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eROAD RACE e Su erbike Series: Round 1 the Oearways tum when he hit his own bike and hurt his shoulder. He didn't start the second leg. Terry Rymer crashed in the third tum of the first lap of race one, but finished a good fifth on the Pepsi Galp Yamaha in the second leg, salvaging points after nightmare handling problems qualifying. Brian Morrison scored the best result for the Brits with a hard won third place' in the opening race on his Silkolene Kawasaki. But he crashed out of the second leg, losing the front end at Surtees comer on the eighth lap. Giancarlo Falappa won both races at the rain-dampened series opener. The Brands Hatch course was filled with puddles. Rain can't stop Falappa at Brands Hatch By Gary Pinchin Photos by Johan Vandeckerckhove BRANDS HATGI, ENGLAND, APR. 9 n estimated 12-13,000 enthusiasts braved lashing rain to see Italian Giancarlo Falappa ignore the rivers and puddles of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit to score maximum points in the opening round of the Victors World Superbike Championship. Many of the teams, including A 16 Falappa's Roche Ducati squad, struggled throughout the meeting to find a good chassis setup with their late-toarrive new machinery on this bumpy, undulating circuit. Come race day, however, the compromise setups were irrelevant as bad weather turned both races into crash derbies on Good Friday. Falappa, though, never put a wheel wrong with his sure footed, Michelinshod Ducati while Muzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell, second in both races, struggled on Dunlops that refused to hook up in the appalling conditions. The strong British contingent encountered mixed fortunes. Carl Fogarty never completed a full lap. He was leading until a spectacular crash at Qualifying Scott Russell survived a big crash during Tuesday's unofficial practice to grab pole position in the second qualifying session on Thursday. The crash happened when Russell riding the same Muzzy Kawasaki that had taken him to second place at Daytona - came out of ~he downhill, third-gear Graham Hill Bend, and got out of shape as he caught teammate Aaron Slight quicker than he thought. He pulled the bike down tighter to pass on the inside, got off line and the bike started to highside. Russell caught that, but got flicked off and was pitched into the unprotected guardrail at around 80 mph. Although knocked unconscious, Russell was otherwise unhurt, if a little sore. After setting pole two days later, though, he was buoyant. "This is my favorite track," he grinned, after his oneminute, 29.9O-5econd lap of the 2.6-mile track - just a tad off John Reynolds 1992 record of 1:29.77. "I've ridden the short circuit which is pretty bumpy, but didn't know what to expect from the long circuit. It's fast, I like this place." The Ducatis were struggling to cope with the circuit and its roller-coaster turns and awkward cambers. The official factory bikes seemed to suffer the worst, but Italian Baldassarre Monti, on the privately entered Red Devil Racing 888, ignored any handling problems to shine early on. He held pole after the first timed session with a 1:29.90, but failed to improve in the second. Monti was far from happy, especially when asked if his was a full factory bike, like the Roche and Grottini machines: "It's standard," he spat. "I am very angry and have spoken to Mr. Bordi. I was promised a fast bike for this, but yesterday I followed (Stephene) Mertens and (Giancarlo) Falappa and could not pass them. I can slipstream, but it's not possible to overtake. Not enough power. Maybe it is the rider that is fast - this is why I have good time. I am very hungry this year!" Aaron Slight was third fastest with the second Muzzy Kawasaki, but he too failed to improve on his first session 1:3026. He had a motor let go in the second session and could only sit and watch his crew swap his only set of carbon brakes to the backup bike. Slight only managed 10 laps compared to Russell's 24 and was unable to get a hot lap in the late stages to better his first session time. Falappa was fourth fastest after clocking a 1:30.36. He had crashed in the untimed Wednesday practice but was unhurt. Both him and Team Roche teammate Carl Fogarty were experiencing front~d handling problems. Fogarty was down in eighth place with a 1:30.57 and disappointed. "We've no grip at the front," he moaned. '1'm not surprised Falappa crashed, he was looking for a place to park it all session!" "The handling is so bad, I'm not even sure if it's the front or the rear," continued Fogarty. "We've been going around in circles and it's no better now we've finished practice than when we started.