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Nieto takes maiden WSB Championship |
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Posted by Staff
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Saturday, 23 February 2008 |
From Team Suzuki Press Office - February 23, 2008.
Team
Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto took his maiden World Superbike Championship
victory in the second 18-lap race at the Qatar season opener today.
Despite having to start from the third row of the grid, Nieto stormed
through the field to take the lead just four laps from the end. Ruben Xaus and
Max Biaggi attacked him to the end but could not find any way past and the
Spaniard was able to take the chequered flag by three-tenths-of-a-second.
For Nieto and his team mates Yukio Kagayama and Max Neukirchner, today
was a bit of a mixed day. Neukirchner led the majority of the first race, before
finishing fifth. Nieto finished seventh with Kagayama one place behind in
eighth. The race was won by Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with Biaggi (Ducati) second
and Troy Corser (Yamaha) third.
In race two Kagayama crashed out on the
opening lap when he and Carlos Checa collided. He was taken to hospital with a
suspected broken collarbone and will now almost certainly miss next week's race
in Phillip Island. Neukirchner finished eighth, suffering the effects of a heavy
cold and grip problems.
Fonsi Nieto - Race 1: 7th, Race
2: 1st:
"This is my first WSBK win and my first race win since Donington
in 1993! Yes, it's been a long, long while. I've worked very hard in this
championship and today I reaped the reward of all the hard work. Today my Suzuki
Alstare bike was faster than the Ducatis, but I definitely raced with my mind
today. I used the same bike with the same set-up in both races, though I did
have the traction control on a harder setting in the first race and the bike was
not as comfortable to ride as it was in race two. There was only five degrees
difference in temperature between the two races, but the bike felt different in
both races!
"In the second race, I was able to conserve my bike and the
tyres and finish strongly and that's why I won. I would like to thank all the
people who had faith in me and have supported me these past years. And I'd like
to thank Francis and Patricia Batta, the whole team and Suzuki for all their
help. I know there are people out there who didn't think I could be a winner,
but today I proved them wrong!"
Max Neukirchner -
Race 1: 5th, Race 2: 8th:
"It was a really good feeling leading the first
race for so long and I felt pretty comfortable doing it. I made a good start and
led from the lights more or less and then I just kept my head down and found I
was in the lead without too much of a problem. I have been suffering from some
kind of a cold or something and, with about eight laps to go, I didn't feel in
very good condition. At the same time, I started getting lots of slides and the
two things together allowed some riders to pass me and I ended up 5th.
"In race two I changed to a softer tyre, but the grip didn't feel so good. I
made a little mistake on the brakes and I lost touch with the leaders and it was
not possible to catch them again. All in all, it's not a bad start to the
season, but it could've been better."
Yukio Kagayama
- Race 1: 8th, Race 2: DNF:
"In race one, I firstly suffered a problem
with tyre chatter after seven laps and the grip level also went down. Later in
the race, I had some vibration exiting the turns so it was difficult to push
very hard. I just kept going as fast as I could and tried to get the best result
I could."
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