Qatar – FP1 MotoGP – Edwards above all

The Qatar circuit mixes up the cards; The best time of the first free practice session goes to Colin Edwards on the Team Gresini Honda. The Texan lapped in 2'07"144 and preceded Marco Melandri from Ravenna on the Team Fortuna Yamaha by 395 thousandths. Third time for Sete Gibernau, the Spaniard achieved a time of 2'08"191 and precedes his compatriot Carlos Checa (Yamaha) by 82 thousandths.

Fifth and sixth times for the Ducatis of Ruben Xaus and Troy Bayliss, immediately behind Valentino Rossi with the best time of 1.209. Loris Capirossi and Max Biaggi are further back, with the eleventh and thirteenth times respectively. The Roman has a gap of close to two seconds.

These are the times:

01 45 C.Edwards Honda 2'07.144
02 33 M.Melandri Yamaha 2'07.539 0.395
03 15 S.Gibernau Honda 2'08.191 1.047
04 7 C.Checa Yamaha 2'08.273 1.129
05 11 R.Xaus Ducati 2'08.291 1.147
06 12 T.Bayliss Ducati 2'08.302 1.158
07 46 V.Rossi Yamaha 2'08.353 1.209
08 6 M. Tamada Honda 2'08.365 1.221
09 56 S.Nakano Kawasaki 2'08.369 1.225
10 69 N.Hayden Honda 2'08.832 1.688
11 65 L.Capirossi Ducati 2'08.846 1.702
12 21 J.Hopkins Suzuki 2'08.862 1.718
13 3 M.Biaggi Honda 2'09.104 1.960
14 4 A.Barros Honda 2'09.189 2.045
15 17 N.Abe Yamaha 2'09.354 2.210
16 66 A.Hofmann Kawasaki 2'09.840 2.696
17 71 Y. Kagayama Suzuki 2'10.184 3.040
18 9 N.Aoki Proton 2'10.602 3.458
19 99 J. Mcwilliams Aprilia 2'10.651 3.507
20 50 N.Hodgson Ducati 2'10.775 3.631
21 36 J.Haydon Proton 2'11.219 4.075
22 77 J.Ellison Wcm 2'14.126 6.982
23 41 Y.Ui Wcm 2'14.619 7.475