Wyken's Cal Crutchlow will start eighth on the grid for his first ever Moto GP race later today.
The Coventry rider on a the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine.was quicker than numerous times World Champion Valentino Rossi on the 5.38km Doha circuit in Qatar.
Speaking to Moto GP.com, Crutchlow said: “It feels great to have qualified eighth when you look at the calibre and record of some of the guys behind me, but I'm not going to be getting ahead of myself. It is just a shame it is not the four-rider per row formation because that would be a second row! But to be on the third row, I'm happy enough with that.
"A qualifying session like that is not like Superpole in World Superbikes at all. I'm normally used to the intense pressure and being hyped up for one lap, so to have an hour where you build up pace a bit slower felt a bit strange.
"But I'm really happy and my fastest lap wasn't a perfect one. I made a couple of mistakes but I think that's because I'm having a small issue with the front-end in the fast corners. But I still managed a 55.5 and I never would have imagined doing that pace a few days ago at the test when I was doing high 57s. I'm not going to make a prediction for the race. I'd be happy to get a few points and have a strong race. It will be tough to finish where I've qualified but with the help of my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew, it has been a really positive weekend so far."