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/128001
Laguna Seea World Superbike By Gordon R itc h ie Ph o to s by Gold & Goose • 0> 0> 0> 26 ay back in March and April, the World Superbike Ch am pionship was in trouble. Really big trouble. Despite all th e positive buildu p (a ta ngible increase in will to wi n of all the factories, the ever-increasing p ro file of the champions hip itself, the largely successful wint er testi ng programs undertaken by a ll th e . to p rid ers, and, no t least, the nail-bitin g fina le to the previo us s ea s o n a t Sugo), th e im m ed ia te fu tu re looked a blea k and barren p lace. Unless yo u we re on a works Ducati like Ca rl Fogarty or Troy Corser. Such was Ducati 's complete humiliation of a ll its nearest riva ls, from th e migh ty Honda V-fours to the fled gling Ap rilia RSV, it look ed lik e th e works Ducati Per formance team was in for a season ju st as dominant a s 1995 h ad been for Fogarty. An undefeated rim-in trr the new mill ennium was in the cards, what with Fogarty winning the first two races in South Africa and Troy Corser taking both his home events at the second round in Au stralia . Than kfu lly for eve ryo ne nqt wearing crimson apparel , Fogarty' s (typi cally outspoken) version of even ts prov ed to be the most accurate. . "We tested at bo th these tracks a lot during the off-seaso n and we were easily th e fas test," he sa id . "It' s all to do with the hard work we put in during the winter - and having the two best rid ers in the championship." As if to prove Fogarty right (even if he did win the very next race), the red tid e w as finally stemmed b y C olin Edward s II in round three at Doningt on , when he con vi ncing ly took maximum point s in leg two after a ph ysical clash w i th h is fe llo w H onda tita n, Aa ro n Sligh t. Th e ens uing lit tle-fin ger injury ro u nded off a di sa strous s ta rt (by hi s ow n standards) for the little Kiwi, who was still sp itting blood at wha t he still saw as a natural Du cati advantage. "I've been racing agains t 1000cc bikes for abo u t 10 vears" and "I'm sick of the whole cha mp ions hip" we re some of the more diplomatic utter an ces spat ou t by Sligh] in the run up to Donington. . It was about thi s time that two fu rther significant developmen ts happened alon g. One wa s a bit of a slu mp in form by Co rse r. Blaming poor tire cho ices at Don in gt on, Co rse r's sea son wen t in to free fa ll a t Albacet e when a p ra ct ice crash tweaked his sho ulde r and his self'confidence - the latter being an item he was not to rediscover until rou nd six at the Nurburgring. The other happening of import wa s th e partia l coming of age of th e new Alstare Suzuki Su perbike team and its number-one rid er, Pier-Francesco Chili, whose bril1iant performan ce in pra ctice pre-empted an increasingly competitive string of race performances, which we re to cu lminate in a brace of podiums on home ground at Monza . AII this was to co m e despite t h e Su zuki (a n d th e Kawasakis and the Aprilia) being fitted wi th Dunlops that were clearl y and consistently off the Mich elin pace. . Two of the Big Four: World Superb lke Champ io nship po ints leader Carl Fogarty (top) and the man who is perhaps his biggest th reat- Texan Coli n Edwar ds II (above).