NIETO PODIUMS AT PHILLIP ISLAND
 Team
Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto took a fifth in the first
race and followed that with a superb third in race two at
the second-round Phillip Island World Superbike Championship
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 Nieto - 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 Neukirchner - 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."
WSB 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).
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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