Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner stunned his rivals by storming to his first ever Superpole win this afternoon at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, Valencia, smashing the lap record by well over a second in the process. Max’s Superpole was something special, but to make it an even better day for the Belgian based team, Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama took second place.
Third quickest is Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with local hero Ruben Xaus (Ducati) fourth. Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto suffered grip problems again and finished thirteenth in the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out and so will face an uphill task starting from the fourth row of the grid in tomorrow’s races.
Max - 1st, 1:33.805I am really happy because my Superpole lap was a great lap, but I feel I have been fast all weekend and I was hoping for a front row grid position. This afternoon’s free practice was hotter then the morning and the grip level went down, but fortunately it cooled off a little for Superpole and I was able to really go for it. We didn’t make any big changes to the bike from yesterday, because the bike was working so well. For that I’d like to give a big thank you to my whole team.
Yukio - 2nd, 1:33.928I knew I had to do something good to beat Troy (Bayliss) in Superpole and I was able to put in a good, fast lap and beat his time. We’ve done a lot of good work these two days and the hard work has paid off this afternoon. My body is not 100% but, as I said before, that is a good thing because I am riding smoothly and not taking any risks by pushing too hard.
Fonsi - 13th, 1:34.959Just like yesterday, I had problems with grip - both front and rear - and so I couldn’t use the throttle as I wanted to. The rear was spinning quite a bit and I had no confidence about what the bike was going to do today. We did a long run and my laps were consistent, so that is a positive sign. We’ll change the bike back to how it was this morning and hopefully it will feel better and more comfortable to ride.
Circuit: 4.005 kms
Conditions: Dry, sunny 18-21C
Final Qualifying:1 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:33.80
2 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:33.928
3 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:33.976
4 Xaus (E-Ducati) 1:34.322
5 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:34.370
6 Kiyonari (J-Honda) 1:34.370
13 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:34.959,
