From Pirelli WSBK Press

ROUND 7 – NÜRBURGRING – 15 JUNE 2008 – RACE REVIEW

15th June 2008, Nürburgring (Germany) – SBK was back in Europe after the US round and made a return to the to Nürburgring. Surrounded by typical German pine forests and close to the epic “Nordschleife” this racetrack is very technical and presents both fast corners and hairpins to be taken in second gear. This makes it very demanding as riders open the throttle with nearly 200hp available, and with the bike still leaned over. So a good setup and really grippy tyres - Pirellis - are needed to set fast times.

The unpredictable weather experienced during the weekend made the job even more difficult. In SBK Max Neukirchner, riding in front of his compatriots, made a perfect, awesome lap and took Superpole with a record time of 1’55.471, heading up Bayliss, Checa and Haga.

Race1:

Not even hail can stop SBK!

During the starting procedure a suddenly wet track forced the organizers to delay the start for 20 minutes. Then a pale sun allowed a ‘Dry Race’ to be declared and it all went smoothly.

At the green light a few riders took the leading positions: Haga, Bayliss, Neukirchner, Corser and Fabrizio.

The Japanese Yamaha rider set a really impressive pace and along with Bayliss the pairing created a gap back to Neukirchner and the others.

Bayliss set the fastest lap at the 11th time of asking, with a great 1’57.276. The two lead riders put in place a great performance with their DIABLO SUPERBIKE SC2 front tyres and the two different rear solutions (medium-hard for Haga and hard for Bayliss). Even more impressive was their consistency through the whole race despite the interrupted practice they had this weekend.

Haga ended in first place ahead of Bayliss and Neukirchner, with three different bikes on the podium, underlining the outstanding level of adaptability of Pirelli tyres and the very high level of the championship in general.

Race Standings

Race2:

Race two was a real show once again, and the two main actors were the Yamaha Motor Italia men.

At the start Bayliss was the fastest, with the two Yamaha riders and Neukirchner behind, but Haga and then Corser exploited an error made by Bayliss and eventually passed him as he lost several positions.

Behind the two, Neukirchner was in a secure third place and made an almost solitary race for himself, taking another great podium at his home round.

Haga and Corser approached the race with the same soft front tyre and the same medium-hard rear tyre and they were entertaining throughout, with the new best time set on the 11th lap by Haga.

After many overtakes and changes of lines the rain appeared again and race control showed the red flag. On the TV screens Corser was ahead of Haga, but the race ended with Haga declared the winner because of the ‘countback’ rule to the previous lap. He had thus completed a fantastic winning double.

Bayliss had to settle for 4th place after a mistake on the 5th lap, scoring ahead of Checa, his closest competitor in the championship standings.

A good result for Pirelli as the two new tyres developed for this race – which were unknown quantities for some – took all the podium places in each the race.

The next event will take place on the circuit of Misano Adriatico, where weather conditions should be dramatically different - but for sure the show will be as great as always.

Race Standings

Championship Standings