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Wor ld Superbike Championship Round 5 : Monz a . It aly W ith the top two hogs at the trough i nti mida t ing Xaus b ac k t o .a two-secon d disadva ntage. w it h Hodg son a furth er .7 of a second behind . the fi na l b attl e wo u l d b e b etwe en Bayliss and Edwards . With four to go . Bay li ss struck the in si d e lip of th e ru m p le strip at Ascari with h is lo o sel y setup D ucati - hard enough to dislodge a part of it and sl o w him down little. E dwards took a .3 22 of a second lead over the l in e . with Hodg so n a si mil ar d istan c e from Xaus, but lining h im up. But d i sa st e r w a s t o beset b o t h when H odgs on ' s bi k e s topped and almost i m m ed ia te ly a ft e rw a rd Xaus c ras hed o ut , m u ch to t h e c ha g r in of his v isibly upset mentor. F o g arty . L avilla and Yanagawa , now racing for th ird. were h av ing a rea l sort out in front of Laconi. It ca me dow n to a battl e at the final co rne r between the leading ri ders . wit h E dw ard s trying to make his Honda go faster tha n t he Ducati down the last st raight toward the Parabolica. But Bayliss was having none of it . and when n e i t h e r rider would giv e ground easily . they resorted to elbow in g each other at full speed . And th e fa ct that neither rider had hard feelin g s about t he incident after the ra c e demonst r at es that t hey a re not just fr iends . but trusting ones . a lt h o u g h B a y li ss proved to b e the champ ion a rm w restler. Leading into the Pe r ab ol l c a , Bayliss just outdragged his r iv al t o take th e win. with Yan agawa tri u mphant in th e Kawasak i battle. RACE TWO An o il spill f rom a prev ious se s s io n , or possibly the classi c Guzzi parade laps, dela yed th e ra c e by 10 minutes . Rumors of Okada 's di slocat ed shoulder were proven to be f alse. as he roa red back to life on his Honda . but Bayliss took a fraught holeshot into and out of th e first chic an e . Toseland compounded h is d ay o f misery by having h is b ack end c o m e around at the Cu rva Grande. punting h im into the gravel upright. a lt ho ug h he fi na lly c rashed out as the tire wall app ro ach ed . A t th e front, the usual two sus pects we re ask ing searching ques - tha t wa s as p retty as a picture a s it sn ak e d a ro u nd Mo nza . sh immering th ro ug h the 8S -degree heat haze. T h e leading b u nch . no w very m uc h a qu art e t co m pr isi ng B a yl i s s. Edwards . O kad a and Ch ili . we re right o n it now. although none was to bett er E dwa r d s ' b est n e w l a p of 1:48.913 . wh ich was set in ra ce o ne. Hodgson . slugging a way to no great avail in eighth . due to a v ibrating b ike. watched in horror as Lavilla crashed at the Curva Grande . with the Spaniard under the bike as it finally b o u n c e d to a ha lt. Pi n n e d b y the ma ch in e, Lavilla had a luc k y esca pe from serious injury once the marshals freed him. B y lap 10. Corse r was glvmg u p w hen his b ik e d eveloped a vibrat io n a common complai nt at Monza this weekend . The race for the podiums, already won by B ayl iss as he broke the chas ing Edwards conv incingl y , if slow ly. a lso fe atu r ed a f ight betw e en Ch ili and Okada , althoug h Chili 's machine was unabl e to so mu ch a s dr aw alongside the Honda o f O k ada . w ho never rea li zed that Ch il i w as behind him for much of the race . Neither of t hem rea liz ed that the y were about to be mugged b ig t ime b y the ir e ventual shad ow . Y a na q a w a. who w a s sc orching through as b oth Okad a a n d Ch ili had exti ng ui s h ed th e ir best t ire g ri p. Pas sing Chil i o n the entra nc e t o th e first ch ica n e, Yanagawa then lined up Ok ad a at As ca ri a nd scorch e d th rou gh to take h is seco n d podi um with relativ e ease . B y then. B ayl i s s h a d won it a nd o nly h ad t o kee p on keepi ng o n to ev en tually triu mph . w it h the fina l race o rde r : B a ylis . Edward s . Y a na qawa , O k ad a . Ch ili . Xa us , H o d g son , a nd La c on i. It w as a real fight at t he beginn in g - a r eal sh ow of pow er . speed a n d st re ngth at t he en d . CN Autodramo Nazionale dl Monza Monza.Italy Results: May 13. ZOOI QUAUFYING: I. Troy Baylis. ( 1:48 .649); 2 . Ne ll Hodgson ( 1:48.70 1); 3 . Ak ira Yeneqew e ( 1:48.812 ); 4 . Ben Bostr om (1 :4 8. 8 3 7 ) ; 5 . Coli n Edward s (1 :48.842); 6. Troy Corser (1 :48.96 0): 7. Alessandro Antonello (1:49 .525 ); 8 . Ruben Xaus ( 1:4 9.830 ); 9 . Pier Francesco Chili ( 1:49. 869 ); 10 . Regis La con! ( 1:4 9 .9 44) ; 11. Tadayuki Okada ( 1;5 0. 0 4 9 ): 12 . Gregorio Lav ille ( I :5 0. 3 29 ); 13 . Jam es Toseland ( 1:5 0 .6 00) ; 14 . Lucio Pedereini ( I :5 0. 6 6 5); 15 . Stephane Chambon (1:51. 476 ); 16. Ma rco Borclen l ( 1:5 1.4 81 ); 17. Robert U1m (1:50 .53 4) ; 18. Giovanni Bussei (1 ;51. 064 ); 19 . Steve Martin (1 ;51.153); 20 . t ions of each o ther, wi th a posse of ri ders just b eh i n d . Chili was a m o n g them . sprinti ng from the start like he was coiled u p . Another It al i a n . A n to nello , sloshed a rou nd the front g ro u p until his mach ine expired on lap five . by which time t h e race order was : Edwards. Bayliss . Okada . Chili , Xaus and Yanagawa . C o r se r . m e a n w h i l e , was toi ling aw a y t o n o great effect with what were a m yri a d of pro b le ms on h i s mach ine , and h e w a s d own in seventh - in a loose frei g ht tra in of rid er s Ma ur o Sa nchini ( 1:5 1. 19 8 ): 2 1. Paol o Bl ora 18 MAV23,200 1 • n eye I e (1 :51.344); 22. Juan Bora ( 1:5 1.4 54 ); 23. Betrand j Stey (1 :5 1.6 27) ; 24 . Alex Gramigni (1:5 1.7 11); 25. M ichele Ma late sta ( 1:5 2. 16 3 ) ; 26 . Martin Craggill ( 1;5 2.2 17) ; 27 . Broe Parkes ( 1:52 .64 1); 28 . Lud ovie Hoion ( 1:52.930 ); 29 . Serafino Foti ( 1;53 .406) ; 3 0 . Luca Pasini (1:53 .406 ); 31. Jiri Mrkyvka (1: 53 .9 77); 32 . Arai Shuja (1 ;55. 44 2 ). RACE ONE: 1. Tr oy Bay liss ( D ue): 2 . Colin Edwards ( Hon) ; 3 . Akira Ye n e q e w e ( Ka w) ; 4 . Gregorio Levllle (Kaw) ; 5 . Regis Laeoni ( A pr); 6 . Ste phe ne Chambon (Suz); 7. Lucio Pedercini (Due); 8. Giovanni Bus se! (Due); 9 . Mauro Sanehini (Due); 10. Marco Borcteni (Due) ; 11. Betra nd Stey (Hon); 12. Alex Grllm igni (Yem): 13. .Juen Borja (Yam); 14. Pier Francesco Chili (Suz); 15. Lud ovic Holan (Kaw); 16. Luc a Pasini (Due) . TIme: 32 mi n. 55 .293 sees. Distance: 64 .54 miles Average speed: 117.62 mph Margin of victory: .06 6 Fastest lap: 1:48. 9 13, Lap 9, Colin Edwards e vv s \!ll@flD@] &)®[j)@!flB[j)@!Jft WDiJilfJDiJ fiJ!JlJD WDiJil[j)0 9@!JlJD Ja mes Whit ham too k a stunning win at the very last com er after the usual classic multi- rider war a round the 3.5 9- m ile circuit , where cutt hroat battles have been th e ke yn ot e during the Sup er sport y ears. His Yamaha Belgarda t ea m mate Paolo Casoli finished second , after a last-corner pass that was per f ec tl y clean on the way into the corner bec am e some wha t messy on the way out. Third was Karl Mug ge ridge . tak ing his first podium finish of the year on his A lstare Suzuki, but only after surviving a few moments of pure fear and occasional loathi ng . Howe ver . all the ma ny combatants seemed to come out of the race sm iling and happy. Astonis hingly . there were no crashes at the awful first chica ne. whi ch was exite d first by Casoli and Whitham on the opening lap - with both men desperate to do well at their employer's home circui t. Back in the blue -and-green colo rs they had debuted in qualifying. they traded the lead for a whil e. with Casoli back in front at the exit of Ascari after an impudent nip past by Whitham on the entrance to the second chican e. Chris Verm eulen . one of the m any Monza rookies who could not quite take in the scope and scale of the whole place at their first visit. ran off the track on the second lap with the assistance of his countryman Adam Fergusson . it has to be said. He retired one lap later. Muggeridge was deeply moved by the Monza experience - so moved that he rode like thund er throughout. clashing into all his Supersport buddies in a gentle manner on more than one occasion. Fabien Foret. using his tempora rily invin cibl e speed from his Ten Kate Honda. ran past the lot every time a straight appeared ; much like his teamm ate Pere Riba. Th e magnificent sight of six closely matched Supersport bikes breaking formation and running abreast into the first com er was one that was apparent on many of the 16 laps. and never failed to take the breath away. Foret thr eatened to upset this beaut iful sym metry som ewhat when he made one 10yard break . from Mugg eridg e. with the following seven riders all with in one second of each oth er. Andrew Pitt and Macpherson. runnin g hard in ta ndem and starting from the low er reaches of the top 10. j oined the wake of the top group just as they started to drop Christ ian Kellner. albeit temp oraril y. _ On lap six. a disaster for the Ten Kate Team cam e with the retirement of Riba. joint points leader going into the race. His machin e sputt ered and died at the exit of the Ascari Chicane. leaving the Spaniard visibly distraught at his poor fortun e. By this stage , the top four - Foret . Whit ham . Muggeridge and Casoli - were a group on their own. with the Kawasaki boys and the rapidly advan cing Jorg Teuchert runn ing fast laps to catch up, as did one-time leader Vitto Guareschl, suffering from an overheatin g engine and overcooke d tires. By the last few laps. th e top of the tr ee was looki ng like it would be reach ed by Whitham. Foret. Muggas, Guareschi and Casol i with the Kawasaki and Wilbers Yamaha roadshow just 2.5 seconds behind. Foret made a m ess of the first chicane at mid race. allowin g Guareschi and the rest to close up menacing ly. By lap 13. with thr ee to go, Foret suddenly took his foot off the peg whil e taking his turn to lead. signali ng that he had a problem . Dropping back like a sto ne. he was to retire shortl y after, ending the alm ost perfect start to the season enjoyed by the Dut ch tuning house. Christian Kellner was next to go , losing the front at the exit of the second Lesmo, as he tried to get back on terms . In the final analysis it all came down to a last- lap sort out in which Whitham and Casoli made enough of a team effort to break the tail " ing riders enough to conc entrate on fighting only each other for the win. With Casoli a little too deep on the entry to the final tricky com er. Whitham stayed tigh t, powered on and took his first win since Au stralia last season, giving himself im measurable confidence after some drastic bad luck and seemingly mysterious crashes. ' Paolo and I have been helping each other . first at Sugo - where I got unlucky - and now here at Monza. and it showed," Whitham said. "I ju st wanted to be in with a chance going into the last com er. and when Paolo went past me that could have been that. But he made a little mistake and I capitalised on that. It's a great feeling to win again after so long off the podium - esp ecially to do it here in fro nt of all the Yamaha Belgarda personne l." It was Casoli who took the biggest prize. how ever - the cha mpionship lead, by a clea r margin of eigh t points fro m Pitt, who is more than a dark horse this season. Riba has now t umbled to thi rd in the sta ndings with Kevin Curtain. who only scored two points with his 14th. now fourth.