Alstare 'new boy' has up and down intro to WSB role
In 2009, having started WSB for Celani Suzuki, Muggeridge parted company with the Italian based team mid-season and then raced in BSB racing for Honda for a time. But he was called on to deputize for the injured Max Neukirchner at the Nurburgring last weekend.
He started off raceday with a 12th place, but crashed out of race two. Nonetheless, he scored four points, as many as he had scored all year with his previous team.
The Swiss-based Australian rider, WSS champion in 2004, said of his Nurburgring experiences, "I am disappointed about my crash in race two, because my intention was to bring the bike home in both races today. I made a good start from row five in race one and moved up the field a bit, but soon I began having rear grip problems. This meant that the electronics had to work overtime to cope with the problem, and that slowed the bike down."
He continued, "We softened the rear for race two and the grip was better and I was able to lap more quickly. I hadn't made such a good start this time, so I had to work hard to get up to the group ahead. I decided to try and adjust the engine braking and maybe I changed the run-in to the corners too much and I lost the front. I hadn't entered the corner any faster than before but I had changed the characteristics of the braking and that probably caused my crash. I suppose it was my mistake really because I think I could've got another twelfth or better finish otherwise. But I have enjoyed working with the team and hope to get another chance sometime."
