PODIUM FOR FONSI AND SECOND PLACE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!
 Team
Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto took a fifth in the first
race and followed that with a superb third in race two to
move into second place in the championship behind Troy Bayliss
(Ducati). Bayliss won both 22-lap races today at Phillip Island
, with Troy Corser (Yamaha) second and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati)
third in race one and Carlos Checa second in race two. Team
Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner finished seventh in race
one and was in line for a podium in the second race, but bike
set-up problems forced him down the order to fifth at the
flag.
Fonsi - Race 1: 5th, Race 2: 3rd
I am happy because I got a podium on a very tough day of racing
and also because I am now second in the championship. In the
first race, my gearing was too short and, because of the wind,
I was on the limiter all the way down the straight. So, fifth
was not so bad.
In race two, I pushed as hard as I could, but Bayliss was
impossible to catch, but I am happy because I ended up on
the podium.
My idea is to be very consistent this season and keep taking
points whenever and wherever I can, because it is a very long
season. I want to thank my team for all their hard work. The
guys had to change both engines in the bikes and that was
a lot of work for them, but I hope my podium was a good way
of saying ‘thank you’.
Max - Race 1: 7th, Race 2: 5th
My general feeling is that I am a little happy, because I
managed two good finishes and had no crashes! We made the
rear a bit stiffer for race two, but I felt that it wasn’t
much improvement from the first race. I thought a podium would
be possible, but I got held up by a group of riders and couldn’t
get past. But I think my main problem in the second race was
that I lost a lot of time in the very first lap.
At the moment, I am not entirely happy with how the chassis
of the bike is working and I feel sure that we can improve
it. I am having trouble getting on the gas exiting the turns
and that is costing me a lot of time - especially at a circuit
like Phillip Island. That could be a chassis problem, set-up
problem or tyre problem, or it could be a combination of those
things. We’ll work at finding the solution, but hopefully
we will do this at the Valencia tests.
Results
Race 1: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 2 Troy Corser (Aus-Yamaha
), 3 Fabrizio (I-Ducati), 4 Xaus (E-Ducati), 5 Fonsi Nieto
(E-Suzuki Alstare), 6 C.Checa (E-Honda), 7 Max Neukirchner
(D-Alstare Suzuki),
Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 C.Checa, 3 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare),
4 Xaus, 5 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki Alstare), 6 Kiyonari (J-Honda),
Troy Corser (Aus-Yamaha Motor Italia) DNF,
Points: 1 Bayliss 88, 2 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki
Alstare) 61, 3 Xaus 59, 4 Troy Corser 45, 5 Checa 45, 6 Max
Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 39,
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