Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES had this time joined the rest right from the start. The Spaniard was despera te to stay with the leading group and it was apparent that he was on the edge as he tried to keep Fogarty behind him in the chicane. At almost the same time, Yanagawa and Aussie Troy Bayliss touched, with Yanagawa losing three spots. On the sixth lap, Haga powered past Corser on the straight leading to the chicane to take over the lead. Behind.them, Slight got by Chili to take over third, with Goddard, Yanagawa and Fogarty fighting over fifth place. On lap 11, however, things went Round 2: Donington Park wrong in the chicane' when Chris Walker's engine blew up on his Kawasaki, dropping oil on the track that caused two riders to crash. Red flags were quickly brought out and the race was stopped. Some 30 minutes later, 26 riders rolled to the starting grid for a shortened second race. With the track temperature increasing and with only 15 laps to go, the majority of the bikes were fitted with soft-compound tires for the second portion of the race. The riders were eager and it showed - right away. On the first lap, Haga and Corser changed positions four times while battling for the lead, with Corser leading the way on the second lap - only to be overtaken again on the straight leading to the chicane. Five laps into the final race of the day, Haga was leading Corser, Fogarty, (Above) Carl Fogarty (2) was able to hold off Haga (41) and Corser (11) in lhe restarted second leg, but he didn't beat them when times from both races were combined. (Below) Pier-Francesco Chili (7) finshed third and fifth in the two races. Slight, Niall Mackenzie, Edwards, Russell, Whitham, Chili and Hodgson. For Russell and Hodgson, a signal from pit lane capped off their miserable weekends: They were both nailed for jumping the start and would have to come in for a stop-and-go penalty. "We're getting there," Russell said after finishing 11 tho "I had a few problems with some guys who were going really late into the corners and then stopping. That meant I couldn't get past them easily after I'd stopped, so my finish wasn't as good as it could have been. This race has been like a test for me and it's ended up being good. I can smell the good results corning for me and I want to go to Monza - that's horne for us." Seven laps from the end, Fogarty closed in on Corser, eager to finish at least one second ahead of Slight in order to take third on aggregate times. Shortly thereafter, Haga made his first mistake of the season: He overshot the chicane and dropped back to fourth behind Corser, Fogarty and Slight. A few minutes later, Fogarty was leading after a pass on Corser in the chicane. Haga, though, was back in the groove and had passed Slight while moving in on Corser. The last five laps were thrilling, with Fogarty, Cosrser and Slight only a few bike lengths apart. Haga, however, again showed the most spectacular of racing lines and slides. The Japanese rider soon worked around Corser, and on the second-tolast lap it even looked as though he could beat Fogarty for the outright win. On the final go-around, though, Haga realized that all he had to do was beat Corser to earn the victory - so at the finish it was Fogarty, Haga and Corser. On aggregate times, it was Haga taking the win over Corser and Fogarty. "My earplug fell out and I lost concen t?a tion and missed my braking spot," Haga said of his mistake at the chicane. "I knew all I had to do was finish in front of Troy (Corser), so I pushed hard. Once I got past him I went after Fogarty, but I didn't have time to catch him. I knew I had won the race but I still wanted to get to the flag first. I used the same type of tire for the second part of the race and it worked well for me. The bike was also the best it has been all weekend. My riding style means I am faster than the other riders after the first corner for the first half of the track, and the bike works realIy well there. The cold weather also meant it had good power." Corser battled a vibration to finish second - for a second time on the day. "After seven laps, I started to lose grip," he said. "1 was lucky to stay upright and have the race red-flagged a bit later. The problem is, if you lose grip on this track, you lose momentum, and that costs you a lot of ground in the successive fast sweepers. The second half of the race was a real thriller, and only after Haga made his mistake did I hope to win the race." Fogarty was happy to finish his home race on a p.ositive note. The Brit opted for a smaller front disc brake in the second race, which allowed him to flick the bike easier through the fast sweepers. "We have had so many problems during practice," Fogarty said. "At one time, I had the impression we were running around in circles. Yesterday, we finally had it all together and I managed to put down a really good Superpole time - but then that was canceled. It was only during the second race that I bullt up enough confidence to flick the bike in the corners aggressively enough. I

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