Biaggi: My hope is gone.

Max Biaggi has lost all hope of turning around his disappointing 2005 season with the Repsol Honda team, after yet another forgettable outing at Qatar on Saturday.

Biaggi had spent two frustrating days of free practice and qualifying trying to overcome further grip problems on the rear of his RCV - which left him just 13th on the grid - but things looked more positive in the morning warm-up when he finished sixth fastest and managed to string together a series of regular fast laps.

But the 34-year-old, looking to protect his pre-race second place in the riders' championship, slipped down the leaderboard in the early stages of the 22 lap race - then retired with electrical problems affecting the engine management system of his RC211V.

"The weekend started in a bad situation like in Sepang. After Motegi we've never been competitive at all. This is not just the set-up of the machine it's something bigger than that. With the set-up you can improve. It's more than just an engine-braking problem. Since Motegi it's been difficult - it's impossible to turn into the corner," sighed Max.

"In the race the machine stopped with an electronic problem. I don't know exactly yet, the team are looking closely. My hope is gone. For this race for sure I couldn't fight for the podium. It frustrates me so much because I know I should be fighting for the podium at every track and I know I could. We haven't changed the set-up from Brno and Motegi. I just don't understand what's happening here," concluded Biaggi.

However, despite another nightmare weekend, Biaggi hangs on to his second place in the championship by a slim margin of two-points from compatriot Marco Melandri.