NEUKIRCHNER TAKES GERMAN SUPERPOLE
 Team
Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner delighted the home fans
by taking Superpole for tomorrow's seventh-round World Superbike
Championship round at the Nurburgring.
The young German had to dig deep to beat Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
and Carlos Checa (Honda), but he lapped the 5.137 kilometre
circuit without mistake to end with a time of 1:55.471 - three-tenths-of-a-second
quicker then his nearest rival.
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto had a Superpole to
forget and finished 14th quickest, but team mate Yukio Kagayama
missed Superpole completely! He crashed at the end of the
free practice just before Superpole and hit his head and hand
hard. Although the Clinica Mobile failed to find any broken
bones, Kagayama was taken to a local hospital for a check-up.
Depending on the results, he may be forced to sit out tomorrow's
pair of 20 lap races
Max Neukirchner - 1st, 1:55.471:
"I saw that Carlos had done a very fast lap and I knew
my lap would have to be perfect to beat him, but my lap was
very good and without mistake. I am so happy to win Superpole,
especially in front of my home fans and it is a very special
feeling. I want to thank my whole team for the good job they
have done this weekend. I am happy with my bike set-up for
the race, but I hope that it doesn't rain because that would
be a shame for all the spectators - and all the riders of
course!"
Fonsi Nieto - 14th, 1:57.491:
"My Superpole was not good - as usual. I am not sure
why it's always this way. The fourth row of the grid gives
me a lot of work to do in the races tomorrow. I tried my best
in Superpole and pushed as hard as I could, but I made a couple
of small errors and that was enough to push me down the grid.
It's a pity because I found a good set-up in practice and
qualifying and know that I can do well in the races."
Final WSB qualifying: 1 Max Neukirchner
(D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:55.471, 2 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:55.791,
3 Checa (E-Honda) 1:55.888, 4 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:56.401, 5
Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 1:56.436, 6 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:56.522,
7 Lanzi I-Ducati) 1:56.574, 8 Biaggi (I-Ducati) 1:56.918,
9 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda) 1:56.980, 10 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:57.053.
14 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:57.491. 16 Yukio Kagayama
(J-Suzuki Alstare) - Did not start Superpole.
SUPERSTOCK 1000:
Difficult conditions in this afternoon's final qualifying
did not help Xavi Simeon or any of the riders and he was not
able to improve on his lap time from yesterday.
The final qualifying session saw a track dry in some parts
and wet in the other and all riders struggled to find the
right set-up for the tricky conditions.
Aussie Brendan Roberts (Ducati) is on pole, with Maxime Berger
(Honda) second, Davide Giugliano (Suzuki) third and Dominic
Lammert (Suzuki) fourth - all with lap times from yesterday.
Xavi Simeon - 5th, 2:02.056:
"In the morning practice we improved the rear suspension
and tried some different mapping on the bike and I think it
was better. This afternoon's session was very difficult, with
some parts of the track dry and others wet. If you had the
correct tyres for the dry part, it was impossible to ride
in the wet. If you had tyres for the wet, the dry part of
the track wrecked the tyres! I don't know what the weather
will be like tomorrow but, whatever the conditions, I will
be fighting for a podium for sure!
Final Superstock 1000 qualifying: 1 Roberts
(Aus-Ducati) 2:00.377, 2 Berger (F-Honda) 2:00.960, 3 Giugliano
(I-Suzuki) 2:01.326, 4 Lammert (D-Suzuki) 2:01.351, 5 Xavi
Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki) 2:02.056, 6 Pirro (I-Yamaha) 2:02.120.
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