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SBK Assen, day1: Kagayama third, with Nieto and Neukirchner in the top eight

In SBK

26 aprile 2008

Yukio Kagayama finished the first day of qualifying at Assen with the third fastest time of the day, less then three tenths of a second outside the lap record. Team mate Fonsi Nieto ended with the fifth fastest time and Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner, recovering from a broken collarbone, finished eighth. Provisional pole went to Aussie Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) second.

Yukio Kagayama - 3rd, 1:40.036
Today was not so bad and I didn’t have any big problems. We started with one of the bikes with the Valencia set-up and one different. But we soon found that the Valencia set-up didn’t work so well, so we concentrated on getting the other one to work at this track. We worked a lot on the electronics, the chassis and improving the rear stability so that the bike is smoother and more comfortable to to ride. Assen is a track where you have to have a smooth bike if you want to go fast, so this is our first goal.

Fonsi Nieto - 5th, 1:40.195
I’m really happy with how today went. The bike is working well - much better then Valencia - even though the set-up is more or less the same! I found a good rhythm and everything was OK, except when I tried to do some quick laps at the end of qualifying, the red flag came out two times and I wasn’t able to get in a clean lap. I am happy because I did my fastest lap on tyres that had already done thirteen laps. Tomorrow, I hope to do a good Superpole, get a good grid position and challenge for the podium in both races.

Max Neukirchner- 8th, 1:40.409
This morning I think we went in the wrong direction, but in the afternoon we made the bike a bit stiffer and it was much better. I had a bit of a problem with the bike keeping a good line today, but I think we know what to do tomorrow and hopefully we will make progress. I didn’t have any problems with my shoulder today, so I think it’s going to be OK for the weekend.

Friday qualifying
1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati) 1:39.677, 2 Haga (J-Yamaha) 1:40.009, 3 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare) 1:40.036, 4 Smrz (CZ-Ducati) 1:40.064, 5 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 1:40.195, 6 Tamada (J-Kawasaki) 1:40.278, 8 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 1:40.409,