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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127846
ROAD RACE W RLDSUPERBIKE O CHAMPIONSHIP • "john (Kocinski) and I had the race under control," Slight said . "Speedwise, we had a small advan tage over the rest of the field. Three laps before the end, john went in front, which was what I wanted, but 1 probably lost out with my gearing. My bike was geared slightly differently than [ohn's, and he has been consistently faster than me on the startand-finish stra ig ht all weekend . I al so started to worry a bit when it started to rain a bit in the Parabolica on the second-to-last lap ." Fogarty could do nothing but watch, from a very dose third. "I dropped back a bit the last three or (our laps," Fogarty said . " It felt as if the right side of the tire was going off. [ think I saw the same thing on Aaron's rear tire, so I started to worry a bit. But in the last laps, I managed to catch up wit h the two leaders again - and I even got back into th e lead . 1 could hardly believe it. But, in the final kilometers, I saw the white-green-red bikes pass me o ut of the corner of my eye, and I knew [ was in for a fight unt il the very last inch. It co u ld have been anybody's ra ce . It was a matter of being in the right place at the r ig h t time. T he only mistake [ made was choosing too soft a tire . That cost me some time at the end of the race , and it also cost me the victory at the end." Crafar finished fourth on the factory • By J ohan Vandeckerchove Pho to s by Go ld & Goose MO!l:ZA, ITALY, JUNE 23 he fifth World Su perbi ke ro und of the sea so n was a typical 1997, event wi th one heat run in nearperfect - albei t a bit chilly - conditio ns, whi le the o ther ran in appalling weather. Castrol Hond a's jo hn Kocinski earned his first d ry vi ctory of the season in the first heat by the narrowest of margins over his team mate Aaron Slight. A few hou rs later, Pier -Fr ance sco Chili repeated his stun t of the last two years, wi nnin g a Wo rld Superbike ro u nd in front of his ho me crowd, despite a soa king -wet su r face . Duca ti' s Ca rl Fogart y came ho me third and fou rth in the two races, keeping him atop the point"standings as the series moves to th e United States for the sixth round at Lagu na Seca Raceway. Kocinski, though; manageJ to peg back so m e points on his British rival af ter turning in a 1-2 tally, a nd now trails Fogarty by only 14 po ints, with the series set to take him to his home race track in the hills of the Monterey Peninsula . Kocinski's first -race win came after a thrilling battle with Slight and Fogarty, the trio covered by less tha n a SC'COnd. "I had a pretty decent start," Kocinski said, "but I decided to hang back in the first chicanes, because _ things were really very hectic out there. Afterward, it was p re tty easy to stay in the lead g ro u p, as th e pace wasn't too high. I made my move three lap s bef o re the end, and it all worked out great." Kocinski 's outing, however, was the on ly brigh t spo t for the Americans; as Yamaha's Scott Russell could only manage fifth - and eighth-pl ace fini sh es o n th e d ay. Even tho ug h Russell could n' t capita lize on his fast s tarts in both legs, IT 12 his outing was much better than that of his Yama ha tea m m a te . Texa n Colin Edwards II crashed d uring qualifying for th e Ita lian race and suffered a broken w rist - th ou gh he is hopeful of a return for his home race at Lagu na . Fellow Texan Mike Hale rna tched his bes t wee kend of the seaso n, finis hing 10th an d ninth on the factory Suz uki in the two races. RACE ONE As the rain clouds ga thered ove r the mu nicipal par k of Milan , 30 rid ers lined up for a race that was expected to be at least as ex ci ti ng as th e two p revious races in Hock enheim . Russell go t the holesh ot, d iving into th e fir s t chica ne in front of Fogarty, Simon Cra far, Chili and the rest of the favo rites. With Crafar, Chi li and Kocinski doin g most of the leading in the first q ua rte r of the race, i t was o nly after so me six laps that a leading group of eight riders formed, breaking away from a following group consisting of Piergiorgio Bontempi. Hale and Andreas Meklau. Up front , it could be anybody's race, with Kocinski, Slight, Foga rty, Crafar, Rus sell, jamie Whitham, Chili and Akira Yanagawa all having a go at the head of the field at one poi nt or another. As the race wore on, things got even mo re hectic up front, with several riders overshooting one of the chicanes. Russell put u p the best show, going through the gravel pit in the firs t chicane, losing some grou nd in th e process, and s till h a vi n g time to wave at the crowd , whi ch reacted enthus iastically. By then, Ya nagawa h a d droppe d back, losing tou ch w ith the lead group after a simila r blunder in one of the chicanes . He rejoined the chasing group in l Oth , sta rting a battle with Bo ntempi, Hale and Meklau. (Above) High and dry: Pel e-sltt er SCan Russell (22) head s Into th e first comer at Monza with the lead in "he Ilrslleg. t (Right) The win, though. went to castrol Honda 's John Kocinski w it h the Am erican gain in g valua bl e points on h is cha mpi ons hip rival Carl Fogarty as the series heads to Laguna seea for round si x. Up fron t, a few laps fro m the end, things started to shape up when the Honda duo of Kocinski and Slight looked set to take victory, with Fogarty, Crafar and Russell just a few tenths of a second behind. Bu t Fogarty was no t going down without a fight. In the closing stages, th e Englis hma n dosed th e gap with the Hon da Castrol rid ers, even taking over at the front for a bit . It finally all boiled down to the last sprint fro m - the famo us Parabolica corn er to the finish. In a ph oto finis h, Kocinski took victory - .005 of a seco nd in fro nt of his teammate Slight and .008 of a second in front of Fogarty. Kawasaki, only a bike length behind Fogarty. "I'm really happy with everything on the bike," the New Zealander said. "Only midrange power could be a bit better. We' re at the sa me level as far as top-end is concerned, but we lose out on acceleration co m pared to th e H ond as a nd to the D uca tis. I es pecially los t ground coming ou t of the double right at the far en d of the circui t. But I gu ess I s ho u ld be quite pl e a sed abo u t this resu lt." Ru ssell co m p le ted th e lead g roup, only six-ten ths behind Kocinski. "I was sitting back, just having a look