MotoGP 800cc Round 1 – Ducati draws first blood

Olivier Jacque was the sole Kawasaki survivor in Qatar, bringing his Ninja ZX-RR home in twelfth place after his young teammate, Randy de Puniet, crashed out of contention after just seven laps. Jacque was forced to change his riding style after one-third distance, after the hard compound rear tyre he opted to use in the race started to slide under acceleration. Despite the lack of traction, the 33-year-old Kawasaki pilot maintained a consistent pace to close onto the back of Kenny Roberts and Toni Elias at the start of the final lap.

Jacque waited until the final corner to slingshot past the two Honda powered machines to steal a hard fought twelfth place finish at the line, and to claim Kawasaki's first championship points of the new season.

Olivier Jacque: "Considering how hard the practice sessions were, I was not expecting to finish like this. Twelfth position is not where I want to be, but the rhythm and the fight have been satisfying. Following my team’s advice, I took it easy at the beginning looking for my pace. I felt good and had a nice fight with Elias and Roberts. On the last lap I was behind Elias and he surprised me, making me go wide. Roberts overtook me but at the last turn I braked later than them and exited the corner faster, allowing me to finish in front. It was great to come back to racing and understand the bike better."

Elias wandered off track on lap 17 while ninth and returned to the tarmac to finish 14th. He said, “I’m disappointed with this result because I was expecting something much better. We worked well and I got a good start but lap after lap I started to suffer. We need more consistency and have to work hard to find a good setting over race distance.”

Kenny Roberts (Roberts KR212V) was deeply unhappy about his 13th place and said, “I honestly don't have anything positive to say about this race. We just need to continue making progress at Jerez.”

Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V) crashed out on lap nine. The veteran Spaniard said, “It is a great shame to crash in the first race after all the hard work by the team and. I had just passed Nicky Hayden and was settling into a good rhythm but I had too much brake and lean angle, and lost the front-end. I felt like I had the pace for some good points today but now it’s done, I must look forward to next race at Jerez and fix this mistake.”

Loris Capriossi, DNF: "It's a real shame because I got a great start but someone touched me in the first turn and I lost a few places. After that I was recovering, pushing hard, then I lost the front in the last corner. It's a pity because I could have got a good result, as Casey proved our whole package is strong, and it's good that a Ducati won. I always said that Casey is a great talent, a good guy, and he deserved to win."