John Kocinski (11)
leads race one In
Albacete over Corser
(2). n didn't take long
for Corser to move
Into the lead,
eventually cruising to
his first of two wins
on the day.
Slight did a bit better than in the first
race and crossed the finish line in sixth
position.
"Of course we put on another tire for
this race," he said. "And it seemed to
work out for a while. The track is still
very bumpy, even now they have resurfaced it. And honestly, I think they
should have left it alone. For the championship I can only say that I like Phillip
Island a lot but I am afraid that we'll
need a lot more than thal It's going to
be very hard work to get back in front of
Troy."
Martin Craggill finished 11th. "Honestly, I'm not really happy,'" he said. "1
know I finished in a real good spot, but I
really wanted to end up in the top 10. I
rode on my own most of the time and
it's very difficult to keep your concentra tion in those circumstances. Moreover, toward the end the tire started to
get very slippery and I had to cool
Slight (Hon~ 10. Mike Hale (Due); 11. Gregorio lovilia
(Yarn); 12. Sean Emmett (Due); 13. Pie,gi0'l!i0 Bontempi
(Kaw); 14. Paolo Casoli (Due~ 15. Jochen Schmid (Kaw);
16. Mario lnnarno"ti (Due~ 17. Michael Paquay (Due~
18. David Vazquez (Due~ 19. 19o' Jennon (Kaw).
RACE TWO, 1. Troy Coner (Due); 2. john Kocinski
(Due); 3. Colin Edwards n (Ya.m); 4. Simon Crafa.r
(Kaw); 5. Wataru Yoshikawa (Yam); 6. Aaron Sligh'
(Hon~ 7. Carl Fogarty {Hon~ 8. eil.Hodgson (Due~ 9.
john Reynolds (Suz); 10. lochen Schmid (Kaw); 11.
Marlin Craggill (Kaw); 12. Gregorio lovilia (Yam); 13.
PiO'gio'l!io Bontempi (Kaw); 14. Sean Emmett (Due); 15.
Kirk McCarthy (Suz), 16. Mario lnnarno"ti (Due); 17.
Andreas Mek1au (Due~ 18. Pore Riba Cabana (Hon~ 19.
Igor Jerman (Kaw~ 20. David Vazquez (Due).
WORLD SUPERB IKE CHAMPIONSHIP POINT
STANDINGS (After 11 of U ~uods), 1. Troy COnei'
(353); 2. Aaron Slight (32~ 3. John KocinsIci (317); 4.
La Torreclca Circuit
Albacete, Spain
Resuns: October 6,1996 (Round 11 of 12)
QUALIFYING, 1. T,oy Co,,",, (1,30.822); 2. john
Kocinski (1,31.032); 3. Colin Edw"ds IT (1,31.677); 4.
Carl., Fogarty (1:31.738); 5. Pier-Francesco Chill
(a1.822); 6. Neil Hodgson (1,31.848); 7. Simon Craf"
(U1.973); 8. Watuu Yoshikawa (1,31,988); 9. john
Reynolds (1,)2.194); 10. Mike Hale (1,)2.195); 11. Aaron
Slight (1,)2.210); 12. Piergio'gio Bontempi (1,32.389); 13.
](Uk McCarthy (J,32.537); 14. Martin Craggill (1,)2.684);
15. Jocben Schmid (1:32.842); 16. Gregorio Lavilla
(U3.208); 17. Paolo Casoli (1'33.233); 18. And,e..
Meklau (1,)3.309); 19. Sean Emmett (1,33.588); 20. Pere
Riba Cabana (H4.244); 21. Mario lnnarno"ti (1,)4.319);
22. t. Gavira (a4.536); 23. David Vazquez (1,)4.700); 24.
S. SaInz (1,)5.034~ 25. Michel Paquay (1,35.170); 26. E.
Gavira (1,35.354~ 27.lgo, jennan (1,)5.809).
RACE ON'[, 1. T,oy Co"",, (Due~ 2. Colin Edwards
IT (Yam); 3. John KocInsId (Due); 4. Simon Crafar (Kaw);
5. Carl Fogarty (Hon); 6. Wataru Yoshikawa (Yarn); 7.
john Reynolds (Suz); 8. Neil Hodgson (Due); 9. Aaron
Upcoming Round:
Round 12 - Phillip Island, Australia, OCtober 27
Ducati t~e bpportunity tei'Offer one 01 itS riderS '. Mauro Lucchiari or)ohn
! make any comments'on his Grand Prix project.
,I noW seems certain' now that Troy Corse, and Luee Cadalora will' run .fac.
.t.ory '(amahas in Promotpr' co,lors.. Most of the cUrT!'lnt 'Promotor crew
'members also wil[ move on tel thi> Grands Prix. including Davide Tardozzi.·
Team Alstare' ~Iso is sliil in the run.ning forgiving·.hoItn. KocIri.kl. a Rlace .
to wQrk .next.year. Team 'owner Frnncis Balta has sever:al options. with
Ducati aftermeeting with th'e Castigliohis a lew'days after having wbn the
European Slipersports. title:witn F.abrizio Pirovano. "~deally, we will contino
ue with Fabrizio Pirovano as our onlyiider in the Supersp6rts series, com·
bined' v,lith ~ iong-term program in ~ World .Endu,!,nce Championship. '.
Batta said. : But it Is not unlikely tha,t one 01 the most import~nt i,!,porters .
01 our main sponsors.. ·Corona .or Foxhound, want us to field a second
ridE!r'oltheir nationality. The ·endurance.program is important for Ducati
from a marketing.poinl 01 view. There they. want to prove that a 916 is not
only II last, but also' a reliable bike. In the firs.t year, w\l would only enter '.
the·SoI.d·Or. belore taking lin,the·whole·champiclnshjP.'
.
Another posSibility. is KO~inski jOining the At_... Wam in World Super·
bike. which would mean that the .endurance project wo'uld be canceled or
entrusted to another team: Batta is willing to provide the 'team structure
lor Kocinski. il Ducati pays .the ride
....·s salarY (rumored to be about $1.3 .
million). the b·ikes. spare parts an~ the costs lor the private testing ses·
sions: Afinal decision on'Kocinski's posSible future with Ducati is expected belore the Phillip Island race. And finally, il no deal can be reached
between the A1stare team and Ducati (which is very unlikely). Batta could
ruh official Bimotas in Ihe Supemport and the Superbike series. The 'small
Italian manufacturer Is planning a comeback in both championships from
down."
Fogarty actually didn't end up having too bad of a weekend, even though
he had expected to perform a lot better
on this reputedly Honda-friendly track.
Most important is the fact that he lost
his last chances to take a third consecutive title.
"In the first race, I had no grip whatsoever, and my bike kept misfiring,"
Fogarty said. "We thought we had
found the problem, but my mechanics
were not sure, so I decided to take the
spare bike for the second race, even if
that one didn't ever feel as good as the
first one. We also changed the gearing
on that one, and that seemed to be a bad
idea as well. And, in the second race, I
tumecl out to have even more grip problems. This was definitely a weekend to
forget as soon as possible."
CN
Carl Fogarty (308); 5. Colin Edwuds II (212); 6. Pie,F"mcesco Chili (208); 7. Simon Crafar (175); 8. Wataru
Yoshikawa (144); 9. Neil Hodgson (118); 10. Anthony
e-rt (117); 11. Mike Hale (94); 12. john Reynolds (88);
13. Kirk McCarthy (74); 14. Paolo Casoli (70); 15.
Pie'Sicngio Bontempi (59).
next
Wifh Promoto, pulling out 01 World Superbike r.acing, ~ is unclear what.
will happen to Mike H.... who has a contract with the Promotor team
until the end 01 next season. "We will try to lind a solution lor Mike:
Inzinger said._ "There are still some places left in the factory teams."
year onward.
Anthony Gobert also missed the Spanish round 01 the World Superbike Championship alter having broken his coliarbone in a crash in Sentul.
"I talked to his mother a lew days ago.' said teart:! manage, Steve John- .
so.n-. "She told me that his doctor will not ""lease him yet." Rumor has it
that the young Australian already hils signed .uP lor Lucky Strike Suzuki.
for whl;lm he might r~n a 5000.0 Gr:and Prix bike. "His mother denies
rumelrs about Suzuki." Johnson edoed... But if Anthony had stated pub·
Iicly that he would like. to stay in World Superbike. we would surely have
made. a proposition 10 him,' ,
.
Gobert was replaced jn A1bacete by MartIn CragglH, who had been staying in Europe since the Sol d'Or. ··The Australian was contacted ThUrsday
....r,Fnonc...,o.Chlll is close to signing a contract with Suzuki. "They ·after the endurance event (where hi! crashed pretty heavily during practice).
·contacted'me at Sentul already.' ·the Italian said. "ThEW have given me.
time to think about their proposal until'next week Friday. Until· no;;", bespite the unclear situation about who will run the .official Kawasaki'
·Andrea Merloni (the Gattolone tellm manager) and niysell have tried to
team. Simon, .<;:rafar· said: "I would"like 'te;> stay with Kawasaki. ., think
·But due to
cbnvince the Ca9tiglionis to give u~ full factory bikes in
that that is my best chance of winning races.·l've got other propositions,
p~litical reasons..I.do not·see·that -happening. We' will have a·last. taiR with· put I.wpuld 'Iik'l tb wait .until "",eiylhing is .C1ear with Kawa~aki.". Crafar ..
Ducati next week on Tuesday..and then I will make. a de.clsion. ". According
wh9 is now negotiating .with .the J.apim.ese direct'y' knows thai he .i~ alsq
'to tear!). manager Lester ·H.artls, Suz~.ki wants to have a rider ne>st ye~r . on' the shopping list 01 Honda, but. that .he· is. not their top priority. Honda
who has already wo~ World Superblke races. "we are h~ppy about our team man~ger Neil Tuxworth conlin:ned that they are Iiow considering one'
two ricjem. but we are lalking'to others as well: he said. "Suzuki'has serious candidate as'a r.eplacement rider lor Carl·Fogarty. and that he
planned to carry most althe budget next year as well. which means that
hopes to make an 'official anoou~cement a! Phill!p Island:
'th~ choice 01 the. rider will not be limited by liudget re~sons. "
.
. Two weeks bero(e fhe Albacete race, l.o.... ReggjaInl made his sup'er. . '
'11 Chili \lCes. to Suzuki, .C.nolone .te'am manager Andrea Merloni will' bike 'debut dUri~g the fin~1 ~ti~na.l Ch~n\pionship' race in, Mugello. The
have to look lor· a replacement rider.. The team, which h.s I~vested a con·' .. former Aprilia Grand Prix rider was called. upon to help Paolq Casoli win
siderable. amount 01 m<;>ney in its campaign this year. is anothe, candidate
the title. Casoli won .the title. but Reggiani cr:ashed hellVlly, breaking:.ftri·
.to take over the role left'vacant by Pr.omotor in ,1997. This would give
gers and bruising his hip.
,.997"
