Team Alstare Suzuki rider Xavi Simeon struggled with grip problems in Valencia today and was only able to post the ninth fastest time in final qualifying. Xavi was frustrated because he couldn’t get anywhere close to the lap times he did at the tests in March.

Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner stunned his rivals by storming to his first ever Superpole win this afternoon at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, Valencia, smashing the lap record by well over a second in the process. Max’s Superpole was something special, but to make it an even better day for the Belgian based team, Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama took second place.

Suzuki Alstare riders Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama ended the first day of qualifying superbly in first and second places at the Ricardo Tormo circuit today and are already looking forward to tomorrow’s qualifying and Superpole. Fonsi Nieto suffered grip problems and finished down the order in sixteenth place, but knows that a big improvement is possible tomorrow.

Team Alstare Suzuki rider Xavi Simeon finished the first day of qualifying at Valencia with the sixth fastest time, but was disappointed not to finished higher up the order!

After the flyaway trip to Qatar and Australia, the Superbike World Championship returns to European soil with his weekend’s third round in Valencia. The race will be a special one for Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto, as it will be his home race, and will also be an important one for one of the team’s Spanish sponsors - Pepephone. For Yukio Kagayama and Max Neukirchner it will be a chance to improve on last year’s so-so results.

Team Suzuki Alstare riders Fonsi Nieto and Yukio Kagayama and Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner left the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia in positive frames of mind after two days of intensive testing. Tests in Valencia have not always taken place in good conditions, but the weather here over the two days has been more or less perfect.

Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto took a fifth in the first race and followed that with a superb third in race two to move into second place in the championship behind Troy Bayliss (Ducati).

Both Fonsi Nieto and Max Neukirchner will start tomorrow’s pair of 22-lap races from the
second row of the grid after slightly problematic Superpole laps.

Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner started today’s first day of qualifying superbly by posting the fourth quickest time of the day. His lap of 1:32.808 was just over four tenths of a second behind provisional pole-setter Troy Corser (Yamaha).

After their win in Qatar last weekend, Team Suzuki Alstare headed to Australia in good spirits, with Fonsi Nieto and Max Neukirchner, but without Yukio Kagayama.

Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto took his maiden World Superbike Championship victory in the second 18-lap race at the Losail circuit in Qatar today. Despite having to start from the third row of the grid, Fonsi stormed through the field to take the lead with just just four laps remaining.

Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner rode a superb Superpole and booked himself a place on the front row of the grid at Qatar today. The young German had only been in the top ten in regular qualifying, but he pulled out all the stops in the 16-rider shoot-out, ending up on the front row behind Superpole winner Troy Corser (Yamaha), Ruben Xaus (Ducati) and Max Biaggi (Ducati). Suzuki Alstare riders Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto finished eighth and eleventh respectively and both know that good starts in the 18-lap races tomorrow will be crucial.