Neukirchner on front row

From Alstare Suzuki

DOHA, QATAR -- 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 10 in regular qualifying, but he pulled out all the stops in the 16-rider shootout, 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 11th respectively.

"I’m very happy with my Superpole lap and getting on the front row of the grid," Neukirchner said. "Today my bike worked very well on the Superpole lap and whenever I tried a really soft tire, but it didn’t work so well when I tried to do a long run. So now we will look at all the data and telemetry and see if we can adjust the bike so that it works as well in a race distance."