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/128096
World Championship Superbike Series Round 1 : Circuito Ricardo ormo A superb Superpole competition h..d it ..II . tricky track conditions, rookies upsetting the established order, crashes, ne..r-crashes and a favorite who came good in the final analysis. The fact that fastest qualifier Troy Corser took his rejuven..ted Aprili.. to the Superpole win, his 26th World Superbike pole position ..nd his fifth on the Aprilia, was no surprise at 1lI1, but the f..ct th..t his te..mmate Regis Laconi was the man to beat by th..t stage was something of a major upset. A happy one for the Aprilia team, who could have only expected a result like that to come from the realms of fantasy. The high wind and dusty track held many of the top riders back in their charge toward a potential front-row position, none more so than Colin Edw..rds - although his third-place finish was a minor achievement in itself after the serious setup problems he had been experiencing - especially on day one. Sweeping almost all before him came GSE Racing privateer Neil Hodgson, in his team's first competitive qualifying sessions outside its native land. Only 12th after regular qualifying, Hodgson's lap was almost steady compared to some others, even though he lost time with smllli mistakes. Charging aw..y to a fine fifth was Ben Bostrom, who looked like he wanted to go fast on his L&M Duc..ti, after having many problems in his practice sessions, including a crash on the opening day. . "' didn't expect to make a time like that after some of what's h..ppened this weekend, but it's given me good motivation to ride hard in the races: Bostrom said. With a rash of near·crashes, induding an excellently saved front-end push from Robert U1m, there had to be one rider down at least, and that proved to be Giovanni Bussei, tuck· ing and crashing the front of his DucatJ on the dip at the entry to the final comer. His crash did not, however, require the instigation of the new Superpole rules, as Bussei was outside the top eight and, bec..use he was dropping no lower than one row from where he stBrted, he w..s destined to line up 16th in any case. The naked-aggression aw..rd must surely go to complete Superpole virgin J ..mes Toseland, who attacked the circuit with his first-ever set of full-on qualifying Dunlop!. (Lettl Last year's BrttIsh Superblke champion Nell HocIpon (100) ntCOVered from his ..--one crash to post • ftfth piece In the second leg. • Stuck in their respective grooves, Lavilla and Edwards spent the last 18 laps holding station in fifth and sixth places. Stephane Chambon scored six points for ninth place on his Superbike debut, just ahead of Steve Martin's Pirelli-sponsored private Ducati, making the Aussie rider top privateer. A costly venture, the first race saw 11 riders either crash or retire early. A collision with Austrian backmarker Johann Wolfsteiner almost robbed Corser of his race win right at the very end, but despite losing time, Corser held on for the 25 points. RACE 2 Two race wins, the Superpole win, a new lap record (set in race one) and the World Championship lead made Corser's Valencia experience a perfect one, as the 1996 Champion smashed the opposition once more. To complete Aprilia's joy, Mr. Ivano Beggio, the owner of Aprilia, was at Valencia to see his numberone rider's success, proving wrong all those who said the pressure brought on by his paternal presence would be the kiss of failure. For one of his riders, at least, it may have been, with Laconi taken out by Okada, whose loss of concentration made him slam into the back of the turning Frenchman, ending his race. Having seized the lead on lap one and held it for the entire 23-lap race distance, Corser was, however, untouchable by force or persuasion, to the point of almost crashing at the end when he closed the throttle a little too early as he cruised to victory. His six-second margin of victory underlined the dominance of his Aprilia/DunJop combination at Valencia, with no other rider able to make a realistic challenge for the whole race. Bayliss had to wait until the last la ps to shake off the chasing Lavilla, who gave Kawasaki a more-than-welcome podium finish in front of a Spanish crowd as he slithered around on his four-cylinder. The top Spanish Superbike rider in each race, Lavilla was cheered all the way home by his adoring public. Another almost processional race was lightened by the occasional force majeurs going on when faster riders appeared in the slipstream of slower ones. Lavilla, bored of waiting for Bayliss to pass Edwards, nipped past the Aussje and lined up the Texan with an attempt at the last corner. Failing in his mission, running a little wide, he merely allowed Bayliss to pass Edwards, who was struggling on out-of-whack suspension settings. His Castrol Honda teammate Okada crashed out after hitting the rear of Regis Laconi's machine. The only cloud on Aprilia's Spanish horizon proved to be the subsequent exit of Laconi. Neil Hodgson's more restrained approach to the first few laps of this race culminated in a safe and assured fifth place, with an equally impressive ninth coming from his young rookie SBK teammate James Toseland. Bostrom had one of the mo:;t peculiar race performances on (Left) Tecleyuld 0kecIe hecI • _kend to forget. After retiring with mechanical problems In race one, he slammed Into Aegis Leconl In race two, ending both of their races. (Below) Nell Hodgson, lest year's BrttIsh Superblke champion, gets some ecIvlce from four-time Worfd Superblke Champion Carl Fogerty. n __ s