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/128109
A great result for Bro c Parkes was o n th e cards , un t i l h i s gea r lever b ro k e in ra ce two wh en he w as lyi ng i n t h ird pl a ce - a pla c e e arned th e hard w ay - a s he w as o n ly seventh o n th e first lap. But even allowing for th e p roblems all the top r iders ov er came , w ith varying degrees of fortitude , th e overriding imp ression o f the f irst t ri p of the WSB j uggernaught to the L ausitz speedb o wl was of lad y luck weaving her way th ro ugh the ranks in her fi ck l e fa s hio n as usual , sp re a di n g h er g o od fo rt une o n ly to th e select few . W ith th e ex pect ed c lose ra ci n g n ever qu ite m at erial izing , a n d t he re be in g only two realistic pl ac es to p ass on th e entire trac k , m aybe m y o utlook is fla wed by t he misera ble weather and the la ck of Monza or even D o n ingt o n - style la y out and atmosphere . But thi s w as more of a magnificently restrained whimper of a weekend t ha n th e hop ed-fo r ba ng . But if th e n e t result- was to k eep the c ha m p io ns hip battle al ive, th en it w as a success . RACE 1 Little d id w e know th at th ere would b e a st art d e la yed b y so met hi n g as m ed i o cre as a sta ll ed b i k e o n the startin g grid. Stalled permanently , in thi s case , a s La villa wa s forc ed t o return to p itlane a nd ta ke h is sp are Kawasa ki out in race o ne . The short d elay w as o f so m e co nse- q ue nce, in that th e rac e was ru n over 23 laps , due to the ex t ra lap req u ired fo r o ne fi nal extra war m-up lap . Edwards d eli ve r ed on his sea so n long confidence to take a controlled and st art -to - fi n ish wi n o ve r the chas ing rid ers ; initially Hodgson an d final ly the slow- st artin g B ayl iss . Pursued in th e ea rly lap s by Hodg son , who fad ed to ei g ht h as h is rear t ire went off, E d w a rds won th e ra c e by a margin o f 0.663 sec o nds , ev en after c omin g u nd e r p res su r e fro m Ba y liss o n th e last few la p s. Ba ylis s w a s on tr u l y sp ar kl ing form , se t t i ng the fa stest la p of th e r a c e on lap eight , w ith a n e w lap record t ime of 1:40.599, a time which wou ld surv iv e t he da y , a lthough it was slow er than Ste ve M a rt in 's fastest - ev er b i k e l a p o f the Laus itz c ircu it, set in un officia l q u a li fyi ng . The r e ha v ing b een n o Superbik e race at Lausitz be fore , t he fastest lap o f rac e o ne w as alwa y s d estined to b e the n ew la p- record ma rk for everyone to c h ase , uns u cc essf u ll y later o n in the d ay , as t he second race wa s run in w et conditions on rai n tires . Tad y O k ada , a lthoug h se tt in g g o od l a p t im es , c o u l d n ot g e t on te rms w ith h i s fe llow Mi ch elin r u n n ers , eve n th ough h e hit th ird p lace j u st o ne lap afte r B ayliss w en t t o sec o n d , a n d h e fin ish ed 2 .8 seco n ds down on Edwards , in a r ace w h ic h appeared t o sh o w tha t th e Michelin men made the co rre ct tire choic es, or !Left to right! Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards a nd Tady Okada celebrate after the first World Superbike rac e ever h eld at the brand new Lausitzring in Ge nna ny . w ere simply o n m ore suitab le rubber for th e trac k cond iti o ns . O n e b y o ne t h e le ad i ng Dunl o p m en , su ch as Hodg son and C orser, got eaten u p by the Mi c he lin riders . T h e p r e - r a c e as s u m ptio n th a t t h e racing w ou ld be cl o se and fea tu re all t h ree su perb ike ru b ber m an ufacturer s ca me to nothing . Th e excep tio n t o th e M i c h e l i n d om in ati o n w as Ba y l i ss ' t ea mm ate Rub en Xaus, w ho suffered a st op -g o penalty in the p it s after ju m p in g th e st a rt befo re fin ish ing 19 t h. The race cou ld b e ca ll ed proces sion al, not be c ause changes o f posi tion never happened , but because of the fact that th ere w er e so fe w battles in the fiel d . Even th e wa r of t he lead ing Dunlop runn er s wa s finall y won in d ecisiv e fa shion, a lb ei t b y less tha n a sec o n d , b y Chi l i fr o m C ors e r , who knew w h en he w as beaten . Ch ili 's prog ress wa s m eth odic al, get t ing into few sc raps alo ng th e wa y as he pa ssed o nly fo ur riders in 23 laps. Gregorio Lavi ll a wa s m ore im p res sive in th e dry , in itia ll y at least , an d was h e l p e d by h i s g o od c h o ice o f t ir es wh ich to o k h im from 13 th o n la p o n e to sixth o n lap 23. Co rs er' s lap s of o bvi o u s t o il g o t h im onl y a f ift h , after h is fr o n t tire w ent o ff, and h e lost m ore ground to Edward s and esp eci a lly Bayli ss . Edwa rds' win boosted him to sec ond in th e ch am p io nshi p t ab le , wh ile Troy B a yl iss k ep t h is championsh ip !lmG!JfB~[JfJDDW !I3@fiJ~ D[JfJDfj)[f@00tR!J@ [J!JG!J[JfJDW@!JfB The all- new Lausitz circu it in Germany ca nnot h el p but im p ress the firs t -t ime vis itor, with m any unique features appa rent to even the most casual observer. It is, in addition, Germanically gray almost from t op to bottom and gig antic in its ambitions - stru ctura l and otherwis e. A nd be ing very close to the Polish and Czech borders, it is also aiming to b ring f ans from all ov er, not just Genn any. The sheer vastness of it all is a difficult thing to take in at first sighL as the scale of the place is unlike anythi ng else in Europe . Offering four possib le circuit combinations (and now five...), the most modem motorsports facility on the continent features every possible amenity for teams and spectators alike. Or as the Superbike teams found out on first visit, everythi ng but safety in some key areas. The supposed bike track , at 2,65 mi les long , was supposed to use the first part of the tri -oval of the banking , but because the banking angle is very shallow and approached at top speed on both Supersport and Superbik e machines alike , any accident would result in the sliding or highsiding rider hitting the concrete wall - with obvious results. Accord ing to World Supersport Champion Jorg Teuchert, he told the A M represents tives this during the circuit's pre -homologation inspection, but it was still homologated using the bank ing, and had to be reconfi gured to use the beginn ing of what is supposed to be the Fonnula One track a couple of weeks before the event. Steeper bank ing would almost negate the probl em , a-Ia Dayton a, but the really steep banking is reserved for the huge high-speed testing oval outside the tri-oval bowl, which forms the main topograp hy of the new track. The two- mile long tri -oval , suitable for Champ Car-style racing , makes the spectators a possible 400 ,000 of them all around in grandstan d seats - a remote group of people for those in pitlane, who are in their tum an equally remote sight for those in the m ain grand stands, although almost the entire track is visible from most of the seats. The huge Grandstand , over 112-feet high and 1214 feet long, which dominates the country side for miles around , is the focal point of the entire track, and has 25,000 mostly covered seats. Even the pitla ne, for instance, is very wide, with the pitwall around 132 feet from the exit of the 55 permanent pit garages. Far enough for one pit- crew to jokingly ask for a pit pass for one of their scooters to ferry the pit board back and forth from the garage door to pitwall. , The entire structure cost 3 10 million Deutschm arks ($135 million), of which 24 1 million ($105 million) cam e from State Grants and the rest from priv ate industry. cue . n e _ S • JUNE 20, 2001 27