Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra news
2007 Superbike World Championship
Preview: Round 4, Valencia, Spain - 15th April
MAX AND YUKIO LOOKING FOR PODIUMS IN SPAIN
The fourth round of this year’s Superbike World Championship
takes place at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain
and is a track both Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Max
Biaggi and Yukio Kagayama know well. Both tested at the 4.005
kilometre circuit last month, though Yukio probably should
not have done so as he was still suffering the affects of
his high speed crash during the Phillip Island race weekend
just two weeks before. Last year, Yukio finished sixth in
race one and was on course for a good finish in the second
until a fall after seven laps. Max hasn’t done a WSBK
race at Valencia, but he finished sixth there in his last
ever MotoGp race in November 2005.
MAX
Riding a Superbike around Valencia is a very different to
a MotoGP bike, but I am enjoying riding my Alstare Suzuki
K7 and at least I have already put in some laps of the Valencia
on it. I don’t find the circuit so technical, but it
is a circuit where you have to have a good bike set-up if
you want to make fast, consistent laps. There are many left
hand turns, so finding a tyre that has good grip and will
last is always a balancing act. I am optimistic of good results
and looking forward to two more hard races.
YUKIO
My last time at Valencia (during testing) was not so easy
because my shoulder was still very painful and sore from the
crash at Phillip Island. But, I wanted to help test as much
stuff as possible, so I put in as many laps as I could. My
season so far has not gone the way I expected - too many crashes!
At Donington, I had another crash (in practice) and, because
I knocked myself out for a few minutes, the doctors would
not let me race. Also, a few days later my ribs felt a bit
sore.
At the moment, I have missed four races and I don’t
like that. Practice and testing is OK, but I am missing race
action. Valencia has mixed memories for me, but what is important
is what happens next weekend. I will make a check on how my
ribs are before I decide to race, because I know Valencia
is a very physical track and, if my ribs are a problem, it
may be not possible for me to race. We shall see what happens
when we get there.
2006 results
Yukio: Race 1 - 6th, Race 2 - DNF
Max: Race 1 - DNS, Race 2 - DNS
|
