Recent World Superbike test session timesheets hint that Suzuki and Yamaha could be more than a match for champions Ducati in this weekend’s opening round of the series at Losail, Qatar.

Recent World Superbike test session timesheets hint that Suzuki and Yamaha could be more than a match for champions Ducati in this weekend’s opening round of the series at Losail, Qatar.


Australian Troy Corser, who joined Alstare Suzuki from Foggy Petronas Racing in October, clocked a time of two minutes and 01.244 seconds in the first qualifying session on Friday. Cardoso Jose of Spain on a Yamaha (2:01.388) was second, with the Ducatis of Regis Laconi third and world champion James Toseland tenth fastest respectively.


To those who follow WSBK closely, the Suzuki’s performance will not come as a surprise. The Alstare Suzuki pairing of Corser and Yukio Kagayama and Troy Corser came out on top of a recent test in Doha. In fact, the pair never left the top of the time sheets over the test, suggesting the all new 2005 GSX-R1000 K5 machine is likely to be quite strong in Saturday's races.


Former Yamaha MotoGP rider Cardoso, meanwhile, never finished lower than the top three over the two-day test. Having a great deal of experience on the R1 will give him an early advantage that may last to the races this weekend as the other Yamaha teams try to find speed as they play catch-up.


Meanwhile, the Xerox factory Ducati team still has their work cut out. Neither Laconi nor defending champion Toseland went quicker than fourth fastest during the recent test and only the Frenchman could improve on that performance in Qualifying One.

Original article from Car