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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128107
Hodg son (1 0 01, Chili (41, and Corser (31 battle in race two. C h ili shad ow ed Ho dgso n u n til lap 22, when Hodgson m ade a m istak e allow ing C h il i t o sneak b y and take the win. Co rse r finish ed third i n race two after a d ismal 11th place in ra ce one. B y G ORDO N R IT CHIE PHOTOS BY GOLD [, GOOSE DONINGTON PARK, ENGLAND, MAY 27 n a da y when Wor ld Supe rbike racing came back to its a dopted and no w spiritua l home, it wa s fitti ng t ha t a t least o n e of t h a t c o un try's s ons wo uld trium ph in front of a partisan , if sporting, crowd. One local (and one honora ry local) strode onto the top two podium steps; Eng la nd 's very own Neil Hodgson and his GSE Ra ci ng Ducati and perennially popula r Italian rider Pier-Francesco Ch ili on the Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki. C h ili is almost considered to be British to the UK fans , so many t im e s has he performed minor miracles for h is present Suzuki and previous Du c a t i World Superbike teams in Brita in. His win, in fact , possibly overshadow ed that of Hodgson , because the GS E Racing man 's 25 points were at le a st expected. Or a realistic ambition a t least. Chili's win. after a serious dearth of results this season, was far from expected. even by him . "I did not believe it was possible to make this win this weekend." he confirmed . "We have had problems with the bike and maybe we will still have problems with the bike. But 1 love Don ington. And 1gave it 110 percent. The ra cing has been great today and 1 can't wait to see my win on TV." Hodgson 's v ictory came after a strong d isplay of front running once he had ov ercome e a rly le a de r Colin Edwards . and he was roared on to the dominant perfo rm a nc e by a large hol iday -weekend c ro wd - a ll of whom had been roasted on th e sp it of the O sun o n Fr ida y and S at urda y, and then was he d b y the rains on S u n d a y morning. "I'm de lighted to have a race win under m y be lt, e s p ecially in fron t of m y ho me crowd and te a m sponsor s ." sa id a relie ved Hodgson . "I'm re a lly looking forw a rd to th e ne xt round in Germany. I've had a good look at the circuit ma p of the Lausitzring and will be testing there next Wednesday . 1 can 't wait to win again ." Hodgson even admitted to letting Troy Corser th rough temporarily in race two . "I was relieved when Troy pa ss ed me because I was tense before that and I was able to relax and get back into my rhythm. 1 ha d a s mall p rob lem with my clutch . which affected my down sh ift ing , so I wasn't as smooth in the second race as I was in the first. Apart from that . it was a good race. I reall y enjoyed battling it out with Frankie [Ch ili] and Troy . When I made the mi stake at the Mel- bourne Lo o p . then I was wa itin g for Frankie to do the same. so I could get ahead of hi m - bu t it wasn't to be ." With o verc as t we a t her c o mi ng after two d ay s of strong sunsh in e . tires . it trans pired . we re t o playa b ig part in the d ay 's p roceed ings agai n - a nd not ju st in t he dampish first race. The open ing event was a bit of a rubbe r lottery for the most part. noth ing less than a suck -it -u p -and -see operation for some of the top te a m s . T ho s e on Du nlops tended to choose wisely . those o n Mic heli ns chose - or guesstimated - wrong . Thus the early fron t -runners . Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss. ta iled -off a s their intermed iate fron ts chewed up on the dry line . allowing th e rest of the leading hounds to run them to the grou nd . "I got good starts in each race , bu t 1 re ally struggled ou t there today: sa id a d iplomatic Bayl iss . "After five laps . things started goi ng down hill. The problem was that we had d ifficulty getting the right setup all weekend. At least we c a me out with our points lead intact. " Cor s e r was in a similar position o n h is Dun lop s , c hoosing an int e rmed iate / in te rm e d ia t e com bina t io n that relegated him early. " G e t ti ng a p o d iu m agai n w a s good . I was co nte nt to s it a nd fo llow and t h e n t ry to make a n a tta c k a t the end of the race - but by then m y tires were spi nning so I co uldn 't stay with Neil a n d Frankie ." sa id Corser. "T he idea is still the same, to be number one at the end of the year . W ith Ba y liss ha v ing an o ff day, t h e result is that we a re no w 17 po int s d ow n a n d 1 inte n d to redu c e that ma rg in e ven further in the next ro und ." Ch ili wa s the odd m a n out, somehow m a k ing h is in te rm e dia t e front t ire work a t o ne of his favorite circ uits . Chili's victory in race two wa s his first this year and came shortly after his second place in race one gave him his first podium of the season . Relieved , happy. jo king . Chili was in his element for t h e first ti m e in 2001, a lmost running into the ba ck of Hodgson as he bided his ti me to overtake him in the second race . The fairy ta le s contin ued for Ste ve His lop, who ran h is Monster mob Duca ti into th ird p lace in race on e . after qualify ing on pole and the n win ning S u p e r p o le . A silly m is t a k e almost made him crash , b ut riding like the 250cc rider he used to be, he took h is sweet-handl ing Duke to the podium - to the unbrid led de ligh t of Chili c hases polesitter St ev e Hi sl o p , Bostrom, Bayliss and Corser at the start of race two. Ch ili set the f astest la p of the ra c e on lap ten as he worked his way throu gh the fi eld, eventually takin g his first v icto ry of the season. cue I e n e _ S • J UNE 6 . 2001 15