World Superbike 2008 - Round Eight

World Superbike 2008 - Round Eight - Misano (Spain)

Day 2 Report - Suzuki

Team Alstare Suzuki's Fonsi Nieto, Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama all had a difficult day in the heat during qualifying for the Misano World Superbike Championship round in Italy, and despite their grid positions, all three are in a positive frame of mind about tomorrow's pair of 24-lap races.

The day started overcast, but the sun soon burned off the clouds and the temperatures began to rise. When Superpole began, the track temperature was over 50 degrees centigrade and the 16-rider shoot-out was dominated by Ducatis: They filled six out of the top seven places, but it was Troy Corser's Yamaha that topped them all. The Aussie lapped under 1:36 - the only rider to do so - to claim his 42nd pole position of his career. Nieto scored ninth fastest with Neukirchner 10th and Kagayama - defying the pain barrier - 13th.

Fonsi Nieto - 9th, 1:36.746:
"Today was very hard, because of the heat, but also because we have six very strong Ducatis in the championship and this circuit seems to suit them well. It's going to be two hard races tomorrow and the heat is going to affect the performance of the tyres for sure. My Superpole wasn't so bad and one tenth of a second made such a big difference. It seems that I'm never lucky on my Superpole lap, so once again I'm going to have to get two good starts in the races to get good results."

Max Neukirchner - 10th, 1:36.856:
"My first Superpole split was good, but the second was not because I made a small mistake at one of the fast right-handers and lost a little time. I've had a little problem getting the bike to keep the line on the brakes and that has been costing me time. My set-up is not quite right so we may try something in the warm-up tomorrow and see if we can improve the bike. It's really strange to see six Ducatis in the top seven, but I am determined to get two good starts and make sure they don't dominate the races."

Yukio Kagayama - 13th, 1:37.243:
"I think the base set-up of my bike is quite good, so we will not make any big changes in the warm-up tomorrow. We've been working a lot on the electronics, trying to improve the feeling of the bike and we're making progress. But my biggest problem is my injury. I had a small painkilling injection this morning, but I don't think it worked! I had a stronger one in the afternoon, but I was still suffering a lot of pain - especially on the braking. Tomorrow is going to be very, very hard. But my job is a racer and I have to race tomorrow. If I have to forget the pain, that's what I have to do, because I want to race.