Qatari rider Saeed Al Sulaiti was not among the top 10, but clinching the 13th spot on the grid for Saturday’s Supersport race at the Losail International Circuit was a vast improvement from Thursday’s free practice sessions.

After Friday evening’s Superpole laps, Al Sulaiti was a happy man.

“It’s very satisfying. We improved from yesterday to finish in the middle of the grid and that’s good,” he said.

Al Sulaiti pointed out that on Thursday his QMMF Racing Team’s Yamaha YZF R6 was the slowest on the straight stretches of the circuit.

“We checked with the reconnaissance engineers and realised that a few settings were wrong. The bike had been programmed to suit the European weather which is humid. We made the required changes and gained about 9km today which was amazing,” he said.

He added that a few more modifications would be carried out and he would be ready for the race.

“We need to make the changes so that I feel comfortable for the distance of the race. We also a need a bit of luck and we’ll do well,” he said.

Al Sulaiti clocked 2:03.126, 1.907sec behind the leader Italian Federico Caricasulo of Bardahl Evan Bros World SSP Team.

He was realistic about his chances in Saturday’s race.

“After finishing so far behind is tough. But we will do our best. I will try my best to gain a few positions in the race. If we finish among the points that will be great,” said Al Sulaiti.