Qatar WSB 1st qualifying

Troy Corser has taken provisional pole position for Suzuki after the first qualifying session at Qatar World Superbikes.

Corser had a close battle with second placed man Jose Luis Cardosa on a Yamaha R1 with the top spot changing between them several times, but the Australian held out to the end to take the provisional pole by 0.144 seconds.

Regis Laconi took third place early on in the session and pretty much held it till the end, while Sebastien Gimbert made a last minute dash to take fourth spot.

Current champion James Toseland never managed much better than the tenth position that he finished the session in.

US star Ben Bostrom fell on only his fifth lap and damaged his bike, forcing him to sit out the rest of the session and resigning him to 28th out of 29

We will be bringing live results from the second qualifying and superpole sessions tomorrow (see seperate story, right). See below for a blow-by-blow account of the first qualifying session.

See our six-page WSB preview in MCN this week (Feb 23) and full report and inside-paddock story of the first race weekend of the season in our March 2 issue.

Official times:

Corser T., 2:01.244

Cardoso J., 2:01.388

Laconi R., 2:01.980

Gimbert S., 2:02.217

Neukirchner M., 2:02.236

Kagayama Y., 2:02.284

Vermeulen C., 2:02.469

Chili P., 2:02.507

Haga N., 2:02.687

Toseland J., 2:02.754

Silva I., 2:02.759

Pitt A., 2:02.769

Abe N., 2:02.868

Walker C., 2:02.921

Borciani M., 2:03.178

Bussei G., 2:03.268

Lanzi L., 2:03.314

Muggeridge K., 2:03.532

Nieto F., 2:03.956

Martin S., 2:04.045

Vizziello G., 2:04.587

Praia M., 2:04.627

Clementi I., 2:04.630

Sanchini M., 2:04.689

Mccoy G., 2:04.991

Pedercini L., 2:05.182

Velini A., 2:05.777

Bostrom B., 2:08.199

Al Nuami T., 2:11.590

12:18pm: All riders now in the pits, Corser take provisional pole with a 2:01.244 lap

12:17pm: Session ended only final flying laps to be completed

12:16pm: Corser pits in the lead

12:16pm: Corser fasest, Toseland in 10th

12:15pm: Vermeulen takes 7th

12:14pm: Laconi retakes third

12:14pm: Corser sets new fastest lap at 2:01.244

12:13pm: Corser fastest Gimbert third, Chili forth, Laconi fifth

12:12pm: Top ten: Corser, Cardosa, Laconi, Chili, Silva, Haga, Abe, Gimbert, Neukirchner, Walker

12:09pm: Corsa fastest, Toseland 14th, Walker 9th. Five minutes left

12:08pm: Cardosa on a hot lap, but slows in second half and pits

12:07pm: Top ten: Corser, Cardosa, Laconi, Chili, Silva, Haga, Gimbert, Neukirchner, Kagayama, Pitt

12:05pm: Corser steels back the fastest lap with a 2:01.903. Chili jumps in at fourth

12:01pm: top four in the pits. 15 minutes to go. Cardosa still fastest

12:00pm: Marco Borciani in 11th ahead of Toseland in 12th

11:58am: Neukirchner moves up to fifth

11:57am: Top ten: Cardosa, Corser, Laconi, Gimbert, Neukirchner, Silva, Abe, Pitt, Kagayama, Vermeulen

11:56am: Toseland jumps up to 10th and Vermeulan up to ninth pushing Muggeridge and Walker out of the top ten

11:55am: Muggeridge enters the top ten for the first time

11:53am: Norick Abe moves up to 8th knocking chris Walker to 9th

11:52am: Cardosa takes the fastest lap from Corser with 2:01.956

11:48am: Corser back out on track

11:47am: Sebastian Gimbert takes third and knocks Cardosa in to fourth

11:46am: Chili moves up to 11th

11:45am: Honda’s get of to a slow start with Vermeulen in 18th and Muggeridge in 23rd

11:42am: Corser pits

11:41am: Toseland moves up to 11th

11:40am: Cardosa comes in to third spot.

Top ten: Corser, Laconi, Cardosa, Gimbert, Silva, Kagayama, Pitt, Lanzi, Walker, Abe

11:39am: Walker in 8th and Toseland in 14th

11:37am: Corser set new fastest lap at 2:02.282, Laconi 2:02.650

11:36am: Corser and Laconi both on hot laps

11:34am: Corser starts lap 6 7 seconds slower but still holds best lap so far

11:31am: Corser and Kagayama head out again.

Top ten: Corser, Laconi, Gimbert, Silva, Kagayama, Cardosa, Pitt, Walker, Haga, Neukirchner

11:29am: Top ten riders in the pits at the rain soaked track

11:26am: Laconi pits after three laps Corser takes the top spot with 2:02.375

11:24am: Sebastian Gimbert is in second place followed by Yukio Kagayama and Troy corser

11:20am (UK time): After two laps Regis Laconi has taken the top spot with a 2:03.539 lap and top speed of 292.2kmh