After running through a variety of tests that didn’t produce the results the team had hoped for yesterday, Sete Gibernau returned to his best form at the scene of his last victory today, setting the second fastest time of official qualifying practice behind Loris Capirossi at the Grand Prix of Qatar.

The Movistar rider dipped two seconds inside the pole time set by Carlos Checa last season as he stopped the clocked at 1’56”994 on his 21^st lap of 24.

Sete fought for pole until the chequered flag, eventually missing out by just 0.077 seconds to the Ducati rider, who actually held him up on the final lap. Despite that, Gibernau’s hopes of finishing on the podium in Qatar have been given a major boost as he starts from the front row of the grid and reflects on the good race pace he set in the morning free practice.

Gibernau’s team-mate Marco Melandri will start from the second row after setting the fifth best time of the session with a lap of 1’57”468. The Italian, who set the pace in morning free practice, worked well for the race and, with the way his injury has healed, hopes to suffer less than he did in the race last week.

SETE GIBERNAU (2^nd, 1’56”994): “Yesterday we went in the wrong direction in the afternoon session but today we got back on the right track. We did a great job to prepare for the race in the final session and even though we start an hour later tomorrow, the tyres and the setting are already decided. I was able to set a good rhythm, with quality laps, and even though I just missed out on pole at the end we are on the front row, which is important. Tomorrow the objective is to fight for the podium and get out of this hole at last. I’m convinced that when we do so we’ll be stronger than ever.”

MARCO MELANDRI (5^th, 1’57”468): “In the morning we set a good pace and this gave us room to try some different geometry settings with the bike in the afternoon, although they didn’t help us improve. It was also a shame that I wasn’t able to make the most of the qualifying tyres at the end of the session because when I went out there was a lot of traffic on the track. From a physical point of view I am better. I’ve started to put more force on the footpeg and it hurts a little more but the doctors at the Clinica Mobile are looking after me and I know I’ll be in good shape for the race.”

 LAP TIMES
1. Loris Capirossi (Ita/Ducati) 1’56”917
2. Sete Gibernau (Esp/Honda) + 0”077
3. Valentino Rossi (Ita/Yamaha) + 0”443
4. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) + 0”530
5. Marco Melandri (Ita/Honda) + 0”551