Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner delighted the home fans by taking Superpole for tomorrow’s seventh-round World Superbike Championship round at the Nurburgring.
The young German had to dig deep to beat Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and Carlos Checa (Honda), but he lapped the 5.137 kilometre circuit without mistake to end with a time of 1:55.471 - three-tenths-of-a-second quicker then his nearest rival.
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto had a Superpole to forget and finished 14th quickest, but team mate Yukio Kagayama missed Superpole completely! He crashed at the end of the free practice just before Superpole and hit his head and hand hard. Although the Clinica Mobile failed to find any broken bones, Kagayama was taken to a local hospital for a check-up. Depending on the results, he may be forced to sit out tomorrow’s pair of 20 lap races
Max Neukirchner - 1st, 1:55.471:
“I saw that Carlos had done a very fast lap and I knew my lap would have to be perfect to beat him, but my lap was very good and without mistake. I am so happy to win Superpole, especially in front of my home fans and it is a very special feeling. I want to thank my whole team for the good job they have done this weekend. I am happy with my bike set-up for the race, but I hope that it doesn’t rain because that would be a shame for all the spectators - and all the riders of course!”
Fonsi Nieto - 14th, 1:57.491:
“My Superpole was not good - as usual. I am not sure why it’s always this way. The fourth row of the grid gives me a lot of work to do in the races tomorrow. I tried my best in Superpole and pushed as hard as I could, but I made a couple of small errors and that was enough to push me down the grid. It’s a pity because I found a good set-up in practice and qualifying and know that I can do well in the races.”
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