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/127849
ROAD RACE W ORLD C AMPIONSH H IP SUPERBIKESER S IE By Paul Car ruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams and Gold & Goose MONTEREY, CA,JULY 13 he diagnosis: John Kocinski needed some sort of a boost to rekindle his World Championship hopes as the seaso n reached the halfwa y mark. The prescription: two quick doses of Laguna Seca Raceway. The outcome: Kocinski got well in a hurry, leaving Carl Fogarty feeling a bit ill. By the conclusion of a thrilling day of IT racing at Lagu na Seen Raceway, Kocins- b\ 0'\ ,..... 6 ki and his Castrol Honda had won both r aces on the track in the hills of th e Monterey Peninsula ~ the homecoming proving to be just what he needed as he was ab le to close to wit hin four points of his rival Fogarty, 217'213. In the first race, by far th e better of the two, Kocinski hounded Fogarty and the red Ducati until making a mem orable pass on the two-time World Superbike Champion in tum tw o with just a few laps to go. In th e seco nd outi ng, Kocinski led from the get-go and wa s never headed, leaving the flu-bugged Fogarty to vomit twice in his helmet. While Kocin ski lea ves Laguna Seea with much-needed mo mentu m, Fogarty can also return to Europe with his head held high. The factory Ducati rider has oft en spoken of his dislike of the tight and twisty Laguna layo ut , bu t he seems to ha ve o ve rco me his di sd ain of the fa cility. The Brit return. to h i> home race at Brand. Hatch kn owing that he escaped Laguna Seca with tw o second place finishes - and as many points as he likely thought possible goin g in, consideri ng Kocinski's aptitude at Laguna. If Kocinski was the star and Fogarty th e s u r vivo r, th en Smokin' Joe's (Abo ve) John Kocin ski leads the World Superb ike pack up and over the hill toward turn two In th e opening leg 01the U.S. round of the series. (Left) Kocinski (3) elsa led the start 01 the second leg through the Corkscrew. He's bei ng chased by Doug Chandler (10) and P ier~Fra nces co Chili (7). Ho nda's Migu el DuHamel wa s simply the surprise. A 600cc Supersport crash o n Su nd ay morn i ng left DuHamel dazed, co nfused ... and conc ussed. A few hour . later, he put the Ho nda RC45 on the second row of the g rid wi th a solid qualifyin g session, despite a pounding headache. Then o n Su nd ay he went out a nd turned in a g ritty performance that will only further ad d to the DuHamel legend. The French Canadian, still su ffering from a throbbin g head , ran a t th e front, leading th e first leg for se veral laps before finally giving way to both Kocinski and Fogarty. But he held tough, keeping Kawasaki's Simon Crafar at bay to finish third . In the seco nd race, he did much of the same. Though he couldn't match the pace of Kocinski and Fogarty, he did the nex t best thing finis hing third again, th is time ho ld ing off th e ad va nce. of fo rm er AMA and Wo rld Superbike Cha mpion Scott Russell. W it h Kocinski, Fogarty a nd Du Hamel fi nishing first , second and thi rd both times ou t, it marked not onlv the first lime aU year that the finbhing order wa s duplicated, but also the first time alI season that the same three men filled the rostrum in both races. Kocin ski's 1-1 tally was also the first time in a parity-filled 1997 season that someone had pulled off a dou ble wi n.