Here are the rider quotes from the seventh round of the World Superbike Championship at Miller Motorsports Park.
Max Biaggi took his third double win of the season and now leads the standings with 257 points while Leon Haslam has 242.
The next round will be held at the Misano Adriatico World Circuit, June 27th.
Max Biaggi – 1st and 1st“Two fantastic races.
Nothing more would need to be said.
We set up the weekend well, working a lot to take best advantage of the potential of the RSV4 on this beautiful circuit.
Again in race 2 Checa immediately set a frantic pace, but I had more of a feeling than in race 1, so I think that I would have played it out down to the end anyway.
I managed the advantage well.
I must be thankful because this double win is to the credit of the entire Team and the guys who work at Noale, who give me the best possible support.
I think the American fans had a good time as well.
Today is an important day for us, but my mind is already on the next round.
To make it to the lead spot in the standings is extremely important, but there is still a long season ahead of us, so… we’ll keep our feet on the ground”.
Leon Haslam – 2nd and DNF“Obviously I am very disappointed how the day ended.
Crashing out is bad enough, but losing the championship lead is another.
I always knew that today was going to be very hard and the races proved that.
I was fortunate to get second place in race one and unfortunate to crash in race two.
Carlos (Checa) should’ve won both races and I feel a bit sorry for him.
He had led both, but then had to pull out.
As a result, Max got lucky, but racing is like that sometimes.
I didn’t make particularly good starts today and maybe that caused some of the problems.
In race one, I was right behind Jakub (Smrz) when his Ducati blew up.
I and the front of my Suzuki got covered in oil and I tried to use a different line to him so that I wouldn’t crash on his oil.
I think I was stuck behind him for over a lap, but luckily he pulled off the track and I was able to get my head down and chase after the leaders.
I moved through the field and got into third and happy with that until Carlos stopped and I was gifted second.
I was tenth at the end of the first lap in race two and once again I had a lot of work to do to catch the leaders.
I managed to get up to sixth after seven laps, but then the bike suddenly let go at one of the hairpins and I was highsided.
I had a load of stitches put into my left arm, just above the elbow, but I will be OK for Misano.
”Noriyuki Haga – 3rd and 4th“I’m really happy to be back on the podium today, but it wasn’t easy! At the start of Race 1 I was having trouble pushing but after a few laps the tyres picked up a bit and I was finally able to get past Camier in the final stages.
It’s a great result and the first time I’ve been on the Miller podium.
In Race 2 I had a similar feeling with my bike but the race was more difficult.
I started badly and had to push so hard to make up the lost ground.
In the last two years my weekends at Miller have been conditioned by crashes but this year I had a good feeling right from the first exit I made on Friday and this gave me confidence that a podium was possible.
I’m satisfied and now we move on to Misano, a circuit where there is no long straight and where the Ducati could be very fast.
” Leon Camier – 4th and 2ndIt couldn’t have gone any better than this.
I rode a second race which was pushed to the maximum.
The modifications to my RSV4 worked.
Max had a better pace, so my goal is to keep working and growing so that I can stay up front.
A double victory is always something magic, particularly this one which is the first for Aprilia.
I hope I can give more of this kind of excitement to both the fans and the entire Team”.
Troy Corser – 5th and 5th“Overall, we should be happy today.
Nevertheless I was disappointed with the Superpole result as I had to start both races from the fourth row.
In the first race I had to fight with chattering, and I had some trouble with the edge grip.
We changed the rear spring and made a few adjustments.
The bike definitely felt better, but the problem came back again when the tyre went away after a couple of laps.
We now know what we have to improve.
”Shane Byrne – 6th and 7th “The bike felt very good and I was happy with the set-up.
I found that the level of grip varied between race 1 and race 2, it was better in the first.
But I’ve taken some good points and this makes me more determined as we enter the second half of the Championship.
”Luca Scassa – 7th and 10th“I am extremely happy with this weekend because we all worked with the best of our ability.
My Ducati has never had any problem and I was able to go very fast.
Race 1 was perfect, the only problem was my starting position but I recovered with a very fast race pace.
Very nice duel with James Toseland, we had a couple of contacts but all normal, after the race we made our compliments to each other! The seventh place is a excellent result, but it could be even better.
In race two my clutch slipped in 2nd and 3rd gear and at the end of the straight I was in last position.
Without this problem I could easily return to the same position as in race 1 but more than that was not possible.
I am grateful to the team and Infront, to travel to South Africa and here in the U.
S.
without their personal commitment it would not be possible.
Forty points in the Championship is a nice booty to share with all the guys on the team and with Ducati.
What is important is to keep working at most of our ability so we can take again great satisfaction!”Sylvain Guintoli – 8th and 6th“Today was a much better day for me and I am happy because I think I managed to find a good rhythm and race pace – all this on my first time at this track.
I had some little clutch problems in race one and starting from way down the grid is never easy, so I don’t think eighth was too bad considering.
My pace in the second race was a lot better and I enjoyed fighting with the other riders as I moved up the field.
Today was my best result since Australia and it’s about time I got back to being competitive.
Now I want to build on this, keep up the good work and push hard right from the first practice in the next round and so be in a better place on the grid at the start of raceday.
”James Toseland – 9th and DNF“A frustrating weekend for me.
We started really well here and I got down to some pretty decent times relatively quickly in the first practices so was feeling confident for the races.
Superpole didn’t go quite as planned so I had a less than perfect grid start position.
I managed a good start in the first race and was making up places but unfortunately I ran out of grip several laps from the end which slowed me down.
It took me a while to get into a good pace in race two, but as I was picking up I came out of one corner too fast and so was too hot into the next, resulting in losing the front end.
The team have worked really hard all weekend and I’m sorry I couldn’t deliver them a better result today.
” Ruben Xaus – 10th and 11th“To be honest I am disappointed with today.
I got great starts in both races and I was right with the top guys.
I just couldn’t do the times over the race distance.
The team and I have worked tirelessly all weekend and made some real steps forward, but today we just couldn’t make it happen in the races.
Still the team did a great job and I must thank them for that, and also compliments to Troy because he did so well.
I just wish I could have been up there with him.
I hope we can join him at the front in Misano.
”Cal Crutchlow – 11th and 3rd“I think the first race should have been the same as the second one, unfortunately I got caught up in Johnny’s crash and lost some valuable places.
We’ve not had the pace of Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi this weekend, they did a fantastic job.
I tried my hardest and I think we’ve done the best job we can.
All credit to the Yamaha guys we’ve worked really hard for this result.
” Max Neukirchner – 12th and 12th“We tried something different for the second race because in the first one the bike was pitching too much – diving too fast under the brakes and coming up too quickly under acceleration.
We thought the change would work but it didn’t, so we have another two disappointing results to take away from this race.
I hope we can have two really positive days at the Assen test in two weeks, because there is a lot we need to get through.
It’s frustrating because I know I can do better than what my results are showing.
”Tom Sykes – 13th and 14th “We started the weekend in good shape but although we were consistent with lap times and we improved on last year’s times, it was still not fast enough.
I had a decent launch in both races but in race two I got tangled up with a Ducati rider and lost a few places, which put us in a disastrous 19th place.
Middle race distance we struggled with handling into the long left-handed corners but I fought back as hard as I could to finish within the points.
I guess that is a positive from the weekend.
I’m sorry for the boys but I did the best I could and I look forward to getting things back-on track and running nearer the front at Misano.
”Chris Vermeulen – 15th and 13th“A difficult weekend but we scored points in both races.
It was my first time here and we improved the bike all weekend.
At a circuit like this with really long corners we struggled to make the turns and we do not have the fastest bike right now.
We have some work to do still.
We made some changes race one to race two because I struggled with front tyre durability again, and we made it a lot better.
Consistency and speed was faster, and I think that I was eight seconds nearer the front.
That was a good step forward for us.
”Jonathan Rea – 14th and 8th“It’s quite hard to take many positives out of the weekend really.
We’ve had big problems all weekend and nothing we tried did anything to fix them.
We made a big – and I mean BIG – change to the front of the bike for race two, but the characteristics were exactly the same.
Unfortunately, I’m missing the first day of our test at Assen because I’m riding in the 300km race at Suzuka, but there’s plenty for Max and the team to be working through.
I really hope we can get something to take to the next race at Misano, because I have some great memories of that round last year.
”Broc Parkes – 17th and 15th “We still struggled with the same problems with chatter and we need to get back to Europe and try some set-up changes.
We tried something a little bit different in race two and it was a little bit better but we are not where we want to be at the minute.
”Roger Lee Hayden – 16th and DNF“I am very disappointed about today’s outcome, I started from the back and I complicated my life, although in race 2 the bike felt ok and I did some quick laps, battling with Sykes and Vermeulen, then I fell.
I’m sorry for the team and I want to thank them for the great work done on the bike.
We still have some setup problems but I am sure that during the next few weeks we’ll get the bikes fixed with a view to Misano ”Michel Fabrizio – DNF and 9th“It’s a pity what happened to me in race 1.
It was totally unexpected, my bike was sliding around at the rear and then, from one moment to the next, I found myself on the ground.
In Race 2 I made a bad start, losing several positions and finding myself in the last group.
I made up ground through the race but I wasn’t able to catch Rea and Byrne ahead of me and finished ninth.
I hoped to do a lot better here in America but now we must turn our attention to the next round in Misano.
” Matteo Baiocco – 18th and DNFStarting from the sixth row it was a long hard race.
In Race 1 I did not start well and by mid race I started having problems with the rear tire, I could not ride as I wanted to and I returned to the pits and the mechanics changed the tire and I got back, testing the bike for the race 2.
In race 2 we tried different settings, but I couldn’t find any confidence and I couldn’t push hard.
I’m angry, we must improve for the next race ”Carlos Checa – DNF and DNF“Everything went well: the work, the preparation, the performance, the passion, the race, the team”, said Carlos.
“Yet unfortunately the results did not come.
It’s never happened before! We were strong and I will leave here with my head held high.
I will immediately turn the page and concentrate on the upcoming tests in Misano and the next race, where I know we can do well.
That’s racing…”Jakub Smrz – DNF and DNF“We didn’t get any luck.
I thought I could do well, everything was going my way until race 1, but once again we couldn’t achieve our goal .
Next up is Misano which is another track I feel comfortable at, I hope to redeem myself in front of the Italian crowd”.
