Xerox Ducati's Noriyuki Haga is suffering from a problem with rear grip on his 1198R at Qatar and despite trying any number of suspension settings, the Japanese rider can't find a cure.

Both Haga and his team-mate Michel Fabrizio couldn't find a setup to improve the situation which resulted in the Italian claiming eighth fastest on a 2'00.1 lap, while Haga was fractionally slower in 11th.

“Today was a strange day for me. We tried a different rear suspension setting to that used in Australia but the grip did not improve as we expected it to," said Haga.

"Anyway the feeling I have with the 1198 is good and tomorrow we really just need to resolve the fact that I’m lacking rear grip. I will speak with my technicians again to decide how we will proceed tomorrow, we need to find a new way forward. There were some fast times recorded today so I need to pick up my pace tomorrow."
Click here for Thursday practice times