Looking at the results from this weekend’s World Superbike races at Phillip Island, Australia, race fans may have seen an unfamiliar name near the top of the sheets: Klaffi Honda’s Max Neukirchner took fourth in Race One and battled his way onto the podium with a third place in Race Two.
So just who is Max Neukirchner? The 21-year old German racer is a former 250cc two-stroke racer, having competed in both the German and European 250cc championships. He placed third in the European 250cc championship in 2003, then moved to the world stage with a ride on the Klaffi Honda CBR600RR in World Supersport for 2004.
Neukirchner finished 9th in the 2004 World Supersport Championship, and for 2005 he has moved up to World Superbike on the Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR. After a fairly unimpressive ride at the first WSB round in Qatar (he crashed out of Race One and finished 8th in Race Two), Neukirchner came out of nowhere to battle with young Ten Kate Honda star Chris Vermeulen in both races at Phillip Island.
Whether Neukirchner can sustain this kind of podium contention over the rest of the season remains to be seen, but there is no question that he is an incredibly talented racer. We expect to be seeing his name in the top ten frequently this season.
