Neukirchner struggles in the Netherlands
At Assen, Neukirchner was sitting in a podium place until his fall at the last chicane. His determination took him to a points score after he restarted and made an impressive run through the field, while in race two he was surprised to find that he could not keep the pace he wanted all through the race.
"Race 1 was good until the crash of course!" said Neukirchner, who has scored podium finishes at Phillip Island and Valencia in 2009, and who was on the race one podium in Assen last year. "The chassis was not quite 100 per cent perfect, but I really wanted to get a good result so I was pushing quite hard. I lost the front in the chicane before the start finish straight and although I got back on the bike and started again, I was down in 22nd place. I decide to keep going and fight for some points and I managed to end up 13th. I think the effort was worth it."
In race 2 Neukirchner found himself struggling for the same pace he was displaying in race one. "We used the same bike and the same type of tyres for the second race, but the bike didn't work as well. It was harder to ride and more difficult to brake late. It was also not so easy in the turns and so I found it a bit frustrating, but I am only five points behind Fabrizio in the standings, so I know that I can improve a lot."
