Qatar race winner
Fonsi Nieto took a fifth place in the first race at Phillip Island and followed that up with third on the Alstare Suzuki in race two to become
Troy Bayliss closest rival in the championship.
Team-mate Max Neukirchner had a trying day but came away with good points.
“I am happy because I got a podium on a very tough day of racing, and also because I am now second in the championship,” said Nieto, “In the first race, my gearing was too short and, because of the wind, I was on the limiter all the way down the straight. So, fifth was not so bad.”
After changes were made to the Suzuki's gearing between races, Nieto was closer to the front in the second outing, but found himself still unable to challenge the dominant Bayliss.
“In race two, I pushed as hard as I could, but Bayliss was impossible to catch,” he admitted, “But my approach is to be very consistent this season and keep taking points whenever I can.
“I want to thank my team for all their hard work. The guys had to change both engines in the bikes and that was a lot of work for them, but I hope my podium was a good way of saying ‘thank you'.”
Team-mate Neukirchner finished seventh in race one but was in line for a podium in the second race, after a poor start dropped him as low as eleventh, but the German rallied to fifth at the flag despite set-up problems.
“My general feeling is that I am a little happy, because I managed two good finishes and had no crashes,” said the lanky German, “We made the rear end a bit stiffer for race two, but there wasn't much improvement from the first race.
“I thought a podium was possible, but I got held up by a group of riders. I think my main problem in the second race was that I lost a lot of time in the very first lap.”
Neukirchner has had a good start to the season and has shown good pace in the races but, as yet, has not managed consistent race performance.
