Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 2: Phillip-Island WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES By Gordon Ritchie Photos by Gold & Goose PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA, APR. 18 roy Corser exorcised any demons he may have been plagued with since his comprehensive defeats by his teammate, Carl Fogaxty, a t the opening round at Kyalami, by performing the same style of disappearing trick at his home venue. . "I wasn't too worried about Carl's two wins in South Africa because you could see he had no problems with anything, whereas I was just riding around for points," said the 1996. World SuperI bike Champion. His double win was an emphatic rebuke to those who had doubted his ability to replicate his. astonishingly consistent practice form in race situations, and places Corser right back in the hunt with Carl Fogarty in the World Superbike series, which has thus· far become something of a Ducati benefit. Both riders beat the lap record throughout, but Corser was the man who walked out of the circuit with a new best of 1: 33.019 which is like 500cc GP territory on the resurfaced track. "It's always good to have a pole position, two wins and a new lap record, especially in front of my home crowd. Perfect," Corser said. Fogarty wasn't so cheery. 'T m never happy to finish second," the reigning champion said. "I only want to win( but it wasn't to be today. In the second race I was beaten by fivethousandths of a second, but it was fivethousandths too much. It was a good, haxd race as usual. When I got on Troy's tail my bike started juddering, so I sat behind for a few laps. It never got any worse, so I passed and got my head down, but because I couldn't see my pit board I didn't know what was going on. Troy left a gap and I went for it, got him behind me, but he managed to draft me over the line. We run different gearing for that last comer, and it was about the only place on the track that he was quicker. I wouldn't have minded so much if he had taken me two laps from home and went away, but to see the checkered flag while I was in front and then lose..." Four easy wins from four starts for the Ducati Performance team is a demoralizing prospect for every other works outfit, and no one else was in the hunt today. There were gaps of 15 and 18 seconds between the works Ducatis and the rest in each race, and that tells the story of the weekend in itself. But Fogarty disagrees that there is any unfair advantage for the big red Italian twins. "When you're behind the Hondas they ,seem fast on the straights and acceleration is about the same, so I guess you want to look at the riders," he said. "Some weekends maybe the Honda will be fa~ter, but this weekend it was all down to a package that was working well and the best two riders in the world." . Aaron Slight's pair of gritty fourth places rnight as well have been nowhere for him. "I lost the front of the Honda at Lukey Heights trying to keep up with the Ducatis," Slight said. "I'm sick of being here racing against 1000cc bikes. I've been doing it for 10 years and all I've ended up doing is throwing away years of my racing career. This year is even worse than usual because Carl and Troy are pushing each other so hard, they're making the Ducatis look good, but it has always been like that. I'm sick of all this and the way I feel right now T 00 N .;;: 0. < 12 Same bike" I've got no interest in carrying on. I'm pissed off with the whole championship. If there was a chance to go and do GPs I may do that next. Bring on 1000cc GP racing." Colin Edwards II was almost as unhappy to have no chance of beating the Hondas, but took a fine pair of podiums after elbow-bruising battles with Noriyuki Haga, Slight and Akira Yanagawa in race one and Slight and Haga in race two. "I rode as hard as I ever rode, but that should have been a race for first place, not third," said Edwards. "An 18second advantage from second to third is not how a superbike race should be. It's not been an easy day, but I'll take two third places and hope for better chances of winnIng when we go to Europe for the next race." Nobody tries harder in World Superbike races than Noriyuki Haga and his two typically forceful, almost reckless rides to fifth and sixth saved the R7 from a very lackluster weekenCi after just qualifying inside the top 10 - at ninth - in Superpole. Haga claims that a lack of top speed is the main problem for him. "The team has made a good job of setting up the new bike, but at this stage, 1 have to keep a higher corner speed because it doesn't yet have the same top-end power for the straights," Haga said. His lack of corner-exit drive and topend speed saw Haga squeezed out in the first race after a gargantuan fourrider dice. His teammate Vittoriano Guareschi was way down the finishing order and is really struggling to keep pace with the best privateers, never mind other works riders. He was left with 13th and 15th, again big disappointments for the former Supersport star. Even more drastic was the 100-percent crash record of works Kawasaki man Gregorio Lavilla, losing it at Honda corner in the first race while turning on the brakes. The second race crash was a mystery even to him. "I high-sided from the rear just as I was braking," Lavilla said. "I think it may have been something to do with the clutch, because it felt strange from the beginning. I do not like to fail to finish races. It is not good for me or the team." Better came from Akira Yanagawa, outgunned and out-tired by his closest cqmpetitors, all on Michelins, yet still capable of getting a fifth and sixth. "The first race was very tough and physical, especially with Aaron," the Japanese rider said. "He rtffiS into the corners very hard and late on the brakes, almost in straight and then accelerates hard out. In the nrst race I could use the slipstream to stay with other riders, but in the second race I could not. I was surprised by the tires in the first race, because we worried that they would not last." . Harald Eckl once more had reason to be happy, yet more to be malcontent. Troy Corser had reason to celebrate after taking the double win at Phillip Island. "Akira's first race was very good," the Kawasaki team manager said. "We had to use very hard tires to go race distance, so unfortunately they were not grippy enough to stay top-class. It was really good for the spectators, just what we need, lots of different bikes at the front." Unfortunately for the Aprilia factory they had no chance to be at the front, after two mechanical DNFs destroyed their and Peter Goddard's chances of good results after initially good practice times. Sixth after the first timed session, it looked like Goddard was in for two strong rides until a poor choice of setup changes ruined the other practices and the "wet" Superpole, and a mystery engine failure (race one) and a faulty spark-plug core (race two) derailed the otherwise impressive Aprilia freight train. "I do not think the problem in race one was a very major one, because the engine went off like a light switch. It did riot lock the back wheel or have any obvious cause," said Aprilia projectdevelopment manager Giuseppe Bernicchiao Goddard, who had hoped for so much from this weekend, was gutted, and had to retire in race two when he realized his misfire could be a danger to others.

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