PODIUM FOR MAX IN RACE TWO.
The fifth round of the Superbike World Championship at Assen
was one of mixed fortunes for Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra
riders Max Biaggi and Yukio Kagayama. Max took a hard fought
for sixth in the first race and then followed it up with a
superb third place in the second, but Yukio struggled with
problems in both races, finishing seventh in race one and
eleventh in race two.
The first race was won by James Toseland (Honda), with Noriyuki
Haga (Yamaha) second and Ruben Xaus (Ducati) third. The second
race witnessed one of the greatest battles in WSBK history,
with Toseland and Bayliss (Ducati) wheel to wheel for almost
the entire race. In the end, it came down to the final turn,
when Bayliss got through an impossible gap and took the win
by just nine thousandths of a second!
MAX - Race 1: 6th, Race 2: 3rd
We’ve been struggling a bit all weekend getting the
right set-up for the bike and although we improved it from
the first practice, it still wasn’t right at the end.
We played around with the engine braking and the bike’s
balance and we made improvements for sure, but we had some
problems during the races, so I’m very happy that we
managed a podium after the difficulties we went through. In
the first race I had some problems with traction, handling
and engine braking, so we made some adjustments for race two
and I was much happier with the bike. I stayed with the leaders
in race two early on, but when they pulled away I just couldn’t
keep the same pace. I rode as hard as I could and I’m
happy, but not happy - if you know what I mean.
YUKIO - Race 1: 7th, Race 2: 11th
Well it has been an unhappy, disappointing and frustrating
weekend for me and I did not get the points I was expecting.
In race one, I was catching the lead group OK and then, after
about 15 laps, my front tyre went off and I could not push
and harder. The first seven laps or so of the second race
were OK and my lap times were better then the first race.
But then, as I was going into turn one, it felt like my rear
wheel had locked up and I nearly crashed. It was a very strange
sensation and felt like an engine seizure, but it was not,
so I carried on. But in the process of not crashing, I lost
quite a few places and I had to try and recover them again.
Then the engine feeling was not so good either and all I could
do was to ride and finish as high up as possible. We are going
to have to sit down, look at the data and see what to do next.
There are a few areas that need attention, so we know there’s
a lot to do.
Results
Race 1: 1 Toseland (GB-Honda), 2 Haga (J-Yamaha), 3 Xaus (E-Ducati),
4 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 6 MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra), 7 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 8 Nieto (E-Kawasaki), 9 Rolfo (I-Honda), 10 Neukirchner
(D-Suzuki),
Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 Toseland, 3 MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra), 4 Corser (Aus-Yamaha), 5 Rolfo, 6 Fabrizio
(I-Honda), 7 Neukirchner, 8 Nieto, 9 Smrz (CZ-Ducati), 10
Laconi (F-Kawasaki), 11 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra),
Points: 1 Toseland 196, 2 MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 164, 3 Haga 144, 4 Bayliss 128, 5 Corser
114, 6 Xaus 99, 7 Lanzi 98, 8 Neukirchner 71, 9 Rolfo 64,
10 Nieto 46, 13 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
41,
|
