Round 7, Nürburgring, Germany
Friday 13th June
Circuit: 5.137 kms
Conditions: Wet at first, dry later, 11-13C.
FRONT ROW FOR MAX!
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner rode steadily in
this morning’s difficult conditions and then upped the
pace in this afternoon’s dry qualifying session to end
the day with the fourth quickest lap. Although he and some
of the other riders have raced at the Nürburgring before,
none have raced on the layout being used for this round of
the Superbike World Championship.
The morning session started wet and by the end there was just
about a dry line and some riders were able to venture out
on slicks. The afternoon qualifying took place in completely
dry conditions and all 28 riders improved their lap times,
with Aussie Troy Corser (Yamaha) ending fastest, with a lap
of 1:57.257. Second quickest today is series leader Troy Bayliss
(Ducati), with Carlos Checa (Honda) third and Max fourth.
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama finished just behind
Max in fifth place, with team mate Fonsi Nieto twelfth.
Max - 4th, 1:57.929
I am sort of satisfied, but there is still some time to go
so I know that we can improve. Although I have been here before,
it was a different layout I raced, so it is like learning
a new track for me. We missed the chance of putting slicks
on at the end of the first session but, as the afternoon was
dry, it was no big problem. At the moment it is not so easy
for me to ride fast here because the grip level doesn’t
feel so good. Maybe that’s because the track is a bit
dirty and also very cold so it’s hard for the tyres
to work at their best.
Yukio - 5th, 1:57.956
This is my first time here and I like this track because it
goes up and down a lot. For me there are three corners that
are very bumpy, so it has been a small problem to get a good
chassis set-up to cope with the bumps. My main problem today
is grip! It was difficult today to get a good level of grip
and maybe that’s because it is so cold. Also the track
itself is cold and that doesn’t help the tyres get hot
enough. Otherwise there were no real problems and tomorrow
we will work on improving the engine management so that the
bike is smoother to ride. We’ll also make some suspension
adjustments to see if we can get better grip but, all in all,
I am satisfied today.
Fonsi - 12th, 1:58.354
This is my first time here and I think the layout is not so
bad, but today the grip level was not so good. I found it
difficult to get a good feeling for the grip in turn one and
maybe we need to change the balance of the bike and the gearing.
It’s a first gear corner and it’s going to see
a lot of action in the race for sure! At the moment, I just
need more time on the track so that I can understand it before
going fast.
Friday qualifying
1 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:57.257, 2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:57.694,
3 Checa (E-Honda) 1:57.878, 4 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki)
1:57.929, 5 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:57.956, 6
Laconi (F-Kawasaki) 1:57.989, 7 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:58.020,
8 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 1:58.044, 9 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:58.258,
10 Biaggi (I-Ducati) 1:58.311, 12 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare)
1:58.354,
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