NEUKIRCHNER ON FRONT ROW
 Team
Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner rode steadily in this
morning's difficult conditions at Nurburgring in Germany for
Sunday's seventh-round World Superbike Championship round
- 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
Nurburgring before, none have raced on the layout being used
this weekend.
The morning session started wet and by the end there was
just about a dry line so 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 was series leader Troy
Bayliss (Ducati) with Carlos Checa (Honda) third ahead of
Neukirchner.
Team Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama finished just behind
Max in fifth place with Fonsi Nieto 12th.
Max Neukirchner - 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 Kagayama - 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 Nieto - 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 WSB 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.
SUPERSTOCK 1000:
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Xavi Simeon ended the first day
of qualifying for the fourth round of this year's Superstock
1000 FIM Cup with the fifth fastest time of the day, but knows
that improvements will come.
Simeon, like most riders, experienced grip problems and he
and the team will make adjustments to the bike's suspension
and gearing tomorrow to see if they improve the bike.
Aussie Brendan Roberts (Ducati) set the day's fastest lap
with Maxime Berger (Honda) second, Davide Giugliano (Suzuki)
third and Dominic Lammert (Suzuki) fourth.
Xavi Simeon - 5th, 2.02.056:
"I found it difficult today and the main problem for
me is lack of grip. The track is not so bad, though the rear
tyre has been giving me some problems in parts of the track.
I've also had some problems with acceleration out of the turns,
so we will make some changes to the gearing and suspension
to see if we can improve those areas. I rode here a couple
of weeks ago, in a German Championship race, but this time
we are using a different track layout, so we are starting
out all over again. At the moment, I am not satisfied, but
I am sure we can improve tomorrow."
Friday 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,
7 Smrz (CZ-Honda) 2:02.192, 8 Perotti (I-Suzuki) 2"02.520,
9 Corti (I-Yamaha) 2:02552, 10 Antonelli (I-Honda) 2:02.561.
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