# Max Neukirchner

Max Neukirchner (born 20 April 1983 in Stollberg, East Germany) is a professional motorcycle racer currently competing in the Endurance FIM World Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1.

## Career
### Supersport & Superbike World Championship

In 2004 he competed in the Supersport World Championship riding for Klaffi Honda, finishing the season ranked 9th with 63 points.
For 2005, Neukirchner, along with the Klaffi Honda team, moved to the Superbike World Championship. He got a 3rd place podium finish at Phillip Island (but broke his hand at the next round in Valencia ) and finished the season 12th with 123 points.
He looked set to remain with Klaffi Honda in 2006 but the ride eventually went to Alex Barros. Klaffi wasn't able to find the money to run a second bike for Neukirchner and he was left without a ride. He joined Pedercini Ducati but after a poor first half of the season Neukirchner and Pedercini announced their split. Neukirchner went on to replace Fabien Foret at Alstare Eng. Corona Extra. He finished the season 18th with 28 points.
For 2007 Neukirchner rode for Suzuki Germany and finished the season ranked ninth overall. The team used the 2006-spec works Suzuki GSX-R1000 K6.
For 2008 he rode a 2007-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 motorcycle for Team Alstare Suzuki. At Valencia he took his first career pole , and lead until the final corner, where he was hit by Carlos Checa, Neukirchner breaking his collarbone. On 27 April 2008 at Assen he achieved his second World Superbike podium finish, finishing behind Troy Bayliss and Checa in the first race .
Neukirchner took his maiden victory (and the first for a German rider) in the first race at Monza, his 70th race in SBK. He won by just 0.058 seconds from Noriyuki Haga. In race 2, he achieved another podium, finishing 2nd to Haga, missing out on victory by 0.009 seconds in a three-way blanket finish. At Miller Motorsport Park he was helped to learn the fastest line through the early part of the track by video of Suzuki's AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies . He did not score another podium that season, but consistent points finishes including four further fourth places allowed him to finish as the top Suzuki in 5th overall.
At Monza he suffered a broken femur in a first-corner crash for which he was blameless.
Although Suzuki Alstare announced in May that he would remain with the team for 2009 and 2010 , doubts later surfaced over his future with the team. On 12 October 2009 Suzuki Alstare announced that they would not be offering Neukirchner a contract extension for the 2010 championship after he failed to provide medical evidence that he was fit to race.
On 14 October 2009 it was confirmed that Neukirchner would race for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team for the 2010 season.

### Moto2 World Championship

For the 2011 season, Neukirchner rode for the MZ Racing Team with a 2010 FTR chassis at the Moto2 World Championship under the technical direction of the Italian company Pro Ride Motorsports (www.proridegp.com).
For the 2012 season, he was riding for the Kiefer Racing Team with a Kalex chassis at the Moto2 World Championship, but left the series after sustained injury in Brno. Neukirchner achieved his best result and his only point scoring finish of the year at Le Mans with 7th place.

## Career highlights

2003- 9th, IDM Supersport Championship #7 Honda CBR600RR 2004- 9th, Supersport World Championship #76 Honda CBR600RR 2005- 12th, Superbike World Championship #76 Ducati 999R 2006- 18th, Superbike World Championship #76 Ducati 999R / Suzuki GSX-R1000 2007- 9th, Superbike World Championship #76 Suzuki GSX-R1000 2008- 5th, Superbike World Championship #76 Suzuki GSX-R1000 2009- 16th, Superbike World Championship #76 Suzuki GSX-R1000 2010- 18th, Superbike World Championship #76 Honda CBR1000RR 2011- 20th, Moto2 World Championship #76 MZ-RE Honda 2012- 26th, Moto2 World Championship #76 Kalex 2013- 14th, Superbike World Championship #27 Ducati 1199 Panigale 2014- 2nd, IDM Superbike Championship #76 Ducati 1199 Panigale 2015- 6th, IDM Superbike Championship #76 Yamaha YZF-R1 2016- 7th, IDM Superbike Championship #76 / 6th, Endurance FIM World Championship #7 Yamaha YZF-R1 2017- Endurance FIM World Championship #7 Yamaha YZF-R1

## Career statistics
### Grand Prix motorcycle racing
#### By season

| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Number | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
| 2011 | Moto2 | MZ-RE-Honda | MZ Racing Team | 76 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 20th |
| 2012 | Moto2 | Kalex-Honda | Kiefer Racing | 76 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 26th |
| Total | | | | | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | |

### By class

| Class | Seasons | 1st GP | 1st Pod | 1st Win | Race | Win | Podiums | Pole | FLap | Pts | WChmp |
| Moto2 | 2011–2012 | 2011 Qatar | | | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 0 |

### Grand Prix motorcycle racing
#### Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos. | Pts |
| 2001 | 250cc | Honda | JPN | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER 18 | CZE | POR | VAL | PAC | AUS | MAL | BRA | | NC | 0 |
| 2002 | 250cc | Honda | JPN | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER 19 | CZE | POR | BRA | PAC | MAL | AUS | VAL | | NC | 0 |
| 2003 | 250cc | Honda | JPN | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER 15 | CZE | POR | BRA | PAC | MAL | AUS | VAL | | 31st | 1 |
| 2011 | Moto2 | MZ-RE-Honda | QAT 15 | SPA 10 | POR DNS | FRA 15 | CAT 10 | GBR 12 | NED 10 | ITA 8 | GER Ret | CZE Ret | INP 24 | RSM Ret | ARA 13 | JPN 18 | AUS Ret | MAL Ret | VAL 9 | 20th | 42 |
| 2012 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 30 | SPA Ret | POR 20 | FRA 7 | CAT 17 | GBR 17 | NED Ret | GER 18 | ITA Ret | INP 21 | CZE DNS | RSM | ARA | JPN | MAL | AUS | VAL | 26th | 9 |

### Supersport World Championship
#### Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Pts |
| 2004 | Honda | SPA 14 | AUS 8 | SMR Ret | ITA 6 | GER 5 | GBR 11 | EUR 11 | NED 7 | ITA 11 | FRA 8 | 9th | 63 |

### Superbike World Championship
#### Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Bike | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | Pos | Pts |
| Year | Bike | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | Pos | Pts |
| 2005 | Honda | QAT Ret | QAT 8 | AUS 4 | AUS 3 | SPA Ret | SPA 12 | ITA Ret | ITA Ret | EUR 7 | EUR 18 | SMR Ret | SMR Ret | CZE 14 | CZE Ret | GBR 10 | GBR 11 | NED 8 | NED 7 | GER 7 | GER 7 | ITA 7 | ITA C | FRA 8 | FRA 8 | | | | | 12th | 123 |
| 2006 | Ducati | QAT 10 | QAT Ret | AUS 18 | AUS 13 | ESP Ret | ESP 18 | ITA Ret | ITA Ret | EUR 16 | EUR Ret | SMR | SMR | CZE | CZE | GBR | GBR | | | | | | | | | | | | | 18th | 28 |
| 2006 | Suzuki | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NED 6 | NED Ret | GER 13 | GER Ret | ITA Ret | ITA Ret | FRA 12 | FRA 14 | | | | | 18th | 28 |
| 2007 | Suzuki | QAT 6 | QAT 10 | AUS 8 | AUS 8 | EUR 8 | EUR 10 | SPA 12 | SPA 10 | NED 10 | NED 7 | ITA 10 | ITA 12 | GBR 10 | GBR C | SMR 9 | SMR 10 | CZE 9 | CZE 12 | GBR 10 | GBR 10 | GER Ret | GER 10 | ITA Ret | ITA 10 | FRA 4 | FRA Ret | | | 9th | 149 |
| 2008 | Suzuki | QAT 5 | QAT 8 | AUS 7 | AUS 5 | SPA Ret | SPA DNS | NED 3 | NED 5 | ITA 1 | ITA 2 | USA 4 | USA 2 | GER 3 | GER 3 | SMR 1 | SMR 7 | CZE 7 | CZE 5 | GBR 7 | GBR 4 | EUR Ret | EUR 14 | ITA 4 | ITA 4 | FRA 5 | FRA 9 | POR Ret | POR 4 | 5th | 311 |
| 2009 | Suzuki | AUS 2 | AUS 6 | QAT Ret | QAT 6 | SPA 3 | SPA 7 | NED 13 | NED 9 | ITA DNS | ITA DNS | RSA | RSA | USA | USA | SMR | SMR | GBR | GBR | CZE | CZE | GER | GER | ITA | ITA | FRA | FRA | POR | POR | 16th | 75 |
| 2010 | Honda | AUS 12 | AUS 16 | POR Ret | POR 15 | SPA 13 | SPA 17 | NED 20 | NED 9 | ITA 12 | ITA 12 | RSA 19 | RSA 17 | USA 12 | USA 12 | SMR 14 | SMR 14 | CZE Ret | CZE Ret | GBR 11 | GBR Ret | GER Ret | GER 15 | ITA 14 | ITA 12 | FRA 13 | FRA 12 | | | 18th | 54 |
| 2013 | Ducati | AUS 10 | AUS 11 | SPA 11 | SPA 12 | NED 11 | NED 12 | ITA 12 | ITA 10 | GBR 14 | GBR 12 | POR 13 | POR 11 | ITA 12 | ITA 13 | RUS 7 | RUS C | GBR 12 | GBR 12 | GER Ret | GER 9 | TUR DNS | TUR DNS | USA | USA | FRA | FRA | SPA 14 | SPA 11 | 14th | 91 |
| 2014 | Ducati | AUS | AUS | SPA | SPA | NED | NED | ITA | ITA | GBR | GBR | MAL | MAL | SMR | SMR | POR | POR | USA | USA | SPA | SPA | FRA 9 | FRA 6 | QAT | QAT | | | | | 23rd | 17 |