Haga And Neukirchner Share Spoils In Monza
Added on Monday, May 12th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Haga And Neukirchner Share Spoils In Monza
Noriyuki Haga and Max Neukirchner shared wins in a thrilling round of the World Superbikes Championship in Monza yesterday.
Neukirchner took the chequered flag ahead of Yamaha’s Haga in race one to become the first ever German to record a WSB race victory and continue his impressive start to the season, which has seen him jump to fourth in the championship standings.
Troy Bayliss finished in third position to stretch his run of consecutive podiums to seven races.
But Neukirchner took the plaudits after race one and spoke of his delight at making WSB history.
“It’s the first win by a German rider in World Superbike and I’m really happy about that,” said the Suzuki rider.
“My team did a great job this weekend. Our engine for sure is very fast, Suzuki have done a lot of development work on it. I felt the pressure all the way through the race, but once Yukio made a little mistake, I thought ‘great!’ Now I can try and do it alone!”
Race two was a tighter affair, with Haga winning a three-way sprint to the finish line by beating Neukirchner by just 0.009sec top take his second win of the season.
With championship leaders Troy Bayliss and Carlos Checa both retiring from the second even with engine problems, reigning British Superbike champion Ryuichi Kiyonari took advantage to finish in third – his best finish yet in WSB competition.
It was certainly a race that fans at Monza will remember for years to come and Haga himself could hardly believe the margin of victory.
“On that last lap I was thinking about what I had to do to win, my head was totally blank but I arrived at the line and couldn’t believe the gap, 0.009 seconds,” said the Japanese rider.
“Monza is special for me, here is our home track and I have been thinking for all last week that I must win. During the weekend I couldn’t find the right feeling but yesterday my engineer and suspension engineer made a good combination and I was able to enjoy the riding.”
World Superbikes R4: Monza.
Race 1 Result:
1. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 32:02.851
2. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.058
3. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 +0.672
4. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.771
5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 +3.869
6. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +5.995
7. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +8.788
8. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +9.374
9. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 +10.667
10. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 +10.771
11. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +12.180
12. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 +14.719
13. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 +32.734
14. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 +36.550
15. Gimbert S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +36.607
16. Holland R. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR +52.464
17. Morelli L. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR +56.929
18. Aoyama S. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +1:27.543
19. Beck M. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +1:28.342
Race 2 Result:
1. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 32:07.576
2. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.009
3. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +0.051
4. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +4.489
5. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 +10.272
6. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR +10.376
7. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 +10.496
8. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 +12.498
9. Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +19.429
10. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +26.373
11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 +26.544
12. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 +26.895
13. Holland R. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR +27.761
14. Gimbert S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +29.661
15. Beck M. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +1:29.001
16. Aoyama S. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +3 laps
