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World Superbike Championship Round 2: Kyalami, South Africa Troy Bayliss (211 leads Colin Edwards (11, Troy Corser (31. and Ben Bostrom (155) at tile start of raee one. Even a, pre-race war of words (blown out of all recognizable proportion because of the sensitivity of racial politics in South Africa) was forgotten come race day, as the 79,000 weekend spectators settled down to watch the proceedings. Sadly for all, race one was something of a dull affair, and was a competition that did not grace the setting with a worthy spectacle. It was absolutely no one's fault, of course, with all the rid- By GORDON RITCHIE PHOTOS BY GOLD AND GOOSE JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, APR. 1 n terms of pleasant places in which to go racing, Kyalami is a pretty fine choice, whether you are a spectator, a rider, or anyone else. The combination of Kyalami's superb topography, welcoming locals, improved track runoff and a good-sized crowd always makes for an event worth watching. I ers giving their blood, sweat and tears in the usual volume, and offering up a few high points of interest. But, compared to last year's three-way rolling riot between a fueled-up Haga, Edwards and Fogarty, race one was a tad flat. Colin Edwards wasn't complaining, as he romped to a win ahead of the Troy boys, Bayliss and Corser. Blasting to the lead after half distance in race two, it looked like Edwards was about to repeat his statistical double win from last year, and would continue Kyalami's incredible double winning record books (with Edwards in 2000, Fogarty in 1999 and Chili in 1998 all taking two race wins in one day). His engine didn't want to double up, however, and refused to agree with the masters of Edwards' proposed destiny, as it broke before he could put truly clean air between himself and long-term race-two leader Ben Bostrom. "I don't know what happened to the bike in race two, but it just went kaput," Edwards said. "I know it wasn't an electrical problem. I suppose it's possible to look on the bright side and say that, 'well, we won a race.'" . . . ., . (1)puIlec1 ~ to win race one by almost two s.conds In front of BayJI s (211. _ _.4IJI-~-- 6 APRIL 11. 2001 • cue • e n e _ os And Edwards was the lucky one in the Honda pit, because both his teammate's (Tadayuki Okada) engines broke in the races. Honda even gently admitted its engine woes this time around, although no specific details were given. The particular component to blame, rumored to be lighter crankshafts and an oil-supply problem, is all"flost irrelevant; the frequency of failure quite astonishing for a company of Honda's engineering pride. Especially because Okada suffered another engine breakage in practice. Electrical problems they do not have. So, despite winning a race - nay dominating a race - the Castrol Honda team came away from a race meeting with more problems than they arrived