Four riders made their
MotoGP debut at Qatar on Sunday and for
James Toseland it was also his first ever grand prix of any kind - but the Briton wasted no time with polite introductions as he traded paint right from the opening lap.
Brimming with confidence after securing a maiden front row grid position on Saturday, the 27-year-old showed no signs of any first race nerves as he played a leading part in the early race battles.
Third at the end of a hectic opening, the double World Superbike champion then climbed into second on lap two - after an aggressive pass on fellow Yamaha MotoGP rookie, and pole sitter,
Jorge Lorenzo.
"The first couple of laps were pretty hectic and I put a move on Jorge that was quite close," admitted James. "That's just a lack of experience racing against these guys. I've raced against the same boys for seven years and know exactly what they do and when they do it.
"Jorge put his bike over my nose just as I was committed for the pass. I've just got to get used to how these guys take the corners so I can pass them a bit safer. But he left the door open a bit and I went for it. There was no harm done and after that I was trying everything I had to pass Andrea and Valentino," he added.
The closing stages saw Toseland at the tail end of a close three-way battle for fourth and, while JiR Honda rookie
Andrea Dovizioso was eventually able to squeeze past a struggling Rossi, Toseland's spring-valve M1 was a little out of breath along the 1km home straight.
"I was catching up fractions of time all lap and I'd just get with them at the last corner and they'd stretch away from me on the straight," he explained. "There is nobody bad on the brakes so you can't catch it up really. You can chip away and chip away but the times I got close they were side-by-side and it was like a wall for me. And I wasn't prepared to take two of them out in my first MotoGP with sixth place in the bag."
