Free Practice 1

The track temperature was around 42 degrees C at the start of free practice session one, with the track covered by a sheen of fine desert sand blown in with each new gust of wind from the wilderness surrounding the circuit. Front tyre wear has been an issue for all teams with the abrasive sand acting like sandpaper on the tyres and causing rapid deterioration.

The QERT Kawasaki team of Alberola, Carrasco and Al Naimi stamped their authority on session 1, keeping SERT Suzuki (Philippe, Lagrive) at bay until the closing minutes. They achieved a best time of 2.07.939 with SERT recording a 2.06.695 lap at the end of the session, despite Dominique Meliand's team competing without Julien de Costa who suffered a broken wrist during a quad bike incident here on Monday.

Yamaha Austria (2:08.183) finished the session third, with Steve Martin's track knowledge giving them an advantage over Yamaha Phase One (2:08.699) who finished in fourth despite being new to the circuit. Bolliger Kawasaki were fifth on 2:10.061.

Free Practice 2

Free practice session two was held in temperatures of low 30s, under clear blue skies. The track had been cleared slightly by session one and tyre wear was noticeably reduced. Previous track knowledge became a diminishing factor with SERT topping the bill at 2.05.619 followed by QMMF on 2.06.416 and Phase One's Warwick Nowland achieving the British team's best of 2.07.910.

Yamaha Austria (2:08.154) were fourth, Bolliger Kawasaki (2:08.522) fifth, RMT21 Honda (2:09.060) sixth, Maco Moto Yamaha (2:09.094) seventh, Diablo Kawasaki (2:10.330) eighth, LTG57 Yamaha (2:10.404) ninth and Endurance Moto 45 Suzuki (2:10.652) tenth.

During the session Vincent Philippe highsided the SERT bike but was uninjured.

Schedule

There are two night practice sessions tonight, with qualifying sessions tomorrow from 09:00 to 11:50 and 14:00 to 15:50. Qatar is three hours ahead of British time, two hours ahead of European time.

Quote

Yamaha Phase One team manager Russell Benney: "The introduction of Steve Plater back into the team after an absence of eleven years has really stirred up Warwick Nowland's competition glands and he set the team's fastest lap of the day at 2.07.91. Steve has settled in well giving very competent feedback during the day which was dominated by front tyre wear and the management of tyre stocks. We ended the day with a 130-345 Dunlop front which would last an hour but was definitely on the hard side. Steve's times were sandwiched between Warwick and Glen's making one of the most competitive teams this season. Generally you could describe today's sessions as simply workman like and routine. The team are full of confidence about a strong result in the heat of the desert."