Team Alstare Suzuki news
2008 Superbike World Championship
Round 10, Brands Hatch, UK
Final qualifying, Saturday 2nd August
Circuit: 3.702 kms. Weather: Sunny/cloudy, some rain.
WET SUPERPOLE CAUSES CONFUSION
Just before the start of Superpole, rain began to fall on the Brands Hatch circuit and so the organisers decided that the 16-rider shoot-out would be a “Wet Superpole”, giving the riders 50 minutes and a maximum of twelve laps to set their fastest lap times. Team Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama was one of the few riders to venture out on the wet track, whilst most of the others stayed in their pitboxes waiting to see if the rain would stop and the track dry out for the end of the session. The rain did stop, the sun came out and the track dried sufficiently for everybody to use slicks at the end of the session. Not everybody was able to take advantage of the improved conditions at the end and the last five minutes were filled with confusion and frantic tyre changing. In the end, Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner qualified eighth fastest, with Team Suzuki Alstare riders Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto in ninth and tenth places respectively. Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) took pole position, with Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) second and Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) third.
Max - 8th, 1:26.226
I am not so happy to be on the second row of the grid, but I think I should be OK for the races. Brands is a difficult track and it’s going to be hard to win here, but I will be trying my best for sure. We had some chatter problems yesterday and today and I’m not sure if the problem is worse here because of all the bumps. Also, I had a bit of a problem with my bike exiting the corners, so tomorrow we will alter the front and rear suspension to see if we can make the bike more stable. I don’t think anybody got a good wet set-up today, so I am hoping it will be dry tomorrow and we have two good races.
Yukio - 9th, 1:26.501
Superpole was not easy today because of the conditions. I thought the rain would carry on throughout the session and I would be in a good position. But the rain stopped, the track became almost dry but I did not have enough time to put in as many fast dry laps as I would’ve liked. But we’ve got a good set-up for a dry race and I am hoping that it will be dry tomorrow. Ninth is actually not a bad grid position because you are the best side of the track for the run down to turn one. If I can make good starts, I can challenge for the podium.
Fonsi - 10th, 1:26.688
We didn’t really have many problems in practice and qualifying today except that the bike was spinning up in a couple of places and that meant that I was losing drive. But the rest of the track was OK and I am quite happy because I did my best lap on old tyres. Superpole was not so good, but Superpole is not normally good for me anyway, so no difference! Tomorrow I will have a fresh engine and, because we have quite a good dry set-up, I think I can make good races.
Final qualifying
1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:25.656, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:25.679, 3 Kiyonari (J-Honda) 1:25.840, 4 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:25.960, 5 Corser (Aus-Yamaha) 1:26.021, 6 Sykes (GB-Suzuki) 1:26.166, 7 Biaggi (I-Ducati) 1:26.169,
8 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:26.226, 9 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:26.501, 10 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:26.688,