Assen: Alstare Engineering Friday report

MAX LEARNING THE ROPES.

In overcast conditions today, new Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Max Neukirchner had to learn both the new Assen circuit and his GSX-R1000 K6. Most of the time was spent putting in the laps and getting to grips with the bike. Despite a small tumble, he finished the day optimistic about his chances of improvement tomorrow.

Series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) posted the day's quickest time, with a lap of 1:39.336, with team mate Lorenzo Lanzi second fastest. Third is Michel Fabrizio (Honda), with James Toseland, also Honda-mounted, fourth. MAX 23rd, 1:42.589

Today was quite a hard day for me because there is so much to learn and not so much time to learn it. I had a little crash when I highsided exiting Ruskenhoek but I didn't do any damage to myself. At the moment I am not 100% fit, but I'm getting stronger each day. It's a bit early for me to say much about the Alstare Engineering bike, but I feel it has a lot of potential. My aim tomorrow is to continue my steep learning curve and qualify for Superpole. We'll see what happens after that.

-credit: ae