NEW TERRITORY FOR ALSTARE MEN
 This
weekend's eighth round World Superbike Championship in Misano
will be a new experience for Team Alstare Suzuki corona Extra
riders Max Biaggi and Yukio Kagayama.
Although both have been to the Italian circuit before, when
they start the first practice session this weekend, everything
will be completely new and different as the track has been
drastically altered. Previously the track used to run anticlockwise,
but now it has been turned round and runs clockwise.
Some of their rivals tested the new layout recently and so
will have a considerable advantage. Not only is the track
now running in the opposite direction to before, but a number
of further challenges await them: Some of the run-off areas
begin with extra tarmac (designed for car racing) and do not
have ripple strips at their commencement, making finding the
limits of the track difficult. Also, in the recent tests,
many riders commented on the very bumpy nature of the track
and that will make getting a good bike set-up crucial.
This year Biaggi and Kagayama have been racing and developing
the new GSX-R1000 K7 at the same time and that is always extra
challenge, but one that they are both attacking with their
usual zeal and vigour.
Max Biaggi:
"Well for me, it's another new track to learn. My method
is always to learn the track first and then start pushing
hard. I understand that the new Misano is very different and
also may be a bit bumpy, so I think that getting a good bike
set-up is very important. Also, Misano is another 'home' race
and there will be many fans there, so I want to do well. That
does not mean that I feel any extra pressure, because the
only pressure I have is what I put on myself. I always go
out to do the best I can in every race and even though I know
this is a tough championship with many very experienced specialist
Superbike riders, I will fight until the end of the last lap."
Yukio Kagayama:
"I have not seen the new layout so this will be a new
experience for me. Normally, it does not take me long to learn
new tracks, but I hear this one has some different problems
(some run-off areas and bumps) and I will have to discover
them for myself in the first practice. It is true to say that
this season has not been very lucky for me so far. I have
had more crashes than I expected and some of them have been
quite painful. But at the moment I feel pretty good and I
hope the second half of the season will be much better than
the first. There has been a lot of work to do, quite a few
things to test and we are still carrying on with the work.
This is part of my job and I want to do it well, improve the
bike and take some podiums."
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