2008 Superbike World Championship
Round 3, Valencia, Spain
Sunday 6th April
Circuit: 4.005 kms. Crowd: 60,000 (3-day). Conditions: Mostly
overcast, 24-30C.
MAX ROBBED OF DEBUT WIN AT THE LAST CORNER!
Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner was heading for his first
ever World Superbike win, but was taken out on the last corner
on the last lap of the first race today. He had led the race
from the start and even though Carlos Checa (Honda) closed
in on his rear end on the last lap, Max was in front as they
entered the last turn. Then Checa tried an impossible manoeuvre
up the inside of Max and his rear wheel hit Max, causing both
of them to crash. In the fall, Max broke his left collarbone,
so could not get back on the bike, but Checa was able to remount
and finish in fifth place. After yesterday’s euphoria,
raceday did not live up to the team’s expectations.
Fonsi Nieto finished a strong fourth in the first race and
tenth in the second, despite suffering the same problem with
grip he’s had all weekend. Yukio crashed out of race
one, fortunately without injury, and took a hard fought for
sixth in race two. After Neukirchner and Checa crashed in
the first race, it was Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) who crossed
the line first, followed by Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and Troy
Corser (Yamaha). Race two was won by Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha),
with Bayliss second and crowd favourite Checa third.
Fonsi - Race 1: 4th, Race 2: 10th
Well I’m not happy about the results but at least I
am still second in the championship and the season is a very
long one. You get days (or weekends) like this in racing,
but I was able to stay on the bike and collect some points,
despite problems with grip. Today I had the same problems
I’ve had all weekend, but I just tried my best even
though there was no front or rear grip. I think if I had pushed
harder, I would’ve crashed, so I just carried on as
best I could.
Yukio - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 6th
I am not happy. Throughout the weekend everything has gone
well and there have been no problems really. But today, we
had problems and I could not make the results I expected.
I don’t know why I crashed in the first race, but because
it happened so suddenly I think I must have hit some water
or oil on the track. I had braked normally and then I was
on the floor! I was not injured, but my bike was damaged too
badly to continue. I had to use my spare bike in race two
and although it had the same set-up, there did not seem to
be the same level of grip as my number one bike and the feeling
was not good. The grip went down after just five or six laps
and after ten laps my front tyre was destroyed, so the bike
became very difficult to ride. But I was determined to keep
going as long as I could and finish the race, and that’s
what I did.
Max - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNS
I am more then disappointed. I could almost see the chequered
flag when suddenly I was hit by Checa. He tried to dive up
the inside of me in the last corner, but I don’t think
there was enough room for him to do what he did and we both
crashed. I broke my collarbone but, to make matters worse,
he was able to get back on his bike and score some points.
My weekend had gone perfectly up to that moment. I had been
consistently fast and I had felt very comfortable on the bike.
There was no problem for me leading the race, the only problem
all weekend was what happened in the last corner.
Results
Race 1: 1 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati),
3 Corser (Aus-Yamaha), 4 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare), 5
Checa (E-Honda), 6 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda), Yukio Kagayama
(J-Suzuki Alstare) DNF, Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki)
DNF,
Race 2: 1 Haga (J-Yamaha), 2 Bayliss, 3 Checa, 4 Kiyonari
(J-Honda), 5 Corser, 6 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare),
10 Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare), Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki)
DNS,
Points: 1 Bayliss 128, 2 Fonsi Nieto 80,
3 Corser 72, 4 Checa 72, 5 Xaus 68, 6 Haga 47, 7 Biaggi 44,
8 Lanzi 42, 9 Max Neukirchner 39, 10 Fabrizio 37, 15 Yukio
Kagayama 18,
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