Nicky Hayden had a bad start of the new season in the dessert of Qatar. The reigning worldchampion finished in 16th position in the morning practice and although he improved in the afternoon, a 13th position after day 1 will not bring him any satisfaction. The Repsol Honda rider already complained during pre-season testing about the lack of performance of his new 800cc bike, let’s hope that Honda can sort things out fast.

Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards top the timesheets in front of Ducati rider Casey Stoner in 3rd.

Results Day 1 GP of Qatar:

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1′56.464
2. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1′56.779
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1′56.839
4. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1′56.981
5. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1′56.990
6. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1′57.247
7. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1′57.382
8. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1′57.527
9. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1′57.574
10. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1′57.626
11. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1′57.628
12. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1′57.636
13. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1′57.922
14. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1′57.982
15. Alex Hofmann Ger Ducati 1′58.206
16. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki 1′58.884
17. Kenny Roberts USA KR Honda 1′59.180
18. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1′59.278
19. MakotoTamada JPN Yamaha 2′00.108
20. Andrew Pitt AUS Ilmor 2′00.610
21. Jeremy McWilliams GBR Ilmor 2′00.621