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/127959
ROAD RACE WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ,-,.' . .., . '';'' ,' By Johan Vandekerckhove Photos by Gold & Goose A a a ~ 12 Round 10: A1Ring ZELTWEG, AUSTRIA, AUG. 30 u st t w o r ounds a g o , w he n Aa ron Slig h t's fue l tank tum. liIpI bled down th e front straigh taway a t Laguna Seca Race wa y after a terrible start-line crash, it appear ed once aga in tha t the World Superbike Cha mpion ship ' s nea rly man was on the road to being d enied that eve r-elusi ve champio nship. At Zeltweg's Al Ring, Sligh t was not to be denied . The Cas tro l Ho nda rid er served not ice in qua lifying that he was here to d o business by takin g pole pos ition; th en , simply pu t, he wo n both races. Slight won comfortably in ra ce one, beating Italian Pier-Fra ncesco Chili by mo re than a second, then retu rned for a heated battle with Ca rl Foga rty in race two and just edged the tou gh Brit to ta ke the d o u b le win . A 3D-poin t deficit to champ ionship leader Troy Corser was suddenly nearly erased, 'and in its place stands a margin of only 1.5 poi nts . What happen ed to Corser? The Austra lian faced bi ke troubl es both times ou t that dropped him to sixth and fifth in the two races. Corser looked good at the start of each heat, running at or near the front and fighting wit h the fast men for the lead , but a fading engine slowed him in race one and a lack of rear traction in race two helped erase his fairly comfortable lead in the championship. Not only did Corser's troubles benefit Sligh t, but both of his Ducati teammates as well , since both of them finished in front of the Aus tralian in each race. Chili and Fogarty swa pped podium position s, Chili taking secon d in the first race and Fogarty taking it in race two . Each time out, Kawas ak i's Akira Yanagawa trailed the Ducati duo across the line wit h consistent fourth-place finishes. Hopes we re high in the Suzuki camp when James Whi tham pu t his GSX-R75D on the fro n t row of qualifying for the firs t tim e ever, but the bes t the likable Brit co u ld m a na ge was a fift h an d a sixth. Co rse r still lea ds the cha m pions hi p, now with 296.5 poi nts , bu t Slight is just behind with 295. Fogarty's strong finish es did a lot to ge t him back in the hunt, a nd th e Britis h r id er n ow h a s 277.5 poi nts an d third in the stan di ngs, wit h Ch ili fo urt h o n 264. 5 . Te xan Colin Edwards II, ·a victim of tire trouble in (Above) Race two gets under way at Austr ia's Al Ring. Castro l Honda's Aaron Slight took the double win. (Below) Carl Fogarty (2), third and second on the weekend , leads the way during race one as Aaron Slight (111) muscles his way by Troy Corser (11). Slight was on his way to the lead and win, while Corser would lade to sixl h.