Fast start for Hayden, 'frustration' for Biaggi.

It was a case of contrasting fortunes for the Repsol Honda team on day one of the Qatar Grand Prix, with Nicky Hayden fastest of all in the morning session on his way to a day one third - while troubled team-mate Max Biaggi was left down the order in ninth.

"This morning we came out really strong," said Nicky. "I've been needing to do that over the last couple of weeks. If you get behind early here you're playing catch-up all weekend.

"I quite like the track here. The layout is really good. It's got some fun, fast corners. It also reminds me of my dirt track days when you just have to ride in the grooves. Just stay on the line and not slip off!

"It was real windy out there this afternoon and made it hard to stay on line. Our speed is down a bit but we can work on that. We've made good progress today - I'm definitely happier that I have been for some time on the first day - we just need to keep improving things tomorrow," he added.

Biaggi, currently clinging on to second place in the riders' standings, again struggled for grip and eventually finished over a second down on the top runners.

"Really the same comments as I have had to make for some time now and it is so frustrating," sighed Max. "We seem to have made no progress for quite a few races. I can accept that if we are 0.2secs down on the lap time then we can make a small adjustment here and there but one second. It cannot be correct.

"We had a bad time in Malaysia and I like the track. I hoped to go well here and we are ninth fastest and 1.2s off the front. There is nothing more frustrating for a racer than to be trying 100% on the bike and to see people who I know I should be faster than, just disappear in the distance," added the annoyed Roman, who narrowly avoided a repeat of the 'Assen incident' after some close riding with Marco Melandri early on in the afternoon hour.