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/127660
That lasted for only a few laps and then Corser took over, with the luck-less Picotte coasting to a stop in the pi ts on the 22nd go-round. That was a ll she wro te . Although Corser wasn't sure certain as to Picotte's whereabouts, he simply pu t it on cruise control and led to the finish. II I wasn' t too sure," Corser said. "It (the gap) went straigh t to five or six seconds. I w asn 't s u re if it was to Fred (Merkel) or Pascal (Picotte). I spent the next few laps lookin g for him. I opened up a bit of a break and then just rode around and kept that break," Corser said later. "I rode a plan and kept it. My strategy was to be in front in the first comer, (Above) Initially, the race for the lead was between Ducatlteammates Pasca l Picotte and Troy Corser. Picotte, however, dropped o ut with mechanical pro bl ems leavi ng Corser to win easily . (Above right) Colin Edwards II (45), Fred Merkel (27) and Takahlro Sohwa (41) dice . for th ird place early In the race. Merkel . eventually got the bette r of Edwards and finished second when Pic ott e drop ped out. (Right) Jam ie James fi nished fourth after closing on Edwards late In the race. but that didn't work - I go t bo xed in . After that, my plan was to jus t go hard for the first hall dozen lap s and then just be comfortable. I saw the pit board with ·ed with a race tire and did a 1:03 flat, the n I stopped and p~t the softer tire on. I think it ·will be hard to do that pace with the slow people on the race track. I' m pretty sure we 'll .finish 1-2. Who's one and w ho's two? Who knows? I think some guys migh t s tart with soft compounds and they'll be there for eight laps. I'm pretty sure we'll have a red flag. The infield is really bumpy and you have to pay attention. It's very easy to hit a bum p and Iowside." Six of the Japanese four-cylinder motorcycles were lumped together in the 1:03 range - a second slower than the two Ducati twins. Leading the way was Merkel, who with his 1:03.510 was just ahead of Vance & Hines Yamaha's Colin Edwards Il, Edwards, seemingly more at ease here than at Daytona, was the fourth fastest at 1:03.515, completing the front row of the grid. "We had some trouble with fifth gear," Merkel said. "It would take me twice to get it in on the bowl. Now we're going to put the Daytona mo tor in, and it's a little faster anyway. I think beating the Ducatis will b e tough - it's such usable horsepower. To go fast here I have to be completely sideways and on the gas. Hey, we're third and we're knocking on the door - it's a long season." , .. Yoshimura Suzuki's Tho mas Stevens was impressive, p u tting the GSXR750 fifth on ·the grid with his 1:03.618. Still, the Floridian was less than content. "My goal was top four, bu t we will get there," Stevens said. "This team's tryirig really hard and I won't be satisfied un til we win. I can go as fast in the race, but I plan on going faster. We're marching forward. We'll get this figured out - it's just a matter of time ." Stevens' teamma te Tom Kipp (1:03.827), Vance & Hines Yamaha's Jamie James (1:03.873) and Muzzy Kawasaki's Takahiro Sohwa (1:03.954) were the final three riders in the 1:03 range as they filled the sixth, seventh and eighth spo ts on the grid. Smokin' Joe's Racing's Kevin Magee (1:04.088) and his teammate Mike Smith (1:04.239) rounded out the top 10 qualifiers as they continued in their struggle to work out the teething problems on the all-new Honda RC45. The first of the Harley-Davidson VR1000s to qualify was, surprisingly, in the hands of Michigan's Fritz Kling. The new recruit to the Harley team ended up 15th fastes t at 1:05.264,two spots ahead of teammate Miguel DuHamel. "I've got a one-year contract to do the rest of the races," Kling said. "I'm getting the hang of it. They're (the team) trying their.hardes t. They probably shouldn't have come out so early, but if you're going to do it : Daytona was the place. It just doesn't h ave th e big bang of the Ducatis right now . They get six to ten bikelengths on me and I know I'm . riding as hard as them." , . The horrible luck that has bes ieged Yoshimura Suzuki's Don ald Jacks continued to haunt him in Phoenix. The young Floridian agai n crashed in his own oil, bu t this time escaped with just a banged-up right arm - the same one he had plated after a crash here last year. Jacks was forced to sit out the race, but vowed to return for Pomona on April 10.