German WSBK: Vermeulen wins, Corser falters, Lanzi stars

“I really believed another podium or a win was on the cards for race two because I had been enjoying the bike again this weekend. At Assen, we had some problems which were never fully resolved, but here at Lausitz I just felt more comfortable.

“The crash in race two came as a big surprise as I felt I had not done anything different at that turn before. I lost the front and rear together and went down without warning. I cradled the bike as I went down and then picked it up again as soon as I could. The bike fired up first time but the gear lever was a bit bent so I spent some time finding a gear. I couldn’t use the clutch - the lever was bent upwards - and one of the bars was crooked. All in all, it handled pretty well really. I know I could’ve pulled in when I crashed but I just wanted to get back on the track and try and grab some points - and that’s what I did.”

Yukio Kagayama, Alstare Corona Suzuki: “I am much happier today with my fourth and fifth because I feel that I am getting back into it after a few average races. The results today have given me my confidence back and now I can think about the next two races very positively. My real problem today has been trying to find a good rhythm right from the start of the races. In both races it took me about four or five laps and by then the leaders had gone! If I can get that sorted out, I feel I can be in the leading group instead of chasing them from a distance. I have got four races left and I am determined to get more podiums and maybe some more race wins!”

Max Neukirchner, Klaffi Honda: “It was an OK raceday. We had many fans and family with us here so there was a lot of pressure. To take seventh two times was good for me and I made a lot of points. That I am happy with; a nice way to head to Imola.”

Karl Muggeridge: “In race one I got baulked by Kagayama and had to readjust the bike, then we had to retire. I could have done with the experience of the whole first race to get the set-up a little bit. I just rode my butt off in race two and that was all I could do. I wanted a pit stop so that I could adjust the setting on the bike!”

Pierfrancesco Chili, Klaffi Honda: “Things were good on Friday but today was not good. In the first there was a problem with the bike and we had to change the engine for the second race. It was a completely different spec, with a different gearbox and the chassis settings didn’t work. It was too high at the front and every time I went wide in the corners. It was very strange.”

Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha Motor Italia: “I tried so many different setting this weekend but I couldn’t find one for the race. Even in warm-up I was trying to get one that worked, so the race one result was good and I am very happy with it. On the last five laps the tyres was already finished and it was difficult to turn the bike. I had a plan to catch up and pass Chris anyway, but then it started raining. Race two we had the same tyre problem but it was more difficult because we made the full race distance. Always I want to win but we really cannot complain with two podium finishes this weekend.”

Andrew Pitt, Yamaha Motor Italia: “In the first race I could not carry any corner speed. I had to brake hard into corners and that just lost me all my corner speed. If I ran in too fast the bike just bounced off the track. Our usual advantage on the Yamaha is the ability to carry corner speed but when you can’t do that it limits the lap time. We used the same front tyre in race one that we had been using all weekend with no problems but it was destroyed in 12 laps. Maybe it had a lot to do with the fact that the temperature then was a lot lower in race one than it had been in qualifying.”

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