Herewith are various press releases from today's action at Monza:

Team Alstare Suzuki news
2008 Superbike World Championship
Round 5, Monza, Italy
Friday qualifying, 9th May
Circuit: 5.793 kms. Conditions: Dry, mostly sunny 22-26C.

MAX STORMS TO PROVISIONAL POLE!

Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner was in sensational form today, posting the day's fastest lap in this afternoon's qualifying session at Monza. The young German blitzed the 5.793 kilometre circuit in 1:45.990, breaking the lap record in the process. Over three tenths of a second behind is series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) with Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama third. Completing the provisional front row is Japanese rider Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki). It was not such a good day for Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto. He crashed in the qualifying session, fortunately without injury, and lost time when most of the riders were setting their quick lap times. Fonsi ended eleventh and he and the team know that a lot of good work will have to be done tomorrow to get a good grid position.

Max - 1st, 1:45.990

I'm happy with how things worked out today and happy because I think we have a pretty good bike set-up. We'll make some small adjustments tomorrow to see if we can improve the bike, but it will not be anything major. Tomorrow we'll do some work on the electronics and maybe the engine-braking to try and get the best possible set-up for raceday. I want to say thank you to Yukio for helping me do my fast lap today. At Monza you need help if you want to set a really good time and Yukio was great.

Yukio - 3rd, 1:46.371

My feeling today is good. We started the day with the settings from Assen and they worked pretty well really. I had some small problems braking, but that was because of front fork settings, not the brakes themselves. The team made some changes and the bike improved. Towards the end of this afternoon's qualifying, I was using hard tyre - for a test - but I'm sure I could've gone faster if I had used a softer tyre. Maybe I could've been second or even first! Although slipstreaming is very important here, I would prefer to be on my own because then I can push much harder. I think Monza might be good for us and that is what I am hoping for.

Fonsi - 11th, 1:46.990

I am not so happy today because I had a small crash, lost some time in the qualifying session and that meant I missed the chance to go for a quick lap time. The crash happened at the Parabolica when I went into the gravel. The tyre wall was approaching, so I had no choice but to lay the bike down. Luckily I didn't hurt myself or do any further damage to my left knee. It is a bit sore when I'm on the bike, but it will not affect me in the race.

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Friday May 9 2008
Qualifying - Monza

THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM MAKES A STRONG START TO THEIR QUEST FOR A HOME WIN AT MONZA

Monza (Italy) Friday 9th May: the Ducati Xerox Team made a strong start to the weekend's proceedings in the first qualifying session this afternoon at Monza, with Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio attaining respectively the second and seventh fastest times. Bayliss and his factory squad were able to clock up some consistently fast laps during both this morning's free practice and the afternoon's qualifying while Fabrizio spent time learning how best to approach the track on board the Ducati 1098 F08.

Troy Bayliss 1m46.3s

"It's gone pretty well today yes. We made a few changes for the qualifying session this afternoon. I did more than race distance on the front tyre this morning and nearly race distance on both tyres this afternoon, and times were very consistent which is good news. We'd like to improve further tomorrow, with a few different things to try out. Several people are going strong of course, just as we expected. Max (Neukirchner) is going well today but he didn't do as many consistently fast laps as we did this afternoon. Anyway, we're very happy for the time being and will see if we can go faster again tomorrow."

Michel Fabrizio 1m46.8s

"I'm pretty content overall with the work we've done today. I of course know the track very well but riding the Ducati here is new for me and it seems like certain points of the circuit require a bit of a different approach. Today I had some problems for example at the Parabolica where I lost a few tenths. I'm feeling quite confident about the performance of the tyres and the bike set-up so it's really just a matter of learning how to ride the F08 at this particular track. Physically I feel ok - my arm hurt a bit by the end of the afternoon session but that was to be expected - I'd say it's all going ok for the moment."

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QUALIFYING 1 REPORT
09/05/2008

Haga and Corser chase set-up at Monza

Noriyuki Haga

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was the fastest
Yamaha rider on show on the first day at Monza, posting a time of 1'47.074 to go 12th fastest overall. He was just over one second from provisional pole, at this long 5.793km circuit.

Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was only three places behind Haga on day one, looking for greater top speed and general set-up to get back into contention at the fastest track on the WSB calendar.

Qualifying was conducted in warm and sunny conditions, a great contrast with the deluge of rain that cursed the team's attempt to test at their home circuit of Monza last month.

Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi went 19th in qualifying, with Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) one place and 0.461 seconds behind him.

David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was unable to ride at Monza because of his recently dislocated hip his place was taken by American rider Michael Beck. He took 29th place on the provisional grid in his first ever ride outside the USA.
Final qualifying and then Superpole for the top 16 riders takes place on Saturday, with two SBK races taking place on Sunday 11th.

Noriyuki Haga (12th - 1'47.074 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)

"OK I guess, but we have had some issues with the rear traction but that, I think, is coming from the tyre. We have three different tyres and we have to make suspension settings for them all. I tried a few things this morning and this afternoon but we haven't found a good feeling yet. Tonight we change and we see what happens tomorrow. The front tyre choice has been made. Some of the other bikes seem very fast here."

Troy Corser

Troy Corser (15th - 1'47.232 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"The bike is not fast enough at the top end of the scale. The chassis we are finding some improvements with, we're not a long way away with it but we are still losing maybe half a second in straightline speed. Having it rain during our test here last month was not so good but we are just not accelerating onto the straights the way we want to so far."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)

"Both riders are looking for more grip exiting the corners to let them hit full speed at the end of the straight and we are working for an overall better bike set-up. We lost some testing time last month but there was nothing we could do about that. Tomorrow we will make some improvements and we will try our best as always."

Michael Beck (29th - 1'51.869 - Yamaha GMT94)

"This is the first time I have been out of the USA and this has been a great experience already. I always wondered what it was like racing over here in Europe and I finally got to experience it here. There are one or two tracks like this in America, but this place has a lot of straightaways and fast corners, and the Parabolica corner is pretty amazing."

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PRESS RELEASE | Monza, day-1
WSBK'08 Round 5

On the first day of qualifying at Monza, Sterilgarda Go Eleven's riders worked on the bike race set-up in order to get everything ready for Sunday and so trying to get an excellent result in front of their supporters. Both Xaus and Biaggi spent the day testing several settings. The Spanish rider tried a rigid and long trim for his bike, in order to be able to get vital instants when braking and have more stability in the middle of the corners. As well Max worked on the basic set-up as he usually does on Friday. In Stock1000 Alex Polita got the 7th provisional best time. He lost some position due to a slip when he was recording the pole time.

RUBEN XAUS | Ducati 1098 RS | 9th provisional time in 1'46.915: "We have done a good job today and I was pretty quick even with the bike in race trim despite the traffic on the track. The set-up tested today allows me to lap on a constant race pace and it shows its power lap by lap. My goal is the podium and I will be able to bang on it if I can lap constantly between 1'46 and 1'47".

MAX BIAGGI | Ducati 1098 RS | 17th provisional time in 1'47.255: "After Assen we have had to reset and start again. We tested several setting in order to reduce the gap of power that we meet on this track. We have spent the day working on the race trim because we want to go back on the podium, especially in front of our supporters. Tomorrow, at the end of the work day, we will know which kind of goal we will be able to aim for".

ALEX POLITA | Ducati 1098R | 7th provisional time in 1'50.027: "I slid while I was attempting to cut my time, when I was recording the pole position after the two first splits. Anyway I was lucky, I didn't get any injury and I will try again tomorrow in order to get the front line".

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ALSTARE'S BIOFUEL BIKE DEBUTS AT MONZA

Alstare is sensitive to the environmental problems caused by the continuing consumption of fossil fuels affecting the earth's climate control. We are aware that it is inevitable and urgent now for the world to reduce CO2 carbon emissions in the atmosphere and to replace the consumption of polluting energies with clean and renewable sources. Therefore, since last year, Alstare began working on the development of small sized engines - such as in motorcycles and ATVs - using biofuel. Such a project is the result of a synergy between Alstare's technical and intellectual resources and the experience and the support of Japanese manufacturer Suzuki and Magneti Marelli, Alstare's race team partners for several years.

In our research into new ?bio-engines', the total process is being improved from the seed to the vehicle. The efficiency of biofuels starts first with the adaptation of the engine to its fuel and not with the adaptation of the fuel to a classic engine.

The first step achieved by Alstare was the development of an agricultural ATV using fuel consisting of 85% bioethanol and 15% petrol (E85). The evolution of a traditional engine into an adapted bio-ATV was entirely carried out by Alstare's technicians in its Belgian workshop.

Now, after months of research and experimentation, Alstare proudly unveils its prototype of a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Superstock bike running with 85% of biofuel In fact, Alstare's technicians have been recently working on the application of bio-engine technology to ?racing' motorcycles. This task has been successfully achieved and, during the World Superbike racing weekend in Monza, Alstare will present its ?bio-motorbike'. Well-known bike tester Alan Cathcart will evaluate the performance of the machine on the legendary Monza circuit on Saturday 11th May between 13.00 and 13.20.

Thanks to this achievement, Alstare is a pioneer in the development of racing engines using biofuel. The application of such technology in motor sports responds to the growing concern of the motorcycle manufacturers with regard to the problems of pollution and climate change. Responding to people's growing awareness in environmental issues, the European Union is considering legislation in the near future obliging Member States to increase the proportion of biofuel in their markets (Directive 2003/30/EC).

Alstare's future research will be focused on adapting a traditional engine to biodiesel. Such research will take at least a year to complete and will involve different areas of study including the evaluation of the costs for the production, development and the technical modifications necessary in order to obtain a profitable result in terms of performance and fuel consumption.

Alstare is proud of promoting such a project, which could actually contribute to the economical and social growth of agricultural regions in developing countries. Biodiesel vehicles represent a real alternative for the countries that cannot afford to depend on petrol imports. In particular, rural communities will finally be able to work with biodiesel agricultural ATVs which are cheaper, handy, easy to drive and do not pollute nor ruin the land.

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