Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127577
BR~Dlia~d~~~_~_~_es_m_'e_S:R_O_~_d2 _ m Race one winner Giancarlo Falappa (9) leads Carl Fogarty (4), Fabrizio Pirovano (5) and Baldassarre Monti (17) in the German round of the World Superbike Series. Photos by Johan Vandercheckove HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY, MAY 9 he ultra-fast circuit of the Hockenheimring provided the now expected thrilling superbike races - the first, a six-pack drafting battle, the second a. more intense game of cat and mouse with two Ducatis chasing down a fast-starting Kawasaki. But at the end of the day it was Giancarlo Falappa who continued to lead the Victors World Superbike Championship. The Italian won the first race thriller then finished third in the second leg to take his points tally to 75, 11 ahead of Muzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell, who was in superb form in Germany. Russell grabbed pole position with a scintillating two-minute, 3.64-second lap on the Kawasaki, but chose the wrong engine for the first race and lost out in the horsepower game. But in the second leg he reverted to the engine he used in qualifying and cleared off from the pack with some impressively fast laps early on to ensure no one couId latch on to his draft. Italian Fabrizio Pirovano took the Belgarda Yamaha Racing Division (BYRD) Yamaha - Belgarda is the Italian T 8 Yamaha importer - to second place in the first leg with Carl Fogarty third, but neither rider turned in similar second race performances and finished fifth and seventh, respectively. Instead, ex-SOOcc Grand Prix rider Juan Garriga finally got to grips with superbike racing to beat fellow factory Ducati rider Falappa after a race-long second leg duel. Aaron Slight, despite tire problems on the second Muzzy Kawasaki, finished fourth in both races and now sits third in the championship with 47 points, 28 behind Falappa. The German round of the series also marked the opening round of the World Championship Sidecar Series. Brits Steve Webster and Gavin Simmons won a thrilling three-horse race after a long battie with Rolf Biland and Kurt Waltisperg, and Klaus Klaffenboeck and Christian Parzer. The win was Webste,r's 22nd in 80 Grand Prix starts. Qualifying Hockenheim is a horsepower track, the six-tum stadium section representing less than 20% of the circuit in terms of overall lap times with the remainder of the track being long straights - punctuated only by two second/third gear chicanes and linked by the third gear Ostkurve. That all adds up to lap speeds averaging over 120 mph. Not only is Hockenheim a horsepower track, the motorcycle with the ability to track the bumps, especially out of the two chicanes (which riders said seemed bumpier than last year), also set a premium on suspension setup. Scott Russell's bike had both good horsepower and perfect suspension setup - the latter aided by the Debus data logging system the team was using to full capacity for the first time. Russell looked sensational in qualifying. His pole time came in the final session, a 2:03.64 on qualifying tires: "It's going good and I hope it stays that way," Russell said. "We had a little gearbox problem in the final session, it skipped fifth and went straight into sixth three times so we're checking that." The Muzzy team arrived at Hockenheim with some different engines, not just with more horsepower, but with different setups to move the power delivery around a little. The bikes also had revised air boxes to try and cram more cool air to the carbs. After qualifying Russell added: "I'll have even more horsepower tomorrow. My best engine, which also has a slightly different gearbox setup, wasn't in the best chassis so we'll change that over for the race. "The problem is that we've lost that first session on Friday and that kinda screws things up. You've just gotta get out there and get a time instead of concentrating on getting the motorcycle set up as you want it." Stephane Mertens was second quickest on his Grottini Ducati with a 2:04.07. That was only marginally better than his time which led the first session on Saturday. He perhaps couId. have gone faster late in the final session had it not been for a mistake coming out of the final comer leading onto the start/finish straight - which resulted in him crashing into the hay bales. Mertens was complaining of pains in his back after the crash - he had been suffering from trapped nerves and pulled muscles for three weeks after a race at Misano and required help from a osteopath to ease the pain.