Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

o f a priv a t e e r m a c h in e co m e to J a p a n an d left w ith anyt hing . Hodgso n, o n this oc cas io n , l eft wi t h a w hole ra k e of points for h is se ve nt h an d fi ft h -p la ce f in ish es, w ith h is fifth ac tu ally a net se cond , and ahead o f C o rser. " Th,!t' s abo ut as g ood a rid e a s we've h ad all year in race two ," Ho d g son sa id. "T he Dun lo p s we c h ose really worked . I h a d a g rea t fr ont tire esp ec ia lly a nd th at let m e go as fast as I cou ld ; ga ve me g rea t confi dence . A great day r ea ll y , esp eci a lly t o be si xth and seventh wh en t here were so m an y f ac tory wi ld - c a rd r id ers wh o know th e ci rc uit reall y we ll. " H i s t ea mmate, J am e s T o seland , perfo rm ed hi s o w n g ia nt-k i ll ing act when h e beat C olin E dw ard s to t he 1!lJ@{lD@) @G!J[JJ@!PS[JJ@f?{J @DiJ&JDlJD[JJ5@ DiJ5[JJ !JD0 @CfJr;)@Dil @@@r;) D 71 There was no chance of a local causing an upset at Sugo, not with the visit ors on such devastatin g and brilliant form, even tho se who failed to finish . Lik e J ames Whitham, who set a new lap record of 1:33 .616 before the seat unit one of his rivals had crashed into on the drag from the flag came so loose that it chafed through the wiring loom and halted Whitham ' s progress altogether. A parti cular shame, as Whitham was on for at least a topthree finish, It was to be a happy day for the Belgarda Yama ha team nonetheless because their other rider, Paolo Casoli, swept to the win in beautiful styl e. Fastest after qualifyin g, Casoli was first to the first com er and carried on from there in classy style , never putt ing a foot wrong . If awards were given for effortless speed and style , then Casoli would be the clear winner every week . "It has been a great day for me, " Casoli said. "My plan was always to get into the lead and try to mak e a break and it worked out. I was totally unawar e of what was happening behind me. It is too early to worry about the championship , but I know that m any of the circuits com ing up will suit my style - espec ially the next one at MoOla." Even the second -place m an, Jorg Teuchert, could not stay with in spitting distance of the Italian, Neither could Piergiorgio Bont emp i, but for anoth er reason. Whil e atte mpting to m atch Casoli blow for blow, Bontemp i was right with his old sparring partn er unti l lap 12, when he lost the apex of the first corner. Buri ed in th e gravel, his Yam aha refused to restart, leaving him helpless, Behind them, Whith am and Teuchert were squaring up every few laps, as the Englishman's bik e start ed cutting out, dropping him back, then chim ing in , pulling him forward again. His exit, just after Bont empi on lap 13 , cam e at the chicane , leaving the race in a very different complexion from where it began. Now the battle behind, which featured seven riders in a rough-and-tumb le wrestling mat ch, with very little hair pulling and spitting in the early stages, becam e a battle for a podium place, eventually won by Andrew Pitt. Clearly being held up by the Ten Kate Hon das of Pere Riba and Fabien Foret, Pitt was chewinq away at their tail units for mu ch of the race, eventually spearing past Riba on lap 17, and finally making it stick two laps later. The follo wing group - Pere Riba, Foret, Kevin Curta in, Fabrizio Pirovano , Christ ian Kellner and Karl Muggeridg e - started to get ph ysical toward the last few laps, The m ain winner prov ed to be Riba, who got past his teammate and gapped him shortly after Pitt moved on up , although Muggeridge was no shrinking vio let either . Thirteenth on lap one, Muggeridge fought his way to the back of the peleton, passing one rider after anoth er until he was left with a target on the side of Curtain 's Honda at the chicane on lap 21. Almost block passing as he went under him , Muggeridg e unsettled Curta in enough to mak e his pass secure and took fifth place to match his race number. Curtain, shaken but not too stirred , finished sixth, two vital places behind Riba. Sharing the points lead with the Spaniard before the race at Sugo, Curt ain now finds himself a smidg en adrift. 49 -46 , One rider who really eam ed his com was Pirovano, surviving a horribl e crash in prac tice to ride like a fit 19-year-old come race day. Agg ressive as always , the veteran Italian came away seventh , one place ahead of Foret. Th e leader of the ma in group for a long period of tim e, Foret came in for some grief after the race from Riba for holding things up and allowinq those forward of them to m ake their escapes. Kellner, com plaining about the oth er riders blockin g his natural ridin g sty le, finished -at the tail of the roll ing m aul for the last top-10 position. On his own, lain Macpherson got stuck behind another rider on his opening lap and watche d helplessly as several riders got past him . Fighting through, he got to 10th at the halfway poin t, but could go no furth er forward and finished the race 30 -seco nds down on Casoli. p u nch in ra ce o ne . " It was great to overtake an d beat the reignin g c ham pion , even if it was o bvio us he w as in t ro ub le," th e y o ung Brit said . " I managed to o ve rt ake lots of t he other rid ers [with ] no p roblems ." Ro be r t Ul m wa s i n t roub l e on ce more , o ut o f the p o int s in race o ne , a nd ret ir in g wi th a b r o k en c l utch i n race t w o . "I st ill ha ve n o g ood feeling from th e fro n t here a nd it is a very fron t h eav y c i rc u i t. M y c l u t c h w a s n o t wo rk ing pro pe rl y , and th er e was no th in g I c o u ld d o w ith it on th e o v er run , H o p efull y , we c a n h av e som e g ood speed at Monz a and we wi ll be com pe t it ive there." O n e t h i n g a ll the t op rid e rs affi rm ed was t h at , once aga in , t h e y were g lad to ge t o ut of Suqo . In Corser' s cas e , unsca t hed. In Edw ards ' c a se , ps yc hol ogica lly d amaged , b ut h e a d h igh . In Ba y li s s ' c ase, near d estroy ed, a nd impatient t o g et h is co nfid ence b ac k . " I d on 't k now wh y we were so sl ow today , " Ba yliss sa id . " T h e r e is defi nitely a probl em at th is track w it h the ti res , especia lly as th er e are so many fas t Ja p anese riders w ith k nowl ed g e o f th e tra ck and all the t i re co m po und s th e y us e , D un lop s ee m t o ha ve so m an y in p u t s fr om so ma n y rid ers in every series in the w orld , bu t we 've o n ly go t i n p u t f ro m thre e or fo ur rid ers ," It was a t ruly grim day for t he fac tory Du ca ti b oys , with Xau s p u ttin g th e ici ng o n the c a ke w ith a dou b le n o score o f p o ints . Wh en yo u' r e. down , y ou 're re a lly d own . RACE ON E In fl ag rant v io lat io n of th e rul e tha t st ates th at all r id ers must ta ke their helmets off o n t he grid , Tro y C orser on c e agai n k ept h is fi rm ly on, H e w a s th e fi r st r id e r t o hi t th e f r on t of t he f ie ld , l eading B ostrom and the th r e e Kawasak is o f lzutsu , Y an ag aw a and S erizawa i n t o t he first la p, cycle Wo rld Champion Co lin Edwards (1) strugg le d all weekend at Sugo, finishing 12th and 13th In the two ra ces. James Toseland (52), on the GSE D ucati, finished 11th in race one ahead of both of the Infostrada facto ry Ducatis. On l a p on e , Ya n a g a w a w a s stra ight o ff at the exit of Horseb a c k corner , h urt ing h is el bow an d depriv in g hi m sel f o f t he c ha nce to sh ine at home , Izutsu w as afte r so me of th at g lo ry w i t h a mo ve up th e i n sid e o f B o strom , j us t prec ed ing t urn o ne o f la p two . Afte r o nly o ne lap , the ru nni ng o rde r w as C orser , Bos tro m , lzu t su , Tam ada , Ry o , Ser izawa , Edwards, L ac o n i and La v ill a . M au r o San ch in i w as o ut of t h e ra c e in sho rt o rder, not starting w ith the rest but com ing o ut to p lay later an d com p let ing 2 0 la ps , Ta ma d a , th e m an o n the m ove in eve ry p ossi bl e w ay, li n ed himsel f up b e h ind Cors e r a nd w a s po i se d t o strike fro m ear ly on in t he fou rt h la p , w he n the lea de rs ha d r es huffl e d th ems e lves i nto a g ro u p o f C o rser , T a mada , I z u ts u , Ry o , S e riz a wa , Bostrom, Edw ard s , Laco n i , L a v ill a, H o d g s o n , a nd lo ne Yama ha p il o t Wataru Yosh ikawa . W i t h Cor se r pass ed b y T am a da aft er l eav i n g a gap fo r him on lap fiv e , lzutsu m o v ed still closer to th e lead in g duo . A la p of 1.30, 0 24 o n lap f ive started st re tc h i n g T am ad a 's lead slowl y a nd in a cont roll ed fas h io n , w ith the resu lt no w a fo rma li ty , barring shoc k s that we re not t o come . E v en wh en d ipp in g into the 1:2 9 m ark , T a m ad a was nowhere near th e lim it , lo o kin g ca lm a nd assured but m o stl y sma ll e r in th e v iew o f t h o se be h ind h im , G iovan n i B u sse i ti p p ed o ff o n lap nine , re joined th e ra ce only to retire shortly thereafter , t hen pull o ut. Ser izawa a nd Ry o were, b y t hi s st a ge , having a f ig ht at th e fi rst c o r ner, wi th Serizawa making a mista k e n e _ s MAY 9 , 200 1 1 1

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