Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

World Champ io n Carl Fogarty d id li ttle to hurt his championship hopes for 1999. The Brit barely lost any ground to Corser on a circu it he admitted ly dislikes. race ap pea r almos t mund an e, race two was a thriller. Off the start, it was aga in Yanagawa stealing the lead over the hill and int o tum two . Again, Gobert was second, but this time he was the attackee rather than the attacke r. Wi th the lead e rs star ting lap two, Bostrom stuffed his wav under his team mate in turn tw o, only to have Go bert return th e favo r in turn five. This was good stuff. Then Gobert stuffed his way und er Yanagawa. If that wasn' t enough action, Bostrom wasted little tim e in darting under Yanagaw a in tum two, with Chili doing likewi se to the Kawasa ki rid er jus t a tu rn later. In jus t two laps, thi s-ence had produced more passing than the entire first unless Yanagawa had grabbed a bit too much fro n t brake after seeing Gobert slide off. The Japanese ride r was ab le to remount and score four points for finishing 12th. There was no point in Gobert trying to con tinue. " I d id a m ist ak e in th e begi nni ng wh ile 1 was passed and dropped back a few places," Yan a gawa ex p lai ne d . "I was in a good position as I sud de nly lost th e fro n t. Fortunat ely, I could pick up the bik e and get some points. I'm a bit d isappoin ted , bu t overall I'm satisfie d with the weekend : ' That was all Bostrom need ed . He followed Chili for two laps, then sho t by going in to the Corkscrew. Then he put his head down, turning a 1:27.055 on the 15th lap, follow ed by a string of 1:27s, including his bes t of the race, a 1:27.025 on the 20th lap . He'd broken Chili's sp irit and earned himself a World Superbike race win . "As soon as I got by those guys, Gary (Med ley - his mechanic) held out a board that said 'Smooth:" Bostrom said later . "I said, 'Oh, smo oth, that's right: I put my head down and we ran really quick lap times. I wa nted to break those guys and I knew the bike was perfectly capable of it:' While pu lling away was easy , following wasn't so easy, Bostrom said . "I was thinking, This is go ing to be toug h:" Bostro m said. "I had Fra nkie (Chili) in fro nt of me and I knew Troy (Co rser) wo u ld be pushing me pretty quick. And I had Gobert in front of me. I was thinking, 'Man, I've got to pass these guys somewhere: because I think I had a little bett er bike than them tod ay. I had a bit of speed on 'em, bu t I couldn 't figure ou t w here to pass. It' s always hard when two great ride rs are in front of you and th ey're kind of using the w hole track. Frankie and 'Go-Show' (Gobert) we re pa ssing each other and then 'Go-Show' had a mish ap . He ran into 11 a bit hot and then Fra nkie's tire st arti ng slid ing race. And th e ex ci te me n t w a s far from over. On the fifth lap, Chili stuffed his way un der Bostrom in tu rn thr ee to take over second. Then, a lap later, he nailed Gobert going into turn thre e to take over the lead . "Today my mechanic, just be fore I leave from th e pit s, he said, 'You must believe more in the first corner: " Ch ili said later. "Always I don' t wa nt to pus h so hard in the first COrner because I think is too crazy . I do that and I was in a good position and I started to pass everybody. I think, 'Maybe the race is slow beca use I'm in front: But I see my lap time on the screen and I see 27.5, 27.43, which is very good, so I think, 'Maybe today we can get the pod iu m:" Chi li 's lea d o nly la s ted u ntil th e y arrived at the. Cor kscrew, whe n Gobert dived up the inside on th e en tra n ce to the left-right combina tion to retake the lead . But this one wa sn't abou t jus t three riders. By the end of the ninth lap, jus t 2.9 secon ds sepa ra te d Gobe rt fro m ninth-placed Sligh t. Everything changed on the 12th lap. With six rid ers now in the lead group, the pa ck converged on tum 11. Then a couple o f 'em w ent slip-s lidi ng away, with both Gobert and Yanagawa hittin g the d eck. Both of them had lost the front, th ou gh th e in cid ents were n ' t rel at ed, .' . arou nd a bi t, so I de cid ed to shove it under there. (Gary) Med ley said you better go out there and d o some high 26s or some thing to impress me, so I thou ght I'd put my head down for a few lap s and try to break these guys: It was a lot easier leading than it was to follow : ' Late in the race, Chili's tires went off and he sud denly had his hands full wi th an inspired Co rser. The Italian could n't hold him off and Corser ended up second, ga ining a few va luab le po ints on fourth-placed Fogarty. He also recorded the fastest lap of the da y - a 1:27.020 - on the 27th lap . "It was ha rd:' Co rser sai d . "In th e seco nd race, I went in there on the first lap and almost did the same thin g. The back came around a nd I almost wen t over the handlebars. I thought I might ha ve go ne wit h t h e wro n g rea r ti re again, I sort of settled d ow n afte r that happened; I sort of smartened myself up a bit. The tire wa s feeling a lot better, with better grip. I cou ld keep the bike in the corners a lit tle bit better. I d id n' t wa nt to push it. I go t a reasonably good start and though t, 'I' ll just sit here and see what the pace is going to d o: I didn't really want to pu sh it to get to the front because I could see th a t th ey weren't pulling away. I thought I was better off sitting there and try ing to save the tire as much as possible, whic h I did . An tho ny a n d A kira were pus hing really hard when they both we nt down - they both went in there too hot , basically. That 's w hat happens . The tem peratu re w as really high , so the grip wasn' t so good . " . . , . " , today, especially for the Michelin s, They were slidi ng a lot and you really had to take your time and make do with what you had. "I cou ld see Frankie was struggling a littl e b it in th e last eig h t, nine laps: ' Corser adde d , " I'd pu sh him and ca tch him reall y qu ick, I' d backoff and he wo u ld n' t pull away so fas t, so I could see he was push ing the fro nt a lot and spinning the rear. I figured with five lap s to go, I'd just pu t my head d own and go, a nd th ose we re my fastes t laps of the race. Maybe I shou ld have done that earlie r. Ben w as rid in g reall y we ll toda y and he had a good package. It's hard to b eat so me thing li ke ' that, es pecia ll y ' when they're a good rid er: ' Chi li, meanwhile, was pleased with hi s third-place fin is h, an effort that ma tched h is two thi rd-place finishes at his hom e track of Monza. "I had two third place in Monza, bu t I know very well Monza, " C h ili said. "Also, our bike is a little bit slower on acce leration than other bikes, bu t now coming improved. All the team is working very good , With 10 laps to go, I have some p roblems with th e rear tire a nd Troy (Corser) knows, He cau ght me and I do n't wa nt to push so hard because if I fall down, I destruct everything. I think for Suzuki, for my team and for me, third p lace here in Laguna - one of the tracks I d on't like - is the best. Going into turn two, I w as faster than everybody also ma ybe my tire is wo rking good, so I do n' t know . I think I can pass every body . the re, but in the second pa rt of the race I . The second of (our ,A p ri lia Cup Challenge races 'was' held On . slow . .really : I w as ,lo o king forward to being he re with B e n .. one. Lmust win two. but I cannot start to win a ,championship with S unday. wi th 'J o h'n Hopkins tak ing a sec ond .s traiqht w in. ' (Bos tro m) and ' Anthony (Gobert) and some' other guys who are . out winning a race." , · " " . .. . . . . A nthony Gobert 's brother. 'A l e x Gobert. finish ed second, just ' ' a blt quicker here.' and ge t a few people in between myself and ' . . . . '.. " . ahead of Hawk Mazzotta. a loca l rider from Pebble Beach, in Carl and make up so me decent points. There 's only go(to ,be .' AIl.ar~~nd '~ ice guy Chili al~o joked '';'ith Ben BoStrom alte; the the rsd-flaq-shortened race. . . ' . ' , . . two' bad' races and I can makeup almost the gap, he's got. W e'!I,. newco mer won the second race. " You didn' t .have somethi ng to .'wait and see . Ther e are still a lo t of races lelt in the year and .do to day? " C hili asked Bo st ro m. " Beca use if you -didn't come Althoug h he 'had more i ire choi ces than 'the Dunlop users , Troy ·t here 's.a couple of tracks that I sti ll feel stro nger than Carl . and today, I make second place." . . . . Corser wasn't sure if his Michelins would proveto be an advan- · I think hes a littte bit stronqeretacouple . Thebike'sworkrnq Bostrom was asked if he could tum this winning' thing into habit. ,tage come Sunday. " It' s hard to say,;" Co'rsersaid.' "On this cirwell and we 've pretty much got equal .equ ipme nt - so when he cuit, if you can spin the tire ,and g"t drive. it sort of heips you get . beats me, it"s down to, him and the s etup. that he' s got: when' ', "God, I hope so." Bostrom said.:" It'd make, this championship .around t he corners .' because they tighten ,up a litt le. If you can beat him, It 's my way . We 'll just wait and see. It' s going to be a , a lot easier to win. Gobert, (Mall M ladin and I are pretty muc h rear,wheel-steer the bike a bit , it' s easier.t o go' quick . ,I think' the ' long race tomorrow and I'm pretty sure .that Ben and Ant hony . tied, and bot h of thos e guys ride' really wel l. It' s going to be tight Dunlops are ahttle bit easier, to do t hat. The Michelins will. slide ; ' will be the ones 'to' beat. They 've ,done a race here ; a' long disand there's only three ' r~ces toqo. I have to beat them, basically." , but then grab. That' s what we' ve been work ing on with Michelin, tance, and race laps are important aro und here . We 'll waitand is to .qet a' consistent slide on the tire and get forward push. It's see .". . . ' .. Bostrom's ';";n also turns him into extremely hot property : both ' gelting 'better and bette r..ln .the past the Dunlop has alweys gone ' in the AMA Series andebroad. At the' end of the .season. his congood here:,Arit hony (Gobert) was hard tobeat on the Kawasaki . Before theseasons tart ed , Ca strol Honda's Colin Edwards : tract with ttl" Vance :g,Hines Ducati will expireand he's certem to ' 'here and it was obvious that the b ike was slower, but because'the predicted that he 'would Win' 10 races en route totakmq the W orld get call.... even from ,World Superbike teams. " II. I feel I'm ready tire was sPinni~g , he could keep the corner speed up 'coming out Superbike crown. Thus far he has -tw owms: " ! wanted to 'come to go and ,I get the right ride, I'll go ," Bostrom said. "O therwise , . the double right·hander s in partlcular.Jt depends on the' tempera- ' into this yearand win 10 races, " Edwards said. " But Fogarty just . I'd like to do another ye ar here . This is my .second season of ture a lotwith the Michelin. If it goes up five degrees,' we change . hasn't allowed me to do that. And some Germans haven't let me superbike raqing·a.rid I don't want to' go tooearly, (don' t want to ' toa diffe rent compo und· we've got t hat many ,diff erent com o do 'It. either; That' s racing." 'The Germans to wh ich Edwards,was ' ., race forfifth . I want to go over there and mix it up with the leaders , , pound s and .constructions, ,and sizes .' It get s a bit of a nighimare . referring were thecomer marshals 'w ho 'didn't have oil flags out at - so you try and use your head 'about that deal." . ., sometimes because we've got so much to choose from: We try ' . Nurburgring , and the Texan subsequently cras hed. to limit it dow n to a few and g'o oui and put as many laps as'possl- . , '. .' . , Ben's brother, Eric Bostrom .·'was happy for 'his brother, b~i h~ ' ble 'duri ng free practice and qualifying. I've done. that - about ' 14 . Yamaha's Jamie Hacking' ended up' eighth and 13th in the two " was n't, ove rly impressed wit h his own performance on, Sunday, , laps on a race tire :' and the lap times are still pretty good . W e'll · races , alter his second race was ruined by anoff- trac k excursion. The younqer .Bostromfinished l Othand seventh inthe two races , wait and see 'what the temperature's like tomorrow. It maybe a bit . "The ~rstleg was really good, " Hacking said. ," In the second .one, " " I'm really bumm tn' ,- Bostrom said , '" because every thing was . cooler and that would help. But, the tires don't seem to ,mind ,the I got dow n in there and backed it in 'and couldn't turn. so I had to working so good in pract ice. We we ren't fast on qualifying tires , high.temperatures, either -; we 've just got to pick the r ight one'and run off . i couldn't leam too ' much back. there running ,by ,'myself, " but we we re fast on race tires." figured we maynet be able to run it' ll wo rk fine." '. , " . . but J chose to do somediffe rent tire com pounds ir. the-second wit h Be'1 and Anthony.vbecause th ey see m likethey'r e a ste p race just to see what it was going to do - we w ent the wrong way.· ahead of everyo ne, but l l.elt like we should be.down with the r est Based 'on qualify ing , at least', T roy Cor~er saw the L aguna · . If I w ould have staye d .on, I prob ably cou ld ' have lived with the . .of the guys. I could do low 1:27s on' the race tire this morning, but .round as :a goo d place to begi n picki ng back points on charnpitires. but you can't give 'em that much.". . in the fi rst race lwent out there and we had noth ing - no traction. I onship leader Carl Fogarty , who w oul d start. both races from . don't have a ny idea why. We just didn't have the steering, We the fourt h ro w alter a disappoin ti ng Superpol e . " It' s one 'o f made-some changes in the second race and took a different angle thos e track s wh er e Carl (Fogarty) does struggle a little bit ," . on the chassis, and we 'got traction out of the' thing. But all week C or ser sai d. " The 'f irs t' day 'he was reasonably quick , -but it end I s truggled with running wide off 'corners. We were never able ' wasn' t as quic k as what we 're 'g olng now . The times wer e fairly , ·'to make 'it come good;" ' ,. a . . .' . . .. . en en en ~ ,9

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