Yamaha Motor Italia rider Andrew Pitt will start tomorrow`s two 18-lap races from the front row of the grid after an impressive superpole lap saw him set the third fastest time. Team-mate Noriyuki Haga also put in a strong qualifying performance and will start from the second row, in sixth position.
Rule changes for this season means that special soft qualifying tyres are not used during the two one-hour sessions, only in the one-lap
superpole and preceding practice, Both the Yamaha riders looked strong during the morning qualifying session, occupying top five places on
their race rubber and giving them optimism for tomorrow`s races.

Both riders took advantage of the latest R1`s increased controllability to take their place at the head of the timesheets during qualifying,
Pitt ultimately ending the one-hour session third and Haga in fifth. Both were able to find further improvements in the afternoon`s free
practice session, although a small mistake from Haga saw him go slightly slower on his grid-deciding superpole lap. Pitt however achieved his
target of a personal best lap in superpole, his 2:00.110 being bettered only by factory Ducati team-mates Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi. Both
riders have declared themselves happy with the race settings ahead of tomorrow`s races, which could well be a close affair if today`s times are
anything to go by: just a second-and-a-half separates the top 13 riders from today`s superpole session.

The Yamaha Motor France squad had a tough day in Qatar with all three riders missing out on superpole.

Fifth fastest in yesterday`s wet qualifying, Losail lap record holder Sebastien Gimbert was again the fastest of the trio in combined
qualifying, despite problems with his front brakes overheating during second qualifying. He will start the race from 18th on the grid after
posting a best of 2:02.710. Team-mate Norick Abe will start one place further back after experiencing some problems with his favoured machine
during the morning session. He was forced to switch to his spare machine during the morning session but found the set-up unsuited to the
circuit. The third Yamaha Motor France rider, superbike debutant Shinichi Nakatomi, continued to learn both the circuit and his Pirelli-shod R1
retaining his 24th place from the overnight standings. All three riders were able to improve their lap times in the afternoon free practice
session, although these would not count towards the grid position for tomorrow`s races.

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"It`s always good to get a front row start, especially around here as it is pretty dirty off the racing line. The bike has been working really
well. The team has worked hard just to make it that bit easier to ride. We`ve got a much better understanding of the bike this year and
hopefully that can pay off with some good results."

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"The bike is working well here and I am looking forward to the races. I did my best qualifying lap on the soft race tyre and that seemed to
work better for me than the qualifier I used in my superpole lap. Our race set-up is good and the times are close. I think we will have some
great racing tomorrow."

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
"It is disappointing miss out on superpole, especially considering I was on the front row here last year. I had a problem with the braking on
my bike. The front discs were getting too hot and I couldn`t brake as hard as I liked to."

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"In the morning session I had a technical problem with my number one bike. I switched to my number two machine but it had a different set-up
and I could not go as fast as I like to. We went faster in the afternoon but by then it was too late to make the superpole."

Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France)
"I am making improvements in each session but still I am learning the circuit. It has been difficult as there has not been much time to ride
in the dry, but I am now looking forward to my first ever world superbike races."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia)
"In the end the feedback we had from our test here last month has been confirmed. We were satisfied with the results of our test but we had
been testing on our own. Today was our first time on the track with our rivals and I think we can confirm the improvements we have made over
the winter. I`m pleased for Andrew getting on the front row, while Nori lost some time through a small mistake on his superpole lap. I think we
can do a good job tomorrow. Andrew did a lot of laps on the race tyre today and was still able to put in good lap times while with Noriyuki the
most important thing is that he has a good set-up. If he is happy with the bike then you know that he is capable of good results."

Round: 1 - Qatar
Circuit: Losail Circuit
Circuit Length: 5380
Lap Record: 2` 1.852 (Sebastien Gimbert, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2` 1.244 (Troy Corser, 2005)
Date: 24 February 2006
Temp: 30ºC

Session 2 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying Superpole
1 T. Bayliss Ducati AUS 2` 17.326 2` 0.639 1` 59.696
2 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA 2` 26.171 2` 1.369 2` 0.028
3 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 2` 19.991 2` 0.818 2` 0.110
4 J. Toseland Honda GBR 2` 21.732 2` 1.692 2` 0.112
5 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 2` 19.614 2` 1.008 2` 0.206
6 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 2` 20.164 2` 1.314 2` 0.613
7 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 2` 21.234 2` 1.579 2` 0.895
8 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 2` 21.152 2` 0.745 No time
9 S. Martin Petronas AUS 2` 21.505 2` 1.613 2` 0.940
10 A. Barros Honda BRA 2` 19.834 2` 1.953 2` 0.960
11 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA 2` 21.233 2` 2.020 2` 1.072
12 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 2` 19.684 2` 1.975 2` 1.137
13 F. Nieto Kawasaki ESP 2` 20.469 2` 1.809 2` 1.155
14 P. Chili Honda ITA 2` 20.695 2` 1.781 2` 2.038
15 M. Fabrizio Honda ITA 2` 22.655 2` 2.437 2` 2.596
16 M. Borciani Ducati ITA 2` 21.778 2` 2.449 2` 3.150
18 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA 2` 19.687 2` 2.710
19 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 2` 20.720 2` 3.026
24 S. Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 2` 24.788 2` 3.741
28 T. Al Naimi Yamaha QAT 2` 46.833 2` 9.934

WSS : Curtain third on Qatar grid
Round: 1 - Qatar WSS
Circuit: Losail Circuit
Date: 24 February 2006
Temp: 23ºC
Weather: Sunny

Having never run the latest R6 at the Losail circuit, the Yamaha riders were disappointed to find wet conditions for yesterday`s opening
practice sessions - restricting their set-up time ahead of Saturday`s 18 lap race. Dry conditions also meant that yesterday`s world supersport
qualifying times were redundant by the very first lap of today`s session, although in the end the expected names would be topping the
leaderboard.

After ending yesterday`s wet first session in second place, Yamaha Motor Germany`s Kevin Curtain again led the hordes of riders running the
new YZF-R6. The multiple Australian champion, second in last year`s series, recorded a 2:04.741 to end the day in third place despite crashing
late in the session.

Team-mate Broc Parkes will start tomorrow`s race from the second row of the grid, in fifth place, after recording a best of 2:05.082. Spanish
Yamaha privateer Xavi Fores of the SLM Racing team confirmed the R6`s potential by recording the sixth fastest time, with Italian Gianluca
Nannelli another R6 runner in the top ten.

Reigning world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) will start tomorrow`s race from pole position. His team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu starts
alongside him with Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) completing the front row in fourth place.

Round: 1 - Qatar
Circuit: Losail Circuit
Circuit Length: 5380
Lap Record: 2` 4.686 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2` 3.747 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005)
Date: 24 February 2006
Temp: 23ºC

Session 1 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 2nd Qualifying
1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 2` 27.755 2` 3.093
2 K. Sofuoglu Honda TUR 2` 21.890 2` 4.089
3 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS 2` 23.872 2` 4.741
4 K. Fujiwara Honda JPN 2` 27.615 2` 4.756
5 B. Parkes Yamaha AUS 2` 24.757 2` 5.082
6 X. Fores Yamaha ESP 2` 26.887 2` 5.415
7 K. Andersen Suzuki NOR 2` 25.853 2` 5.924
8 M. Berger Kawasaki FRA 2` 30.213 2` 5.994
9 G. Nannelli Yamaha ITA 2` 24.021 2` 6.183
10 B. Veneman Suzuki NED 2` 26.770 2` 6.227
11 C. Zaiser Ducati AUT 2` 26.945 2` 6.265
12 M. Sanchini Yamaha ITA 2` 26.670 2` 6.362
13 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA 2` 27.690 2` 6.447
14 W. De Angelis Honda ITA 2` 29.724 2` 6.647
15 C. Peris Yamaha CAN 2` 30.164 2` 6.734
16 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA 2` 29.666 2` 6.818
17 A. Gobert Yamaha AUS 2` 28.284 2` 6.872
26 D. Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 2` 30.832 2` 7.972
28 A. Velini Yamaha ITA 2` 30.150 2` 8.219
29 D. Garcia Yamaha ITA 2` 28.596 2` 8.921
30 V. Ivanov Yamaha RUS 2` 30.250 2` 9.142


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