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Max Goes Into Second in the Championship
6 Days ago
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner took a superb win in the first race at Misano today and seventh in race two, to move into second place in the championship behind Troy Bayliss (Ducati). After his tremendous performance in race one, when he charged from the third row of the grid to take the chequered flag, another good result was on the cards for race two. But the second race was red-flagged after one lap and Max, like most riders, changed his rear tyre. Despite the bike having the same set-up and the same type of tyre, Max had problems exiting the corners and lost time trying to catch the lead group. Nevertheless, he was happy to take his second ever World Superbike win today and leave Misano second in the championship.
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Esteve Rabat Leads in Rain-Soaked 125 cc Race at Assen
6 Days ago
The 125cc Grand Prix at Assen on Saturday was eventful and plagued with changing weather that red flagged the race, punctuated with crashes after just nine laps. Five laps were raced in part two for the final result.
KTM rider Esteve Rabat held onto the lead in the second part of the race and looked set for a top finish when he ran wide in the final stages and had to settle for sixth. Repsol KTM rookie Marc Marquez was also a victim of the weather. He crashed in the final stages of the first laps after having battled his way to fifth position. He was unable to get back to the pits with his bike in time for the restart and missed out on the second heat altogether. Red Bull KTM rider Randy Krummenacher also crashed in the first part of the race, but continued with a lonely ride at the end of the field. His efforts were rewarded after the re-start, when the Swiss teenager managed to score nineteenth position.
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Hard Work in the Heat
28 June 2008
Temperatures rose to 34C this afternoon at Misano circuit and Max, Fonsi and Yukio had to work hard in difficult conditions as they began finding good set-ups for their GSX-R1000 Suzukis. Maxi ended the fastest of the trio, in ninth place, with Fonsi eleventh and Yukio twentieth. Yukio’s was suffering from his injured left hand and there was some speculation about whether or not his it would be strong enough to ride, but the gritty Japanese rider is determined to be on the grid on raceday and today was just the start. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) ended with the day’s fastest lap, with Jakub Smrz (Ducati) second, Troy Corser (Yamaha) third and Max Biaggi (Ducati) fourth.
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Misano Cauldron Awaits World Superbike Contenders
26 June 2008
The action in the 2008 HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship is undoubtedly set to heat up this weekend as the runners and riders head for the Misano World Circuit cauldron on Italy’s Adriatic Riviera coast for Round 8, the San Marino Round organized in collaboration with the motorcycling federation of the tiny, Italian-speaking but independent, Republic state. With 7 rounds done and dusted, the season now enters its second half and the revised Santamonica circuit could not be a better place for this next phase of the championship, with scorching weather expected at the holiday venue to liven up proceedings. The last two rounds have produced two double winners in Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) at Miller Motorsports Park and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) at the Nurburgring, but more to the point they have seen Troy Bayliss’s leadership grip on a championship gradually come under threat.
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Alstare Boys Off To Sun & The Sea At Misano
24 June 2008
The eighth round of this year's Superbike World Championship takes place at the Misano circuit and will hopefully be a hotter and sunnier affair then the last round at the Nurburgring. The 4.180 kilometre track is situated only a short distance from the Adriatic coastline and has been a regular on the calendar since 1991. Last year the direction of the track was reversed - a move not popular with some riders.
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Two Superb Podiums For Max
15 June 2008
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner took two superb podiums in the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship at the Nurburgring today. Conditions were difficult with the first race delayed because of rain and hailstones, but fortunately the track dried out and the 20-lapper got under way without further interruptions for rain. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) won the race, with Troy Bayliss (Ducati) second and Max third. With Yukio Kagayama unable to start because of a broken bone in his left hand, Fonsi Nieto was the sole Suzuki Alstare representative. He struggled throughout the race but hung on determinedly to finish eighth.
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Haga Scores Magnificent Double Win at the Nurburgring
15 June 2008
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) scored a fantastic double win at the Nurburgring on World Superbike’s return to the German track for the first time in ten years. Just two weeks after breaking his collarbone in the USA, Haga fought off Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) to win race 1, and then got the better of his team-mate Troy Corser in a rain-shortened second encounter to take the double. Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) took two thirds in front of his home crowd. Despite unfavourable weather conditions, the German Round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship, reached a satisfactory overall attendance of 41,000 over the 3 days.
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Max Delights The Home Fans By Storming To Superpole!
15 June 2008
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner delighted the home fans by taking Superpole 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.
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Front Row for Max
14 June 2008
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner rode steadily in this morning’s difficult conditions 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 Nürburgring before, none have raced on the layout being used for this round of the Superbike World Championship. The morning session started wet and by the end there was just about a dry line and 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.
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Checa’s Double Win Leaves All to Play for at Nurburgring
11 June 2008
The double win by Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) in Round 6 of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship two weeks ago at Miller Motorsports Park in the USA succeeded in shuffling the cards in the points standings somewhat as the series reaches the mid-point of the season. With Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) failing to score in both races, the Spaniard has now cut the gap to the top man to just 28 points. What seemed a healthy points cushion for the Australian just a couple of races ago, is now not such a large gap after all, proving that anything can happen in the unpredictable world of Superbike racing. The second new circuit in the space of two weeks is the Nurburgring, which has not hosted a round of the Superbike World Championship since 1999, when the German Round made its second and last visit after the first event in 1998. Four riders in the current world championship line-up have raced Superbike there before – Troy Corser, Noriyuki Haga, Ruben Xaus and Gregorio Lavilla – with the Australian powering to a race 2 win in 1999, while Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi have raced in 500 and 250 respectively and Max Neukirchner in the German championship. Almost one decade has passed since then and this weekend’s Nurburgring race is sure to throw up a few surprises.
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Another Superb Podium for Max!
03 June 2008
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner continued his good run of form with a hard fought for fourth place in race one at the Miller Motorsports Park today, before following it up with tremendous runner-up spot in race two. He was at the forefront in both races, had to give way to Carlos Checa (Honda) both times, but knows that his next victory is only a matter of time. Troy Corser (Yamaha) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) were second and third in race one and Fabrizio again took third spot in race two, behind Checa and Max. Team Suzuki Alstare riders Fonsi Nieto and Yukio Kagayama finished fifth and eighth respectively in race one and then reversed the positions in race two. Series leader Troy Bayliss had a day to forget - he crashed out of race one and finished out of the points in race two after being forced to pit and have his gearlever repaired.
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Bayliss Quickest in First Qualifying at Miller Motorsports Park
31 May 2008
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) set the quickest time in the first-ever World Superbike qualifying session at the Miller Motorsports Park circuit near Salt Lake City. The Australian clocked a time of 1 minute 49.394 seconds in the one-hour qualifying session, which as a result becomes the new circuit lap record. Second place on the provisional front row, just two-tenths of a second slower, went to another Australian, Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), who also quickly got dialed in to the US track. Corser was closely followed by Spain’s Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who headed the timesheets for much of the session, and the increasingly impressive Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) from the Czech Republic.
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Team Suzuki Alstare Learning the Way
31 May 2008
Team Suzuki Alstare riders Fonsi Nieto, Yukio Kagayama together with Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner used the first day of practice and qualifying at the Miller Motorsports Park to learn their way round the track and get used to racing at high altitude. The 4.907 kilometre circuit is about 1500 metres above sea level and all the bikes are suffering a drop in performance as a result. At the end of the day, Fonsi had qualified sixth, Yukio seventh and Max fifteenth. Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) is on provisional pole, ahead of fellow countryman Troy Corser (Yamaha), with Carlos Checa (Honda) third and Jake Smrz (Ducati) fourth.
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New Territory for All in Utah!
26 May 2008
The sixth round of the 2008 Superbike World Championship takes place for the first time at Miller Motorsports Park, near Salt Lake City in Utah, USA next weekend. This purpose-built, new facility is hosting its first ever World Superbike event and also holding a round of the AMA Superbike Championship at the same time. None of the current WSBK teams or riders have raced at Millet Motorsports Park before, so it will be a new experience for everybody. As the AMA Superbike series uses a different course layout to World Superbikes, there are no lap times to compare, making it a unique occasion for the WSBK regulars.
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New Livery for Suzuki Alstare in USA!
26 May 2008
Race fans worldwide are in for a surprise when Team Suzuki Alstare take part in the sixth round of the 2008 Superbike World Championship at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah next weekend. Instead of the paint-scheme seen in the first five rounds of the championship so far, the Suzuki GSX-R1000 bikes of Fonsi Nieto, Yukio Kagayama and Max Neukirchner will feature an all new, one-off design featuring Globasol. Globasol is a company involved in the development and implementation of all kinds of renewable energy, such as photovoltaic energy, biomass and biofuel and recently presented a project for the construction on a plant in the Dominican Republic for the production of 60,000 tons of biodiesel per annum. They
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Wet Weather Turns 125cc GP in France into a Two Episode Affair
19 May 2008
Riders in the 125 cc French Grand Prix on Sunday had their race scrapped in the final stages when rain started to fall and stewards brought out the red flags. The French Grand Prix for the small bikes was then re-run as a five-lap dash and Red Bull KTM rider Randy Krummenacher was able to make the best of the tricky, damp conditions to score his first top ten finish of the year. The Swiss teenager, who had finished back in twentieth in the first part of the race, the results of which were negated, made a crucial last-minute tyre change on the starting grid. This turned out to be just the right decision and the Swiss rider, now fully recovered fro his recent spleen operation hunted down a large number of his opponents.
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Pirelli Race Review - Monza
12 May 2008
A classic Italian weekend started on Thursday 8th May with a press conference, held at the Castello della Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, inside Pirelli’s headquarters in Milan. Many riders from the different classes participated, along with Pirelli and FGSport top-level management. Fanatics around the world watched it live, on the pirellityre.com website. On the racing stage, Pirelli fulfilled its promises by bringing a range of excellent tyres, both in SBK and WSS classes; thus Parkes and Bayliss made new track records at Monza. In SBK, Neukirchner was fast from Friday and ended Superpole in 2nd position, behind Bayliss, and clearly aiming to take his first ever SBK victory at the legendary Monza.
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Superb Debut Win for Max!
12 May 2008
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner took a superb maiden victory at Monza and also went into the record books for being the first German to win a World Superbike Championship race. Ever since Valencia, when he was cruelly robbed of victory on the last lap, Max has been ready to win and today he emphatically showed that he is a force to be reckoned with this year. Max was a race-long contender for a win in the second race, but was beaten to the line in a photo-finish with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha). At the end, he was deprived of victory (and a remarkable double!) by just nine thousandths of a second! Haga took second place in race one, with Troy Bayliss (Ducati) third and Suzuki Alstare riders Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto fourth and seventh places respectively. Behind Haga and Neukirchner in race two, was Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) in third, followed by Fonsi Nieto. Yukio suffered a dramatic crash in the Ascari chicane after just four laps, hurting his ribs and right knee in the process.
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Neukirchner & Haga Share the Wins in Monza
12 May 2008
Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) shared the wins in the IDS Italian Round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in front of a record crowd of 112,000 spectators. The first-ever win for a German rider in World Superbike history came at the end of a sprint finish to the line with Haga, just 0.058 seconds behind at the flag. The final podium place went to championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) after a late attack by Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare), who finished fourth despite a couple of errors at the chicane.
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Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner On The Front Row For Monza!
11 May 2008
It took a new lap record by series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) to deprive Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner of a Superpole win at Monza today. Bayliss smashed Noriyuki Haga’s 2007 time by well over a second, to take his third Superpole win of the season.
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