"It's frustrating," Toseland said of his speed handicap as he stood in the Losail paddock at 1am. "But I'm just going to do the best with what I've got. It's just great to be where we are."
The speedtrap breakdown after tonight's session reads:
1st:
Marco Melandri (Marlboro Ducati) 327.9kph (203.625mph)
6th fastest:
Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) 321.0kph (199.341mph)
16th fastest:
James Toseland (Tech 3 Yamaha): 312.3kph (193.938mph)
Comparing Toseland's best sector speeds against those of fastest lapper
Casey Stoner, the Brit was only 0.09 seconds slower through T1, 0.121 seconds down in T2, and 0.096 seconds slower in T3. Only in T4, where the track opens up onto the power-sapping final straight, did Stoner increase his advantage to 0.189 seconds.
Friday pm - Back to Read-Ivy-Sheene Glory Days for the Brits
Veteran grand prix observers are tonight trying to figure out when was the last time that two British riders finished first and second in a qualifying session for a 125cc race, after Bradley Smith and Danny Webb achieved just that in the opening session for the Qatar
MotoGP.
It could even date back as far as the glory days of the sixties, when factory Yamaha riders Phil Read and Bill Ivy were regular winners in the 125cc class. Ivy won the 125cc championship in 1967 and Read in 1968 (the latter also taking four 250cc titles between 1964-71).
Or there could have been a British 1-2 in qualifying around the 1969-71 era, when Dave Simmonds won the title on a Kawasaki in 1969, and Sheene finished second in ‘71 on a Suzuki to Angel Nieto.
Either way, the Smith-Webb double act is an incredible performance, especially when you consider that Webb is still only 16. Both have switched from under-powered Hondas to competitive Aprilias in the Polaris World and DeGraaf teams respectively this year, but that takes nothing away from their performances.
