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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127734
* 'ROADRACE." " , By Johan Vandekerc khove Photos by Gold & Goose MILAN, ITALY, JUNE 18 t is probably pu re coincidence, but o n ly a fe w d a y s after t he FIM s tu n ne d the superbike wo rld b y re defini ng th e w eight limits for fou rcylinder and two-cylind er bikes, A aron Sligh t logged a first success of the year for the Japanese by setting fastest qualifyin g time on the infamous Monza circuit, laid ou t in the city pa rk of Milan. Will this first-ever pole posi tio n for an RC45 usher in a new era in four-stroke racin g? Only time will tell. The factory Honda rider and his official colleagues from the Yamaha squad had shown in Hockenheim already that their bikes were very fast o n top-speed circuits such as the German "Ring" and the italian "circu ito." Apart from a slight resurgence of hope in the four-cylinder camp, everything stayed very much the same: C arl Fogarty ex tended hi s al ready impressive lead with yet another victory, in front of 15,000 Italians. The second heat w as won by fellow Du cati rid er Pier-Francesco Chili. In th e first po stRussell era, Colin Edwards II defe nd ed the American in te rests valiantly. Th e Texan took his Yamaha factory bike to third and fifth . I 14 .. ',. .World C hampiOnshipSuperbike R~ Race Series ' RACE ONE For the first time in World Superbike racing. the races in Monza were not run in the rain. It mad e life easier for the riders, but also diminished the chances of local heroes Piergiorgio Bontempi and Fabrizio Pirova no. The sight of Troy Corser taking the lead a t the sta rt was however also much to the liki ng of the ent husiastic spectators. The Austra lian took the holesh ot in fro n t of Fogarty, Sligh t and Bontempi. On the first lap, both factory Yamaha riders, Edwards and Naga i, near- Round 4:Monza Circuit ly crashed, when they went off the track and let several riders pass before being able to resume battle. Edwards got back on the track in 17th position. After four laps, positions started to settle at the front with a group of eigh t riders forming, slow ly pulling away fro m the rest of the field. Most of the leading work was done by Slight, Corser and Fogarty . The positions changed several times in the braking zones before the tw o chica nes. Gobert and Bontempi watched from a safe d is tance, but Ch ili, Simon Crafar and Edwards clawed back throu gh the field to join in the battle for the rostrum places at around half-distance. Th in g s really st arted to hea t u p with five more la ps to go - w hen the co m p lete Australia n d elegation was swept awayin one not-so-clean swee p. Braking for the Asc ari chicane, Tr oy Corser had experienced brak e trouble: "Th e brake lever came th e whole way back. The time to react and try to brake again was enough for me to run in to Anthony (Gobert)." Both men crashed, Go be rt tak ing things up in a philosophical way. "That's racing. I had already dreaded something like th at , whenI got su rp rised myself a cou ple of tim es at that particular spot," said the Au stralian. The double crash did however allow Slig h t and Foga rty to pu t a small lead between them and Chili and Edwards. At that time, Crafar had also lost some grou nd. But the party was not over yet: Three laps before the end, Chili lost it in a big way in the fast Pa rabolica turn Slight take s first RC4 5 pole t may be hard to believe, bu t Aaron Sligh t's pole pos itio n was a world's first for the Ho nda RC45 in the World Superbike Series. The New Zealander took pole after an eventful first official practice day and a se cu re second one. Even a n inspired Carl Fogarty - going almost off the track in the closing minutes of the second practice session - could not prevent a historic result for the Honda Castrol squad. "On 'Frid ay, I went off the track twice trying to o hard:' ad Zealander. "It was the first time I was that and- maybe I was littlelbit nervous about it all. some adjustment we had made to make efficiently. During private test sessions proved etting ~er, a t f tlui new mec 'ved just inlime, and 'g leap, but the en , His fellow countryman Anthon y Gobert had also visited the Clinica Mobile of d octor Corbascio after a cras h in the closing stages of the second timed practice. "I did not give the rear tire enough time to warm up:' he said, after having limped out of the Cli~icQ with a taped foot, elbo w and shoulder. "Time was running out, and I got held up by a lot of traffi c, which was very frustra-ting . I high-sided and went down under the bike. I was caught in the rear wheel, trying to fend' the bike off, and Jthen a muscle in my calf was tom after it had been hit bY' a f . f do ow how many stitches have Rut in m ,.)\ ay when the doctor J'l:1:t t hem rtuna el . y - it was on tlJP of iIIl r said