To to the victors go the spoils. (Above) Haga
celebrates his race-one victory.
(Left) Edwards does a stoppie to celebrate
his race-two win - his second race win of the
season.
On lap 20, Fogarty was obviously
unable to have any say in the Japanese
civil war, but Yanagawa's frequent
attacks looked like they may have some
ultimate success right up until the very
last lap - especially when Haga was
balked by backmarker Vladimir Karban
on lap 24 of the 26.
But Haga hadn't come this far to fail
at the last minute, and he maintained
his half-second advantage at the flag,
with Fogarty a safe six seconds back.
'. Slight, hero number one, took an
unimaginable fow;th, after a short drag
race to the line with Chili and Lavilla.
Hero number two, Troy Corser, only
just beat Fujiwara ov~ the line, with
Guareschi finally getting the better of
Goddard's clutch- and EFI-troubled
Aprilia.
Drama, heroism and Haga in full
flight. What more could you want?
Well...
RACE TWO
With none of the pit-lane start melodramas of race one, it was left to the racing itself to provide all the thrills in race
two with the usual race-one suspects.
joined by a re-motored Edwards.
Yanagawa was the first to lead, making it stick for five laps despite some
early attention from Haga and then Fogarty. The first-lap order was Yanagawa,
Haga, Fogarty, Edwards, Slight, Corser
and Slight, but it went through virtually
a complete reshuffle on the following
lap as Edwards started a charge to the
front and Haga l overhaul Colin Edwards II at the
head of the 'practice table. '"1 fell off at the hairpin, after I'd passed the
middle part of the corner," Fogarty·said. "It was a silly little crash. I.felt
· like someone was pushing the rear of the bike .and I just fell over. .I had
gone from doing virtualiy the whole session o~ a 17-inch rear and jumped
on the Other bike with a 16.5-inch. I think thaes what pushed me in too
fast somehow and put the front down. At the moment I'm going better on
· the 17-inch tires. and when we put the 16.5 in'just there. it felt .heavy. I
didn't likelt. But at the last two rounds.l:ve used the 16.5s anyway."
Carl Fogarty swept to .his flrst pole position in four seasons at Albae'ete.
taking him to a total of 18 poles. equaling Troy Corser's record. set only
the Spaniard and the Italian eventually
overcame the Kiwi, bu t not until
halfway through the race, by which time
the leading four had not only gapped
them by a small but insurmountable
margin, but had suddenly become three
when Haga hit engine problems and
retired on lap 11.
Until then it looked like it would be a
double for the gloriously exuberant riding style of Haga, who was once more
finding drive from his wheelspin and
adhesion in the slide. But it all came to
nothing.
Haga's exit left the way clear for the
V-four power and (relative) traction of
Edwards' Honda, with Yanagawa and
Fogarty in very close a ttendance. The
lap charts show no change in the top
three from lap 12 onward, but that cold
statistic does no justice to the highspeed pok~r game being played by three
desperate riders, betting on their tires as
well.as their own abilities to win the
final hand.
The odd joker got in the way as
usual, what with Carlos Macias posing a
mobile chicane to the leaders twice, and
another four riders getting in the way at
some stage - most noticeably final-point
scorer Lucio Pedercini, who got tangled
up with the fight for the win on the very
. last lap.
It was, as it seemed to be fa ted,
Edwards' race, with Yanagawa second.
"I didn't get a great start in the second race, and once I got by a few riders,
Haga was gone," Edwards said. "He
was pulling away from me and there
was nothing I could do about it. Once he
went out, it was cat-and-mouse between
me and Yanagawa. In the last few laps, I
didn't just hear him, I could feel him."
a month before at Phillip Island. "Everyone keeps reminding me that it's
been four years since I had my Jast pole position. so at least it'll.snut
everybody up at long last:' Fogarty said. "Superpole is something that I
struggled with all year [ealiy badly. anp I sorted it out tht's .year during wioter testing'.. I promised myself that I would qualify a lot better now. and so
far I've had one pole and three seconds. I'm a bit embarrassed to be on
pole, 'I'm not a pole man. fd pr.obably be h'appier somewher~ else on' the
front row, to be honest." His time' of 1:31.457 was better than, any he set
in four. hours of regular qualifying. '
.
Troy eorser ~ound himself stuck· behind Colombian rider Carlos MaCias
in final qualifying. which frustrated .him to th~ point where he'cut off his'
fellow Ducati rider's front wheel when he finally barged past. The incident
had ech'oes of Corser's bitter attack on the' slow wild-card 'riders at 'Phillip
Island. Macias is a little different from the ordinary wild-card rider; though.
as he is entered for a'ful) series. ensuring that Corser and company will
have more fun and games for. the whole yeae
Doriano Romboni. as frequent a c;asher in World Supei-bikes as he
was in GP racin\). brought out. the r~d flag in final qualifying when he fell in
the fast first .comer. His high-speed traiectory took him and his bike
across a veritable desert· of runoff sand and into the tire wall. Both rid.er
and bike hit hard. with" Rambo" .Iying.by ihe track for qUite a while before
expert medical attention was forthcoming. His bike was even less lucky.
smacking into the tire wall so fast it deformed the bottom rung of the
Armco barrier. Despite qualifying for Superpole. Romboni was unfit to
compete. making it a 15-rider event. He subsequently missed the race.
Local news reports confirmed a long-held ·rumor that this would probably
be Albacete's last-ever World Superbike race. Never a wellattended race. the event was kept "live because 'of the positive impact on
the Albacete economy. what with all the teams and backup crews (sometimes outnumbering the s.pectators...) keeping the local hoteliers busy.
Jarama is expected to be the replaoement venue. It is understood that
even if the negative influence of Doma (who have opposed any move to
any of Spa1,,'s GP circuits) were not present. the circuits themselves are
AOt keen on running what they see as "second division" events. Carl Fogarty is one who will miss Albac;,te if it
