Capirossi calm about traffic delay

Loris Capirossi has shrugged off the frustration of being blocked at the end of qualifying at Losail, saying he remains very confident of a strong race

The Suzuki rider was matching pole-sitter Casey Stoner's times for the first two-thirds of his final flying lap, only to encounter a crowd of slower bikes in the final corners, leaving him back in fifth on the grid.

But having shown excellent form in testing and practice, Capirossi believes he will still be a strong factor in the race from row two.

"I'm a bit disappointed because there were a few slow riders in that lap, and I certainly lost a couple of tenths in the last turn," he told Italia1 television.

"But that's not a problem. The important thing is to be quick and knowing you can go fast. We've gone well with race set-up, so I'm confident."

He reiterated his confidence in the revised 2009 Suzuki's performance.

"We've made an enormous step forward, so we aim to give our best and bring out all our grit," said Capirossi.

The Italian's only concern is the possibility of freak weather disrupting the race.

"We'll see how it goes tomorrow and let's hope the weather is on our side, because it's really strange to see rain in Qatar," he said. "Also in last month's testing we found rain, so we'll see."