Qatar MotoGP – Surprisingly, provisional pole goes to Ruben Xaus

Surprising qualifications for the MotoGP class in Qatar. Provisional pole goes to Spaniard Ruben Xaus with a time of 2'01"309. The Ducati D'Antin Team rider achieved it in the last few minutes available, relegating Colin Edwards (Honda) to 2nd position, 308 thousandths behind. Third time and last rider on the provisional front row for Team Gresini Spaniard Sete Gibernau (2'01"882).

The provisional second row opens with Yamaha's Spaniard Carlos Checa (2'02"744), who precedes Honda's Roman Max Biaggi (2'03"054) and Yamaha's Valentino Rossi from Pesaro (2'03"274). . Rossi only managed to get the 6th fastest time towards the end, up to that point the rider from Tavullia was sailing around 15th position.

Nicky Hayden is the first rider on the provisional third row, behind him Hopkins (Suzuki) and Nakano (Kawasaki).

Loris Capirossi with the Ducati Desmosedici achieved the 12th fastest time with a gap of more than two seconds while Marco Melandri from Ravenna was only sixteenth, almost 3 seconds behind Xaus' pole position.

These are the times:
01 11 R.Xaus Ducati 2'01.309
02 45 C.Edwards Honda 2'01.617 0.308
03 15 S.Gibernau Honda 2'01.882 0.573
04 7 C.Checa Yamaha 2'02.744 1.435
05 3 M.Biaggi Honda 2'03.054 1.745
06 46 V.Rossi Yamaha 2'03.274 1.965
07 69 N.Hayden Honda 2'03.274 1.965
08 21 J.Hopkins Suzuki 2'03.301 1.992
09 56 S.Nakano Kawasaki 2'03.356 2.047
10 50 N.Hodgson Ducati 2'03.380 2.071
11 4 A.Barros Honda 2'03.422 2.113
12 65 L.Capirossi Ducati 2'03.615 2.306
13 66 A.Hofmann Kawasaki 2'03.621 2.312
14 6 M. Tamada Honda 2'03.919 2.610
15 12 T.Bayliss Ducati 2'04.005 2.696
16 33 M.Melandri Yamaha 2'04.265 2.956
17 17 N.Abe Yamaha 2'04.991 3.682
18 71 Y. Kagayama Suzuki 2'05.062 3.753
19 99 J. Mcwilliams Aprilia 2'05.442 4.133
20 9 N.Aoki Proton 2'05.969 4.660
21 36 J.Haydon Proton 2'06.651 5.342
22 77 J.Ellison Wcm 2'07.859 6.550