Nakano: Bridgestone will have an advantage

[R1 Biker]

After the excitement of qualifying on the front row (top picture), Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano slipped to a seventh place finish in the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix - but is confident of a better result this Saturday in Qatar.

Nakano's Jerez qualifying completed an all-Bridgestone front row for the first time in MotoGP - and the Japanese is confident that Bridgestones will again shine this weekend, when Kawasaki can also call upon data collected during two Losail test sessions by development rider Olivier Jacque.

"Because we are racing here earlier than last year, the conditions are definitely a little bit cooler, and that should benefit everyone. I like this track and we arrive in Qatar well prepared for the weekend. We have the data from Olivier Jacque's two tests here earlier in the year, and we have already tested potential race tyres for this circuit during our post race test in Jerez," said Shinya.

"Tyres are critical here, and I think our Bridgestone tyres may offer something of an advantage this weekend. This is also a good circuit for our Ninja ZX-RR, as you need a bike that handles well. For sure the straight is long, but we've had good speed here in the past, so I don't think it will be an issue. I feel confident that we can end up with a strong finish in Saturday's race," he declared.

Rookie team-mate de Puniet has lower goals, aiming simply to finish Saturday's 22-lap race after being forced to retire from the opening race of the season due to an injury sustained when he highsided his Ninja ZX-RR during morning warm up at Jerez. Despite treatment to the injury at home in France, de Puniet has not yet recovered full strength in his hand, but is confident that it will not prove a handicap this weekend.

"For me, the most important thing this weekend is to finish the race," he declared. "I like this track; it's very technical and I think that this suits the characteristics of the Ninja ZX-RR. I'm looking forward to the weekend ahead, and I hope that we can carry on the momentum we had before my crash during morning warm-up at Jerez. While the hand I injured in the crash has not recovered completely, it is a lot better now. I guess I won't know how much better until I get on the bike tomorrow, but I'm confident it won't cause me any problems this weekend."

First free practice takes place on Thursday morning.