2008 Superbike World Championship
Preview: Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia
 FONSI
AND MAX READY FOR PHILLIP ISLAND, BUT YUKIO MISSES OUT.
After their win in Qatar last weekend, Team Suzuki Alstare
headed to Australia in good spirits, with Fonsi Nieto and
Max Neukirchner, but without Yukio Kagayama. The Japanese
rider crashed in the second race and broke his left collarbone
and is forced to give the Phillip Island round a miss, but
he will be back in action at the SBK tests in Valencia in
just two weeks time. Yukio has had a metal plate inserted
in his shoulder, to hold the collarbone together, in order
to be in action again as soon as possible.
Fonsi
Last week was a fantastic weekend and it was so good to take
my first SBK win. Now it’s time to think about this
weekend and try and keep up the momentum. I like Phillip Island;
it is a real circuit for racers and it’s also a very
demanding track. To put in a good lap here you have to be
perfect on every part of the track. Butwhen you do that, it
is a wonderful feeling.
Max
Since last weekend my condition has improved a lot and I’m
feeling much better. The ‘flu, or whatever I had in
Qatar, made me lose concentration in the latter part of the
race. Otherwise maybe I could’ve taken a podium. But
I’m OK now and looking forward to racing at one of my
favourite tracks.
Francis Batta (Team manager)
Some mixed feelings last weekend, because of Yukio’s
injury, but I’m really happy with Fonsi's win. I’m
also very happy with Max’s performance and I’m
sure he’ll be stronger this weekend. So, for this race,
it’s just Fonsi and Max carrying our new colours, but
I think they can once again make some good results. Yukio
is a very tough racer and he will be back in two week’s
time for sure.
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