First race for the Blusens team in the World MotoGP Championship

Qatar Grand Prix
Losail (Doha), 10 March 2007

125 cc

Pablo Nieto (Blusens Aprilia) finished ninth in the Qatar Grand Prix, the first race of the 2007 World Championship. The Madrid-born rider got off to a great start, moving up from eleventh to eighth, and had an exciting battle with a number of riders before crossing the line in ninth place, picking his first six points of the season. During the morning session, Pablo had posted the fourth best lap time in the warm-up, and although he is aware that he has to keep on working with the team in tuning up his Aprila, he leaves the Losail Circuit satisfied. Blusens Aprilia team-mate, the Dutchman Hugo Van Den Berg, achieved his objective of finishing his first Grand Prix of the season, coming in twenty-fourth after getting off to a good start and going faster than on the practice days.

250 cc

A case of opposing fortunes for Aleix Espargaró (Blusens Aprilia) and Arturo Tizón (Blusens Aprilia Germany) in the Qatar Grand Prix, the first race counting toward the 2007 World MotoGP Championship. After a difficult, problem-fraught pre-season and some tricky practice sessions here, the rider from Granollers got off to a good start and kept up his fight for the top spots from between eleventh - his placing on crossing the line, picking up his first six points of the season - and thirteenth positions. The rider from Vall d’Uixó, also went for everything, but couldn't get into the points as his engine started losing power, and on the fifteenth lap he had to go into the pits and retire.

22 PABLO NIETO

(125 cc, 9th. 38’40”737, at 0’28.708): “It's the first race of the Championship. I think just finishing can be seen as a success; we came in ninth, but the important thing is that we've got to carry out fine-tuning the bike, because we came here a little under-prepared and I didn’t feel very comfortable. It was a hard, well fought race, and although I didn't manage to get into my rhythm, I was in the hunt for fifth place right up to the last lap, and in the end I finished ninth – only three tenths of a second from seventh spot. Bearing in mind how little we rode during the pre-season, for reasons that are well known, both the team and I are happy with this result. Let’s not forget, this has just started, and there's a long time to go”.

56 HUGO VAN DEN BERG

(125 cc, 24th. 40’12”876, at 2’00.040): “After the difficult practice days we had, our aim was to finish the race, which we achieved. I got off to a fairly good start, and overtook a few riders, but on the second lap I overshot a bit and lost a few places. After that little slip, I got into my rhythm, and rode faster than on the first and second days of practice, so I'm happy with the outcome, and also because I felt good on the bike, and had good vibes. I'm confident and hopeful of doing better still in Jerez”.

41 ALEIX ESPARGARÓ

(250 cc, 11th. 41’26’’55, at 1’02.762): “The way the weekend went, it's the best result of these three days, and that's the most positive thing. We’ve got to carry on along the same lines, working. The team hasn’t stopped all weekend, they’ve finished late every day, working to try and progress a bit further every day, and I don't think starting sixteenth on the grid and coming in eleventh is too bad. We already knew it wasn’t going to be an easy race. Perhaps it was because right from the first practice session I underestimated the Aprilia a bit; I thought it would be an easy bike, and, well, it's a very competitive bike, but difficult to handle. But it's going to be a case of carrying on working and staying calm.”

9 ARTURO TIZÓN

(250 cc, retired): “I’m disappointed, because this morning in the warm-up, I had managed to get into a good racing rhythm, and I thought that we were going to do very well in this, the first Grand Prix of the year. But it wasn’t to be, as right away I felt the engine lose power, and it just wouldn't go on the straight. That’s why the riders chasing the points got away from me, and in the end, there was nothing left to do but retire. It’s not worth crying over spilt milk. Now we've got to work out what the engine problems are, solve them and get to Jerez as well prepared as we can to put on a good race there, in front of our crowd, and put the first points of the season on the board.”