(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Defending champion Antonio Cairoli brought delight to his KTM camp last night by topping the time charts in the season's first official qualifying session of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship.
Eight-time world champion Cairoli clocked a time of 23:57.02 to secure the top position for tonight's opening race of the new season to be held under the lights of Losail International Circuit.
The 29-year-old MXGP veteran produced his best lap time of 1:50.71 on lap 2. Belgian Clement Desalle, riding for Suzuki, finished second with a time of 24:01.97 and last year's winner in Qatar, Gautier Paulin of France, finished the qualifying session in third spot with a time of 24:04.17.
Gautier, who rides for Honda, was 7.15 seconds slower than Cairoli.
German Maximilian Nagl was placed fourth on is Husqvarna bike with a time of 24:09.50 while Belgian Kevin Strijbos, riding for Suzuki, clocked 24:13.28 to post the fifth best time.
Frenchman Romain Febvre (Yamaha, 24:23.43), Briton Shaun Simpson (KTM, 24:29.45), American Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki, 24:30.72), Belgian Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yamaha, 24:40.80) and Australian Todd Waters (Husqvarna, 24:45.85) finished in sixth, seventh eighth, ninth and 10th spots respectively.
Cairoli was delighted with his first official outing of the new season.
"I was only trying to find the right kind of settings. I don't want to do anything crazy right now," Cairoli said. "It is a long season and right now I just want to get a podium finish," the Italian added.
"I was just trying to find one line on the track," Cairoli said.
"There was a lot water and I just wanted to stay in front, at least in the top five," he said. "There were times when I couldn't shift properly but overall I felt good."
Earlier, two-time MX2 world champion Jeffrey Herlings topped the MX2 qualifying with error-free riding on his KTM bike.
The 21-year-old Dutch star clocked a time of 24:28.44 to finish ahead of American star Thomas Covington.
The 19-year-old American riding for Kawasaki finished the 20-lap qualifying with a time of 24:29.82. Covington produced the night's best lap time of 1:53.307 achieved on lap 3.
Frenchman Ferrandis, riding for Kawasaki, clocked 24:31.19 to emerge as the third best rider in the 25-entry field.
Aleksandr Tonkov of Russia also impressed on the opening night finishing in fourth place for Husqvarna. Tonkov, 21, clocked a time of 24:37.39, some 6.205 seconds slower than Herlings.
Britain's Max Anstie (Kawasaki) was fifth best with 24:44.09 while Pauls Jonass of Latvia ended with a time of 24:47.33 for KTM sixth place.
Julien Lieber of Belgium rode his Yamaha to claim the seventh spot with a time of 24:54.45 while defending champion Jordi Tixier of France powered his Kawasaki for eight-place finish with a time of 25:01.92.
"I am just glad to be back in action," Herlings said. "It has been a tough time (in the off-season). We are just happy to make it to Qatar. It is more than beautiful that I am racing. I didn't want to take too many risks," he said.
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