2008 World Superbike Championship Round 5 - Monza

Race Results
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner took a thrilling maiden victory at Monza and also went into the record books for being the first German to win a World Superbike Championship race today at the fifth round in Italy.

Ever since Valencia, when he was cruelly robbed of victory on the last lap, Neukirchner has been ready to win and today he showed that he is a force to be reckoned with this year: He 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 a double victory 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 respectively. Behind Haga and Neukirchner in race two was Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) and Nieto.

Kagayama suffered a dramatic crash in the Ascari chicane after just four laps, hurting his ribs and right knee in the process.

Max Neukirchner - Race 1: 1, Race 2: 2nd: "I am so happy to win my first ever World Superbike race and proud and happy to be the first German rider to do so.  It's a great feeling and I'm sure that there'll be much more interest in Germany now.  Although I was a bit nervous before the race, I was not nervous in it or at the end. It was easy to be in front in race one and my bike felt very fast on the straights and good in the corners. I knew exactly where Haga was and knew what I had to do to beat him."

"I used the same bike and set up for race two, but Haga was a bit quicker in the corners.  I was behind him when I suddenly saw a big cloud of smoke coming from his bike.  I thought his engine had blown up and waited for him to slow down or pull over, but he kept on going!  After half a lap or so, there was no more smoke.  I attacked him hard in the last couple of laps, but he just about managed to out drag me to the line and take the win."

Yamaha Team Report
Noriyuki Haga overcame some early weekend set-up issues to power his way to a superb race two win for his Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team at their home track of Monza.  Having already scored second in the first race this was Haga's best weekend of the year so far and pushed him further up the championship table.  He now sits third overall, on 112 points.

In the first race Haga pushed hard in the early laps, taking the new lap record of 1'45.882, beating his previous 2007 record as he brought himself forward to join what had been a breakaway trio of eventual winner Max Neukirchner, Yukio Kagayama and eventual third place rider, Troy Bayliss.

Haga was in contention for race two almost from the start, taking the lead over the line on lap three, and after some close action riding with Neukirchner and Ryuichi Kiyonari, he held Kiyonari off over the line, with Neukirchner second, by only 0.009 seconds.

Troy Corser had a tough weekend at Monza, starting well in race one but slowly dropping back to 12th. In race two he was in more competitive form but a close moment under braking with another rider saw him run wide at the first chicane and lose places. He finished eighth, and is now sixth overall, on 101 points.

Noriyuki Haga (2nd and 1st - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team):  "In the first race I tried to ride 100% but the feel was not really there.  We had a team meeting and we altered the chassis settings and suspension for race two.  We got a better feeling and I could push everywhere.  I could not calculate for the last few laps I just knew I had to keep in front of everyone.  On the last lap I tried to brake hard into the last corner and then passed Kiyonari.  I am really happy today because everybody in the garage made a good job, so my thanks go to them."

2008 World Superbike - Monza, Monza Results - May 11, 2008

Race 1 - 18 Laps

1 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 32'2.851

2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'0.058

3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'0.672

4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'0.771

5 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 0'3.869

6 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'5.995

7 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 0'8.788

8 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'9.374

9 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'10.667

10 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'10.771

11 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 0'12.180

12 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'14.719

13 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'32.734

14 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'36.550

15 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'36.607

Race 2 - 18 Laps

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 32'7.576

2 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'0.009

3 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'0.051

4 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 0'4.489

5 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'10.272

6 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'10.376

7 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'10.496

8 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'12.498

9 Ayrton Badovini Kawasaki ITA 0'19.429

10 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 0'26.373

11 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'26.544

12 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'26.895

13 Russel Holland Honda AUS 0'27.761

14 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'29.661

15 Michael Beck Yamaha USA 1'29.001

Best Lap: Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'45.882

Rider Standings as of May 11, 2008

1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 194

2. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 116

3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 112

4. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 111

5. Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 107

6. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 101

7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 90

8. Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 65

9. Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 65

10. Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 59

11. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 55

12. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 54

13. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 49

14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 41

15. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 35

20. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 16

23. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 6

24. David Checa Yamaha ESP 5

Manufacturer Standings as of May 11, 2008

1. Ducati 217

2. Yamaha 171

3. Suzuki 158

4. Honda 135

5. Kawasaki 44

SUPERSTOCK 1000
Team Alstare Suzuki rider Xavier Simeon won the third round of the 2008 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup at Monza today after leading the race from start to finish.

He started from the third row of the grid, but made a superb start and was third going into the first corner.  It was just as well that he was so far up the field, for behind him a rider had crashed braking for the turn and then skittled ten riders and their bikes!  Despite there being bikes and riders all over the first chicane, by the time Simeon and the rest of the depleted field came round again, the track was clear.  He then controlled the race from the front and ran out the winner by over two seconds with Matej Smrz (Honda) second and Alessandro Polita (Ducati) third.

His victory moves him into first place in the championship, with a 15-point lead over Polita.

Xavi Simeon - 1st:  "I made a very good start and was either second or third going into the first chicane.  While I was on the brakes, I heard a strange noise, so I made the bike a bit more upright.  I was lucky that I wasn't taken out by any of the falling bikes.  I did the first two laps cautiously to make sure there wasn't any oil on the track before forcing the pace.  After that it was a pretty easy race really. I was lucky that I didn't get tangled up in the crash, but sometimes you are lucky and sometimes not.  Today was my day!  It was great to win and great to be leading the championship."

Superstock 1000 Results: 1 Xavi Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki), 2 Smrz (CZ-Honda), 3 Polita (I-Ducati), 4 Roberts (Aus-Ducati), 5 Magnoni (I-Yamaha), 6 Perotti (I-Suzuki).

Points: 1 Xavi Simeon 57, 2 Polita 42, 3 Roberts 38, 4 Berger 34, 5 Pirro 30, 6 Smrz 29.

Qualifying
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) was the only rider to lap in under 1:45 in this afternoon's Superpole, a result that rewarded the Australian rider with his third pole position of the season for tomorrow's races at the Monza Autodromo, one of his preferred tracks.

The hard work that the Ducati Xerox Team put in during the preceding sessions paid off and Troy, having qualified eighth for Superpole, was able to complete a flying lap on board his Ducati 1098 F08.

A more problematic day for Michel Fabrizio and his team who had difficulty finding the right set-up for Sunday's races.  Losing valuable tenths at certain points of the track, such as the Parabolica curve, continued to be an issue today and the team will make further modifications to the Italian rider's F08 machine in preparation for tomorrow.

Troy Bayliss 1m44.9s:  "It's been a mixed weekend, and we've struggled a little bit but now it's all come good today after a lot of hard work and we're going much more consistently fast.  I feel good riding with the race tire and I was pretty happy with my Superpole lap time today although I thought that Nori and Max may have gone a little faster than they did.  I made a tiny mistake, as did they, but I was able to go fastest in the end.  Tomorrow will be a great day of racing and Max has proved himself to be a real contender from now on so it'll definitely be interesting.  Nori and Max will surely be up there fighting and the first few laps will be really important I think."

Bayliss smashed Noriyuki Haga's 2007 time by well over a second to take his third Superpole win of the season.  Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama thought his Superpole lap was a fast one but was disappointed to find out he'd set the fifth quickest time instead.  His team mate Fonsi Nieto made a big improvement in today's practice and qualifying sessions and will start tomorrow's pair of 18-lappers from the second row of the grid.

Max Neukirchner - 2nd, 1:45.287:  "I'm really happy today because I think we have a good bike set-up and I'm ready for the races.  My engine felt strong today and although I made a small mistake in Superpole I'm happy to be on the front row of the grid.  Monza is a fast track and I hope to enjoy myself and have some fun tomorrow.

2008 World Superbike - Monza, Italy Qualifying - May 10, 2008

1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'44.931

2 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'45.990

3 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'45.665

4 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 1'45.766

5 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'45.777

6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'45.795

7 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 1'45.942

8 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 1'45.975

9 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 1'46.039

10 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'46.065

11 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'46.216

12 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'46.496

13 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'46.533

14 Makoto Tamada Kawasaki JPN 1'46.549

15 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'46.749

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