Team Alstare Suzuki’s Hopes Dashed At Brno
Jul 20, 2008
Team Alstare Suzuki riders Max Neukirchner, Fonsi Nieto and Yukio Kagayama had a day of mixed fortunes at today’s ninth-round World Superbike Championship at Brno in the Czech Republic.
Although they had high hopes for podiums, various problems dashed the team’s hopes and they left the Czech Republic without any silverware to show for all the efforts.
Neukirchner finished the day the top Suzuki rider with a seventh in race one and a fifth in race two. Kagayama, still not at 100% fit because of his left hand, bagged a pair of ninth places and Nieto took14th in race one - after a fall - and eighth in race two.
Both today’s races, which took the all-time tally of WSBK races to 500, were won by runaway series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Ducati dominated the podiums with only Troy Corser (Yamaha) finishing second in the first race.
Max Neukirchner - Race 1: 7th, Race 2: 5th:
“We had a lot of problems in the first race and it wasn’t possible for me to get on the gas quickly enough in and exiting the turns. So for race two, we changed the rear spring and the bike felt much better and more consistent. Apart from that, the bike and tyres were the same for both races and I suppose the other real problem was that the Ducatis were so strong here. They were fast and could all get on the gas as early as they wanted and were able to out accelerate all of us four cylinder riders. I love this circuit and it is like a second home track for me because a lot of my fans come here. I am happy to be the best Suzuki rider today, but I’m disappointed not to be on the podium.”
Yukio Kagayama - Race 1: 9th, Race 2: 9th:
“We made some changes to the suspension settings for race two and, although the bike felt better, the result was the same! Today I had some problems braking hard and then getting past other riders. I could catch them up but I couldn’t get on the gas as quick as they could. I was also losing out on acceleration to them because my rear was spinning. My left hand is not up to full strength yet so I couldn’t always be as aggressive as I wanted to be. But overall, I am a little disappointed with the results today.”
Fonsi Nieto - Race 1: 14th, Race 2: 8th:
“This was a bad weekend and I am not happy at all. Normally, our practice, qualifying and Superpole are bad and the races are good, but today it was the other way round! In race one, the front tyre just wasn’t working and then I had a small crash when Checa closed the door on me and I ran onto the dirt, lost control of the bike and crashed. I got back on and managed to finish the race in 14th place. We used the same bike and tyres for race two but, after a few laps, I felt a vibration on the bike and then couldn’t push hard. The tyre was moving on the rim and although I could’ve pulled out of the race, I decided to keep going as best I could.”
