Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

~) Ben Bostrom petti congratulates Troy Corser after race _ . Corser took a dominating win, wh Ie Bostrom just miuecl second place behind Troy Bayliss by .088 of a second. not push him into the clutches of Troy Two and the rest of his would-be conquerors. "Troy rode really well, so good luck to him, but I had two pretty good rides today," said a realistic, if defiant Bayliss. "My bike was backing into turns a lot after we changed the clutch between races, and it took me until about two-thirds through the second race to really get into the groove. Then I got away from Gregorio [La villa). Troy proved that the Aprilia was strong last year, and it looks to be a bit better this year." By contrast, Corser and Aprilia's stellar performances were not mirrored by the Honda boys, Colin Edwards and Tady Okada, even on a day when all the big twins appeared to have a strong upper hand. With 'electrical' problems afflicting Edwards in qualifying and Okada in one race, and Edwards simply unable to get his VTR sorted in terms of setup, even in the last 23-lapper, the Castro! team gave the signs of not being ready for the season, despite testing as often as most others over the winter. Inaccurate signs maybe, but a World Championship-winning team they did not appear to be at Valencia. "We chose wrong in race one," Edwards said. "The machine was just too soft, and it was at its worst for the second half of the race. It was a bit scary. I was braking hard, the rear end started to come round, and I had to use the rear brake. Last year I had a fourth and a fifth, so fourth and a sixth this year is not so bad." Okada did inflict some damage on the Aprilia team, however, clattering into Regis Laconi as the Frenchman was struck from behind by one of his opponents for the second time in a few hours. "It was my mistake," admitted the Superbike rookie. "Once I got ahead of Hodgson, Laconi was turning in front of me, and I couldn't miss him. I hurt my shoulder a little bit, but other than that, I'm fine." It was a sad end to a strange day for laCON, but even in his first race, even at the track where he won his only 500cc GP, Laconi looked like a real Superbike rider, or at least a close replica of one. With more races under his belt, he may even prove to be a true challenger. As may, finally, Gregorio Lavilla, who had two good rides, one verging on excellent, to take his first podium of the year in some style as he harried Bayliss on firm ground for the twin-cylinder runners. His home fans' volume may have helped, but on previous results, Spanish Superbike riders tend not to shine in front of their partisan compatriots. His results will no doubt dispel the misery of crashing at Valencia in preseason testing in 2000, breaking his wrist. The other podium place went to Ben Bostrom, who had a great first race and a terrible second one, forming a shadow under Bayliss' rear cowling right to the bitter end of race one. What better place to form opinions on the merits of the Dunlop Ducati versus the Michelin Ducati? "There didn't seem to be too much difference between my Dunlops and the Michelins," a subdued Bostrom said after race two. "Troy is about 10 kilos [22 pounds] lighter than me, so he could get a bit more drive as the bikes go upright. But they're both good tires. I'm really disappointed about race two, but with all the things that have happened this weekend - at least we've got it out of the way and can look forward to Kyalami." His bizarre black-flag retirement, when he mistook his second black flag of the race for a call to retire altogether, summed up what was a weird meeting for him, with one or two very high points punctuated by frequent lows. It must have been catching, as Neil Hodgson was similarly afflicted and blessed by Lady Luck, who threw him from his machine after he displayed a case of early-lap over-eagerness in race one and allowed him to make suitable amends with a top-five finish in the second race. With Hodgson's younger and less experienced teammate James Toseland scoring one crash (after being pinged by Stephane Chambon and bonged by Ludovic Holon) and one fine ninth place, it was a strange introduction to World Racing for the GSE Racing team, still without much in the way of title sponsorship. Frankie Chili's pair of subdued sevenths were a fair reward for his incredible efforts to make his new Suzuki behave itself during practice, with the newly blonde Italian spending endless days in conference with his pit crew, and spending two races riding hard for the best results he could get. An equally good invisible man was Akira Yanagawa, who managed an eighth and a fifth and complete anonymity aU at once, even if he left Valencia inside the top five overall championship positions. There's life yet in the old Kawasaki men and machines then, but Hitoyasu Izutsu, flattering in practice, deceived in the race, fmishing ninth and crashing out with privateer Thierry Mulot on lap two of race two. Ruben Xaus, challenging hard, crashed out hard in the opening race after 13 laps spent in good positions. Too good, maybe, as he was distracted by Edwards overshooting a comer before binning off. Not a bad showing (Abovel Troy Bayliss (211 leads Ben Bostrom (1551, and Regis Laconi (551 In race one. Bayliss had a good w_kend, finishing second In both races. Bostrom had an up-and-elown day. He was on the podium (thIrd) In race one, and then retired in race two after a confusing second black flag led him to believe that his race was over. cue I _ n e _ S • MARCH 21. 2001 21

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