His determination was certainly in evidence at Miller Motorsports Park, the Suzuki Alstare rider struggling in the early stages of the weekend before chipping down the advantage to the leaders and emerging with dogged second and fourth finishes that help consolidate his third place in the championship. One of the few riders to know the circuit well, courtesy of his time racing there ahead of his move to WSBK, Neukirchner will be confident he can top the rostrum again in the best surroundings possible.
Despite a rather anonymous weekend, Neukirchner's team-mate
Fonsi Nieto actually moved up to fourth in the standings with a fifth and eighth place finish, something that was well in contrast to
Noriyuki Haga, who slipped to fifth but grabbed all the headlines. Indeed, the Yamaha rider's sixth place finish in the second race of the weekend will still go down as one of the rides of the season having been achieved with a broken collarbone following a tumble in practice. Although not 100 per cent fit yet following surgery, Haga will still complete in Germany.
As the only rider in the field to have won at the Nurburgring before on a world stage, Haga's team-mate Corser will no doubt be feeling confident ahead of this weekend. He needs to be too after a surprise fall in the US that brought an otherwise fine weekend to a premature close.
Ruben Xaus will also be looking for better form after scoring just two points at Miller, while eighth place
Michel Fabrizio is keen to build on his performance in the US after scoring a pair of richly-deserved podiums.
Max Biaggi enjoyed his best weekend in the US since the opening round in Qatar with a fourth and ninth place finish on his Sterilgarda Ducati. He remains ninth overall in the standings though, leaving him keen to get back to where he is better accustomed to.
