Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~'I have mixed £~elings,.after Brett's and-my but It IS good to Iacodent time out in World.5upersport," win first WIn, I MacPherson said, The full-distance restart saw MacPherson joust with pole-position man and (another) World Supersport rookie Ruben Xaus, plus the experienced players - Stephane Chambon and Wileo Zeelenberg. . Only the Hondas and Ducatis were poorly represented in the top positions, with the Castrol Honda pairing of Pere Riba and James Toseland feeling the lack of power from their new CBR600s at KyaIami's high altitude, Even the full works Ducati Performance Ducati of Paolo Casoli struggled around Kyalami, with Casoli demonstrating his great dislike for the South African circuit, finishing way down in seventh. Asked which parts of the circuit he disliked most, Casoli replied with one word: "Tullo!" The discovery of the weekend had to be Xaus, His practice and race pace was a sensation at the front of the field until he crashed on lap nine when his engine cover ground out. Zeelenberg suffered a stop-and-go penalty f.or jumping the start, but he claimed that no "Jump Start" board was shown alongside the flag, and thus cruised back into the pits. Once he realized the problem, he rejoined the fray at full speed and finally finished eighth, bitterly angry and aggrieved to be robbed of good points. Reigning World Champion Fabrizio Pirovano showed a champion's determination and hunted down his Alstare Suzuki teammate until his engine blew a piston and he retired on lap 18. He circulated for a long time with smoke pouring from his Suzuki, a factor Pere Riba was later to blame for his crash and subsequent 16th-place finish. In any case, MacPherson was long gone at the front of the field, outdistancing Chambon by a massive 12 seconds at the flag. MacPherson's victory vindica tes Harald Eckl's move to go Supersport racing, and the contrast between Kawasaki's Supersport and Superbike teams was very noticeable this weekend. MacPherson and his fast Kawasaki may have established e<;lrly credentials most race observers knew they had, but the R6 proved to be a potent force in its first World Supersport race. As well as the strong performances from Xaus and Zeelenberg's teams, the Yamaha Deutschland pairing of Jorg Teuchert and Christian Kellner improved massively with every practice . session. The young Bavarians hunted down Pere Riba until his crash on lap 19 and chased each other to the flag to finish third and fourth - a brilliant performance from everyone concerned. The Belgarda Yamaha team was an exception to the good Yamaha results, their poor performances blamed mostly on Pirelli tires. James Toseland started his second season with ~ f'ir\e sixth, ahead of Casoli. The highest-placed loeal rider was Russell Wood on his Nashua Yamaha R6 - fifth behlld Teuchert and Kellner. Another local rider, Brad Anassis, was excluded on a technical infringement, moving everyone from 12th place onward up one place. As a mark of respect to the deceased MacLeod, the organizers canceled the second Nashua Supersports invitational event and instead formed a procession of all the top riders around the track in a reverse direction. Additionally, Carl Fogarty's victory celebrations were somewhat subdued, without any champagne, as a mark of respect to MacLeod. CIII Rider po",!er may h~ve held 'off many of the propo,sed rule changes in Superbike for, ~999, such as, the Arrow. grid forination, but the hated Superpoleremains,· Even, after 'a year of'doing it, , Carl Fogarty and Aarori Slight were both very critical of the sys-. tem, even if Fogaity did uncharacteristically well' by ending up se,c- ' , ond. F,ogarty also stated ·that getting a ,good Superpole time was . espe9ially critical at. tHe Sout~ African venue, "'It'~ really difficult to' )Ja~s'here;" he'said: "I tnink'I'made one passing move each r~ce last year. The circujt ,looks like it has loads of places to overtak!,,' but if s actually'really hard," Slight agreed, that ,Kyaiarrii puts spe. cial erhphasi~ ,on a good qualification, "Being on -the front row here is very important, and,a't one point it looked like I may slip' back to the second row," Slight sa'id.. "So· far the weekencf has' been very'good, but' we came here kn'owing we would ~e on the , pace after testing here earlier in the year, " ' . . (Above) The day was marred by the death of South African Brett Macleod. (left) King again. Carl Fogarty stood above the rest of the superbike men in the series opener, winning both races with relative ease. Margin of victory: 5,257 sec, Kyalaml Circuit Kyalaml, South Africa Results: March 28, 1999 (Round 1 of 13) QUALIFYING' 1. Troy Corser (1,42,943, 92,516 mph); 2. Carl Fogarty (1:43.238); 3. Aaron Slight (1:43.278); 4. Noriyuki Haga (l :43.338); 5. Akira Yanagawa 0:43.398); 6. Colin Edwards 1I 0:43.953); 7. Dorlano Romboni 0:44.050); 8. Robert Ulm (1:44.418); 9. Peter Goddard (1:44.628); 10. Katsuaki Fujiwara (1:44.712); 11. Gregorio Lavilla 0:45.096); 12. Andreas Meklau (1:45.568); 13. Lucio Pedercini (1:45.586); 14. Pier-Francesco Chili 0:45.931); 15, Vittoriano Cuareschi (1:46.606); 16. Alessandro Gramigni 0:46.853); 17. Igor Jerman (1:47,342); 18. Jean Jeandat 0:48.038); 19. Lanee Issacs (1,48,038); 20, Jiri Mrkyvka (1,50.496); 21. Vladimir Karban (1:50.645); 22. Carlos Macias Perdomo 0:51.564); 23. Giuliano Sartoni (1:52.697). RACE ONE: 1. Carl Fogarty (Due); 2. Troy Corser (Due); 3. Aaron Slight (Hon); 4. Noriyuki Haga (Yam); 5. Colin Edwards U (Han); 6. Akira Yanagawa (Kaw); 7. Pier-Francesco Chili (Suz); 8. Gregorio Lavilla (Kaw); 9, Doriano Romboni (Due); 10. Robert Vim (Kaw); 1"1. Kasuaki Fujiwara (5uz); 12. Vittoriano Guareschi (Yam); 13, Andreas Meklau (Due); 14. Lance Isaacs (Due); 15. , Alessandro Gramigni (Yam); 16. Igor Jerman (Kaw); 17. Jean Jendat (Hon); 18, Jiri Mrkyvka (Due); 19. Vladimir Karban (Suz). Time: 43 min., 35.637 sec. Distance: 25 laps; 66.139 miles Average speed: 91.029 mph fastest lap' Colin Edwards II, 1,43.800/91.759 mph, lap 3 RACE TWO, 1. Carl Fogarty (Due); 2. Aamn Slight (Han); 3. Troy Corser (Dud; 4. Colin Edwards n (Han); 5. Akira Yanag was a surprise entry to the Sout!> African television, The show was co-hosted by former Superbike class at Kyalami, the main sUrprise being that he Gallina Suzuki GP star Dave Petersen, who provided an expert rode with a badly broken hand after being knocked off his lI,iewpoint for the local fans, Corser got more than he bargained street bike by a pickup truck doing a U·turn across his path - a for when one lady caller said she didn't want to know anything common h'azard on South Africa's free-for-all roads apparent· about motorbikes . but wanted to know how to meet him at the Iy. The 20-year-old rider ignored medical advic,e and turned 04t track on race day, Troy's girlfriend, Sam, was unavailable for com'for liis Vodac9m Ducati NCR team in qualifying, Oespite his menL" . 25

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