2008 Hannspree World SuperBike Championship Round 5, Monza, Italy, May 11th Race Report
NEUKIRCHNER AND HAGA SHARE THE WINS AT THE HIGH SPEED CIRCUIT OF MONZA
Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner and Yamaha Motor Italia's Nori Haga both took a race win each infront of a massive 112,000 spectators at the the Autodroma Nazionale de Monza in hot sunny conditions.
Race one. Max Neukirchner became the first ever German in history to win a World Superbike race which resulted in a sprint finish to the line with Yamaha Motor Italia's Nori Haga who was just 0.58 seconds off the flying German. Third place went to to series leader Xerox Ducati's Troy Byaliss with Alstare Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama taking fourth. Fifth place saw Sterilgarda Go-Elevens Max Biaggi recover from a poor start from ninth on the grid with Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Ryuichi Kiyonari being first of the Honda's home in sixth ahead of Alstare Suzuki's Fonsi Nieto and Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Carlos Checa in eighth.
Race two. After seeing Max Neukirchner steal his win in race one, Yamaha Motor Italia's Nori Haga took the win in race two , which saw a dramatic three-rider sprint finish for the line. This time the gap was even smaller, 0.009 seconds which was the ffith closet finish in the history of superbikes, but the front two were almost edged out by the extraordinary Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Ryuichi Kiyonari who was first infront as they braked for the final entry into the Parabolica. Fourth went to Alstare Suzuki's Fonsi Nieto who was also upfront for most of the race. Xerox Ducati Michel Fabrizio made a good recovery to finish fifth ahead of DF Racing's Karl Muggeridge and Sterilgarda Go-Eleven's Ruben Xaus. An engine problem brought Xerox Ducati's Troy Bayliss race to an early end on lap eight while he was lying in third as both Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Carlos Checa and Sterilgarda Go-Eleven's Max Biaggi were also forced to retire from race two.
WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP. The first triumph of the season for Yamaha World Supersport rider Fabien Foret who finished ahead of the two Australians Josh Brookes Hannspree Stiggy Motorsports anf Yamaha World Supersport's Broc Parkes. The Frenchman recovered from a poor start and after taking the lead from Broc Parkes, comfortably managed to hold off Josh Brookesto the flag. Fourth place went to Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Andrew Pitt who beat a group of four riders to the line Robbin Harms, Craig Jones, Massimo Roccoli and Mathieu Lagrive. Champioship leader Joan Lascorz manged to score some points by bringing it home in ninth. It was a bad day for both British riders Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Johnny Rea and GIL Kawasaki Motorsports Chris Walker both retied due to mechanical problems.
