Brno was neither a good round, nor a bad round, for Suzuki Alstare riders Fonsi Nieto and Yukio Kagayama and Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner. Before today's races began, there were high hopes for a couple of podiums at least, but various problems dashed the team's hopes and they left the Czech Republic without any silverware to show for all the efforts.
Max finished the day the top Suzuki rider, with a seventh in race one and a fifth in race two. Yukio, still not at 100% because of his left hand, bagged a pair of ninth places and Fonsi ended 14th in race one (after a fall) and eighth in race two. Both today's races, which took the all-time tally of WSBK races to 500, were won by runaway series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Ducati dominated the podiums, with only Troy Corser (Yamaha), finishing second in the first race, spoiling their clean sweep.
Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) took third in that race and followed that up with runner-up spot in the second, just ahead of Max Biaggi (Ducati) in third.
Max - Race 1: 7th, Race 2: 5thWe had a a lot of problems in the first race and it wasn't possible for me to get on the gas quickly enough in and exiting the turns. So for race two, we changed the rear spring and the the bike felt much better and more consistent. Apart from that, the bike and tyres were the same for both races and I suppose the other real problem was that the Ducatis were so strong here. They were fast and could all get on the gas as early as they wanted and were able to out accelerate all of us four cylinder riders. I love this circuit and it is like a second home track for me because a lot of my fans come here. I am happy to be the best Suzuki rider today, but I'm disappointed not to be on the podium.
Yukio - Race 1: 9th, Race 2: 9thWe made some changes to the suspension settings for race two and, although the bike felt better, the result was the same! Today I had some problems braking hard and then getting past other riders. I could catch them up, but I couldn't get on the gas as quick as they could. I was also losing out on acceleration to them because my rear was spinning. My left hand is not up to full strength yet, so I couldn?t always be as aggressive as I wanted to be. Overall, I am a little disappointed with the results today.
Fonsi - Race 1: 14th, Race 2: 8thThis was a bad weekend and I am not happy at all. Normally, our practice, qualifying and Superpole are bad and the races are good, but today it was the other way round! In race one, the front tyre just wasn't working and then I had a small crash when Checa closed the door on me and I ran onto the dirt, lost control of the bike and crashed. I got back on and managed to finish the race in 14th place. We used the same bike and tyres for race two but, after a few laps, I felt a vibration on the bike and then couldn't push hard. The tyre was moving on the rim and although I could've pulled out of the race, I decided to keep going as best I could.
Circuit: 5.403 kms
Crowd: 63,000 (3-day)
Conditions: Cloudy, with sun at times, 25-26C.
ResultsRace 1: 1. Bayliss (Aus-Ducati)
2. Corser (Aus-Yamaha)
3. Fabrizio (I-Ducati)
4. Biaggi (I-Ducati)
5. Kiyonari (J-Honda)
6. Haga (J-Yamaha)
7. Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki)8. Checa (E-Honda)
9. Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare)10. Sofuoglu (Tur-Honda)
14. Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare)Race 2: 1. Bayliss
2. Fabrizio
3. Biaggi
4. Corser
5. Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki)6.Kiyonari
7. Haga
8. Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare)9. Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare)10. Sofuoglu,
Points: 1. Bayliss 309
2. Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 2303. Corser 218
4. Checa 215
5. Haga 210
6. Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1617. Xaus 148
8. Fabrizio 147
9. Biaggi 146
10. Kiyonari 115
11. Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 96
