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/128121
you alive. It makes for good racing because you have to go flat out all the way." The lonesome L&M cowboy American simply ran out of gold bullets for his Dunlop-shod double-barrelled Ducati at Oschersleben, but with better starts, he may just have gone for six in a row. For Troy Bayliss, race one was nothing short of a disaster, with his machine forcing his retirement on lap 22 of 28. A slipping clutch was to blame, his first DNF of the season coming at a very inopportune moment. Despite staying on track for a while to waye and yell frenzied encouragement to his younger teammate Xaus (a mere second or so behind Edwards' super fast wake at the time), Bayliss eventually pulled in, fizzing inside about his bad fortune, watching his closest challenger take full points. His unlucky experience brought home the reason why his pre-race comments warned against complacency. He went from 53 points ahead to 28 - thanks to a simple lack of forward motion. A great result for the neutrals, however, making the air of expectation for race two thick with excitement. Things got a Little worse for Bayliss after race two, when Xaus may have got the glory, but Edwards clawed four more points back by finishing in second, one place ahead of Bayliss. There are just 24 points in it now, with 100 possible for anyone who wins all the rest. "Finishing third in race two is some consolation, but I'm not that happy because I've lost more points to Colin in the championship," said a subdued Bayliss. "But you have to do the best with what you've got and that's what we went out and did today." With both the Castrol Honda and Ducati Infostrada teams on Michelins, it was a win-win situation for the French tire maker, because their products lasted better than their Dunlop opposition this weekend. Honda especially has been glad of that and have the Suzuka 8-Hour race devel- Yanagawa (5) and Corser (3) try to hold back the advances of Troy Bayliss (21), Laconl (55) and Ben Bostrom (155) in the first Wortd Superblke race In Germany. opment and a three-day test at Clermont-Ferrand on Michelin's doorstep - to thank for it. Edwards led race one from flag to podium, pulling back a whole 25 points in one attempt. Second in the first outing was Xaus, who was having the best ride of his short rookie World Superbike career - up to that point at least. Home ground for the Eckl Kawasaki team (and a looming red card for his World Superbike career) spurred Akira Yanagawa on to a fourth place in the first race. "I saw so many of my Kawasaki green fans out there that it made me at least one second faster in the races," said the Japanese rider. "I wish I was able to reward them with a higher finish, so I am a little disappointed." In the second, a superb war between five factory bikes, all with various stages of tire problems and setup difficulties, made for excellent, if well-off-the-pace viewjng. Pier-Francesco Chili, Regis Laconi, Gregorio Lavilla, Yanagawa and Tadayuki Okada slugged it out for almost the whole race, with only .7 of a second covering them all at the flag. Gripping stuff, with the aggressively defensive Laconi laying black lines into and out of the corners. "My eighth place in the first race certainly didn't have me overjoyed considering all the work we did this weekend," said Laconi after race two. "We decided on a different choice of tires for the second race, which gave me much better grip than I had in race one. I know I had some great riders behind me in the second, just as I knew it would be hard to beat those riders in front. So I put aII I had into defending my place and just never looked back at all. Now I've got . to get up there onto the podium." Just behind the war of the factory world, Neil Hodgson, the pole position This was all anybody really saw of Colin Edwards In the first race. The Texan stormed to victory, gaining valuable championship points on Bayliss, when the Australian suffered mechanical problems and failed to gamer any points. cue' e n _ _ s • SEPTEMBER 12. 2001 7