Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was the performance of 15-year-old rookie Scott Redding, who became the youngster ever rider in the 60 year history of grand prix racing to start from the front row when he qualified in fourth place for his very first GP.
Riding a Blusens Aprilia, Redding then came to within just 0.1secs of a podium finish in the race, - after losing out during the long drag race to the Losail finish line - but still collected an excellent fifth position.
This weekend Spanish Grand Prix at
Jerez should see Redding mount an even bigger challenge, having won the final round of the CEV Buckler Spanish Championship at the same circuit last year. He was also in tremendous form at the official Jerez test session last month.
"I wasn't intimidated at all in Qatar," stated Scott. "I know they are established world championship riders but I could stay with them no problem. I'm only riding last year's bike and it's a shame I was not on something quicker but I know Jerez very well and will be looking to go even better."
Also impressive was 16-year-old Danny Webb who grabbed his best ever grand prix result with a hard fought sixth place. The switch from Honda to Aprilia machinery by his Dutch DeGraff Grand Prix team has made an enormous difference to Webb who also knows the circuit well after racing in Spain for many years.
"I've come into this season with a clear head and the bike is so much better than last year," said Webb. "I raced and tested at Jerez many times. I'm really confident about the race because I'm much fitter, more relaxed and taking a different approach."
After an excellent pre-season, and having led all the practice and qualifying sessions in Qatar, 17-year-old Bradley Smith was a firm pre-race favourite - only to be stripped of the lead by a broken steering damper on his Polaris World Aprilia.
Nevertheless, Smith heads to Jerez brimming with confidence after leading both pre-season test sessions at the Spanish circuit.
