Five months after the inaugural Grand Prix Masters race in Kyalami last November the eagerly awaited Qtel Masters of Qatar got underway with a two- hour Free Practice session at what drivers have described as one of the best motor racing circuits on the world stage. The scorching desert heat generated a midday track temperature of 46-degrees and with temperatures expected to rise even further ahead of Saturday’s race, the demanding and unforgiving climate is the only concern at what is an exceptionally challenging, quick and rewarding driver’s circuit. All the Masters (except Arnoux who arrives tonight) were in action today undertaking familiarisation laps and understanding how best to set-up the 600bhp cars ahead of this weekend’s first-ever four-

wheeled motor race in Qatar.

Nigel Mansell: This is a truly world-class facility and one which we are extremely proud to be racing at and more so given that it’s Qatar ’s first ever four-wheeled motor race. It’s extremely fast, technically demanding and is complimented with what can only be described as state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities. Today’s free practice has been about re-acquainting ourselves with these cars and understanding the set-up variables as we prepare for tomorrow’s further two free practice sessions.

Christian Danner: As one would expect, we were greeted by extremely slippery and dusty conditions given that the last race here was the Moto GP a couple of weeks back. This made finding a balance quite challenging on the car and understeer was a problem for everyone today. As the rubber was laid down, however, the handling characteristics of the car improved considerably and have provided a lot of food for thought as we go into what has to be one of the hottest places on earth to race Grand Prix cars.

Jan Lammers: I didn’t manage as many laps as I would have liked because I slid off and it took

some time to clean out the car. Overall though I am happy and pleased with where we are. It’s a lovely track which boasts a great layout. It has an excellent variety of corners and is quite a technical track which makes learning it quite hard. I’m sure this place is going to throw up a few surprises over the weekend given that we have no prior experience, data or test mileage to work from.

Emerson Fittipaldi: We certainly didn’t expect a circuit this fast or challenging but I am really excited about what this Losail circuit has to offer. It was designed with two-wheeled action in mind as opposed to four but nonetheless it offers a wonderful blend of fast corners, undulations and an extremely long straight. Understeer was unfortunately the biggest issue during today’s opening session but we have worked towards improving that and as more rubber gets laid down, the grip factor will improve and allow for what I am sure will be a spectacular race come Saturday.

Pierluigi Martini: A beautiful circuit but one which makes achieving the correct balance very important. There is a wide range of corners here, some very quick and some not so quick. Exiting the faster corners, however, is where a good car balance really pays off and we have been working today on this area. I believe everyone suffered today from understeer issues but I am sure we’ll dial these out, especially as more rubber gets laid down. Right now, I feel very privileged about just being here amongst some great friends. We’ll see how competitive I am over the weekend but the pressure is very different now to when I was a professional driver. I will still be looking to win of course but with a smile on my face throughout the weekend no matter what happens.

Eddie Cheever: To start with the track was very slippery, it was hard to maintain the balance and understand what the car was doing. The car had a lot of understeer, but as the track got more rubber on it this improved. Losail is a beautiful circuit to drive on, it is very technical and if you make one mistake you carry the problem for the next five or six corners. If you do go off, the dust and sand can cause serious and time consuming problems.

FREE PRACTICE SESSION ONE (over 2 hours)

1. Mansell 1:49.315 23
2. Johansson 1:49.348 22
3. Danner 1:49.501 25
4. De Cesaris 1:49.973 28
5. Warwick 1:50.336 25
6. Stuck 1:50.586 19
7. Martini 1:50.770 28
8. Patrese 1:51.047 25
9. Salazar 1:51.047 29
10. Fittipaldi 1:51.064 19
11. Lammers 1:51.425 19
12. Cheever 1:52.775 21
13. Tambay 1:53.094 28
14. Van de Poele 1:54.672 11
15. Caffi 1:55.709 5

So after 5 months, Many hours of negotiations and organising the Grand prix Masters are nearly ready to take to the track. Although Mansell was quickest in practice there has been may reports of drivers stepping up their preparation and fitness regime, so maybe Mansell is right to play down has chances in the race in Qatar we will just have to wait and see.