Team Suzuki Alstare news
2008 Superbike World Championship
Round 3, Valencia, Spain
Friday 4th March
Friday qualifying, 4th April
Circuit: kms. Conditions: Mostly cloudy, 16-19C
SUZUKI ALSTARE 1-2!
Suzuki Alstare riders Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama ended the first day of qualifying superbly in first and second places at the Ricardo Tormo circuit today and are already looking forward to tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole. Fonsi Nieto suffered grip problems and finished down the order in sixteenth place, but knows that a big improvement is possible tomorrow.
Max - 1st, 1:34.806
I am very happy today, not so much because I was the quickest but, because we found a good bike set-up. We started with the set-up from when we tested here in March and then found a new way to make the bike more stable both in the front and the rear. It’s been quite cool today and we know that we have more problems when the temperature rises, so I guess I am hoping that it stays much the same.
Yukio - 2nd, 1:34.932
Today we carried on our work and I think everything is getting better. We began with the set-up from our last test and tried to find some small improvements. I didn’t have any big problems today, just a little rear end problem in the afternoon. My physical condition is not 100%, but that’s probably quite good because it means that I wasn’t pushing too hard!
Fonsi - 16th, 1:35.766
I am not very happy today with the lack of rear grip and I couldn’t go faster because of this mainly. But the good news is that we have some ideas what to do about the problem and that’s what we’ll be working on in the morning tomorrow. I didn’t feel that the track conditions were good for me today, but I know I can make a big improvement tomorrow.
Friday qualifying
1 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:34.806, 2 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:34.932, 3 Checa (E-Honda) 1:35.042, 4 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:35.060, 5 Fabrizio (I-Ducati) 1:35.080, 6 Lanzi (I-Ducati) 1:35.085,
16 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:35.766,