Qatar, posting a first day qualifying time of 1'59.627 on race tyres and getting to within half a second of the current lap record. Corser's fellow Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga secured a provisional front row position of fourth, despite falling heavily two-thirds of the way through the hour long qualifying session.

Conditions at Losail were problematic for all riders, with a strong and gusting wind blowing down the kilometre-long main straight, holding down top speed potentials and making corner entry a challenge.

With both riders inside the top four places, the experienced Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team made the best use of their recent testing experiences in Qatar, and few changes were made to the machine settings since that test at the 5.380km Losail circuit.

Final qualifying and then Superpole qualifying take place tomorrow, Friday 22nd, before Saturday's pair of 18-lap Superbike races.

Troy Corser:
Having the test so soon before the race was good because we got a really strong engine setting with the bike. The chassis feels quite good but it is difficult to know how well things are working, just because of the wind. That is probably the windiest conditions I have ever ridden in. It wasn't so bad that we shouldn't have been out there, but today was all down to how much you wanted to push. I didn't really change too many settings from the test, just left it to get today out of the way. We just need the wind to die down for tomorrow. The track grip is comparable to what we had here at the test. I think the wind is blowing as much sand off the track as it is blowing sand back on. The only real problem is that the worst direction for the wind to blow here is down the main straight, like it was today. The bike and the team are working well so it's been a positive start.

Noriyuki Haga:
It was difficult to make the best lap times in these conditions, but the feeling with the bike was very good. Unfortunately I had a big highside at turn one, on water coming from the bike. I landed straight on top of my head. I think before the crash I was half a centimetre taller. I am in a lot of pain but I will rest tonight and be better tomorrow. Top four is a good result for the first day. Our target point for tomorrow is make some changes in suspension, but I think we have the package right now anyway.

Massimo Meregalli - Team Manager:
We are happy with that for a first day. We have to consider that we had a test here recently, so we should expect good results. Troy's time was great given the conditions and we know we have two very strong riders in all circumstances. We feel for Nori after his crash, we can see he is in pain, but we also know him and he is strong. Now we will look that the bike and see if there was a problem.

Provisional qualifying times - Qatar

 1. Troy Corser       Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1             1min 59.627 secs
 2. Troy Bayliss      Ducati 1098 F08                        1min 59.853 secs
 3. Fonsi Nieto       Team Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8       2min 00.307 secs
 4. Noriyuki Haga     Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1             2min 00.476 secs
 5. Yukio Kagayama    Team Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8       2min 00.599 secs
 6. Ruben Xaus        Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1098 RS08 2min 00.695 secs
 7. Lorenzo Lanzi     R.G. Team Ducati 1098 RS 08            2min 00.724 secs
 8. Max Biaggi        Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati 1098 RS08 2min 00.744 secs
 9. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha Motor France-Ipone YZF-R1       2min 00.857 secs
10. Max Neukirchner   Team Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8       2min 00.904 secs
11. Michel Fabrizio   Ducati 1098 F08                        2min 00.937 secs
12. Karl Muggeridge   DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR              2min 01.086 secs
13. Carlos Checa      Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR     2min 01.409 secs
14. Ayrton Badovini   Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R         2min 01.677 secs
15. Gregorio Lavilla  Ventaxia VK Honda CBR1000RR            2min 01.729 secs
16. Jakub Smrz        Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098 RS 08    2min 01.955 secs
17. David Checa       Yamaha Motor France-Ipone YZF-R1       2min 01.984 secs
18. Roberto Rolfo     Hannspree Honda Altea CBR1000RR        2min 02.004 secs
19. Regis Laconi      PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX-10R            2min 02.100 secs
20. Vittorio Iannuzzo Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R         2min 02.256 secs
21. Ryuichi Kiyonari  Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR     2min 02.494 secs
22. Luca Morelli      Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR         2min 02.980 secs
23. Russel Holland    DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR              2min 03.006 secs
24. Shinichi Nakatomi YZF Yamaha YZF-R1                      2min 03.542 secs
25. Kenan Sofuoglu    Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr. CBR1000RR 2min 03.765 secs
26. Shuhei Aoyama     Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR         2min 03.796 secs
27. Makoto Tamada     Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX-10R   2min 04.264 secs
28. Loic Napoleone    Grillini PBR Team Yamaha YZF-R1        2min 06.363 secs