Suzuki admit they have plenty of work to do if they are to take the fight to Ducati at Misano following a tough Superpole session for all three of their riders.
For only the second time this season,
Fonsi Nieto was the team's leading rider at the end of a Saturday, the Spaniard getting a solid Superpole lap under his belt to claim ninth on the grid, just ahead of Max Neukirchner in tenth and
Yukio Kagayama in 13th.
Although his best starting position since Monza, Nieto was not entirely happy with his performance over a single lap and is now hoping his reputation as a fast starter will help his cause in the races.
“Today was very hard, because of the heat, but also because we have six very strong Ducatis in the championship and this circuit seems to suit them well,” he said. “It's going to be two hard races tomorrow and the heat is going to affect the performance of the tyres for sure.
“My Superpole wasn't so bad and one tenth of a second made such a big difference. It seems that I'm never lucky on my Superpole lap, so once again I'm going to have to get two good starts in the races to get good results.”
Title contender Neukirchner, meanwhile, was frustrated to be suffering from issues under braking, the German admitting also that he is surprised to see Ducati with such an advantage this weekend.
”My first Superpole split was good, but the second was not because I made a small mistake at one of the fast right-handers and lost a little time. I've had a little problem getting the bike to keep the line on the brakes and that has been costing me time.
“My set-up is not quite right, so we may try something in the warm-up tomorrow and see if we can improve the bike. It's really strange to see six Ducatis in the top seven, but I am determined to get two good starts and make sure they don't dominate the races.”
On the third Alstare Suzuki, Kagayama revealed he is battling through the pain barrier this weekend as a consequence of the hand injury he picked up in Germany. With that in mind, he was satisfied with 13th on the grid.
