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/128122
World Superbike Championship Round 1 2: Assen. Holland "I am so happy for Troy [Bayliss] and his championship, as it is so good for Ducati also," Xaus said. "In another Vofay, I am not happy because that first race was mine. I do not like not being able to pass other riders. Plus, I don't like losing the prize moneyl But it was good for me to get another podium." Behind the Infostrada carve-up of the podium places, which Bayliss admitted to in a postrace interview, Edwards gave away his crown grudgingly, if surprisingly easily, after what even Honda admitted was a mistake of curious proportions. Edwards just admitted he was beat - in race one, at least. "I hate working so hard to finish third," Edwards said. "The only race that was worse for that than this one was Sugo, and I don't want to talk about that! I just gave it all I had. Today the Ducati boys were just better than us. We had an instability problem on the brakes and because of that I was slow on part of the course, which is where Ruben [Xaus] came past around the outside. What could I do except roll out the red carpet for him and let him go?" Third and trying his heart out in race one, a change of front tire from the one he had experienced stability problems with in the opener dropped Edwards back to 10th in race two low enough to give Bayliss a 52-point advantage with only 50 points still to play for in the final race of the year at Imola on September 30. All three top Michelin riders reportedly used different types of tire in race one, possibly mugging the Honda team into thinking that another one (which had apparently been tried out before) would be better for Edwards' needs - but it was to prove an error of judgment at a crucial time. "Race two was our own fault," Edwards stated. "The only thing I lacked with the front tire in the first race was a little stability at the end of the back straight. We went for another front, which we knew wouldn't tum quite as well but would be more stable. It was a bad choice and cost me any chance of a win and of the title. We used the same tire yesterday, but I never experienced anything like the feel I had in that second race today. The championship's gone now, but we've still got two more races to look forward to at Imola and I'll be going all out for two wins. Troy [Bayliss] deserves the title; he's ridden hard all year and been consistent." Truly, it was an early Christmas for Bayliss, Xaus, Ducati - the whole scarlet-painted world. A premature Christmas as well, thought Bayliss initially. Why? Because he had no idea that he had won the title until he returned to pit lane and saw lots of people wearing "Bayliss World Champion" T-shirts. 18 SEPTEMBER 19, 2001 • II: U II: "I really still don't believe it," the Australian said. "I didn't kJiow I'd won it, even on the slow-down lap. I only realized that I'd won when I sawall the guys with the 'Bayliss 2001 World Superbike Champion' T-shirts on. I'd like to thank all those who've helped me along the way - a lot of people have believed in me." Bayliss simply could not believe that Edwards could have finished that far down the order in race two. That would be him and 99 percent of the paddock unified by a single idea. The first race, scheduled for 16 laps, was actually a 13-lap affair after the rains came near the end. With the required minimum distance having already been covered by the top riders, the result was called, with no restart needed. Behind the podium finishers, the battle for the final championship positions was on, with Troy Corser scrapping his way to the podium in the second race to try to defend his fourth place overall. He did so, but only after a last-lap tussle with PierFrancesco Chili that delivered three full-contact dance steps between them. "I made the forks softer from race one to race two and they had better feel," said Chili. "I hoped to be able to finish third, but on the last lap Corser and I collided three times, but no problem." With Corser's margin of advantage only .201 of a second, Corser knew he had to fight to keep his numberthree plate. "With first and second pretty much wrapped up in the championship, I really have to push to see where I can end up," Corser said. "I have to say that Troy deserves the championship; he's been up there right from the start." n _ _ II; I • Edwards will take little consolation that he was not the only superstar billeted in an unaccustomedly small dressing room, with master of sartorial disguise Ben Bostrom in poor form thanks to tires, according to the man himself. His 10 Assen points leave Bostrom in third overall, but he's now 31 points behind Edwards, and probably destined for no more than that. Neil Hodgson's brace of fifth-place finishes left him fifth in the title chase, 10 points behind Corser, with the Englishman motivated for a slug-out with the 1996 World Champion. Poor grid positions were the main reason he could not get on terms with the leading men, with the GSE rider's many traveling fans not exactly roaring the roof off the grandstands, as in the days of Fogarty. Still, two fifths, and the attendant 22 points, is a score Edwards could not better, only equal. "After qualifying 15th on the grid, I was really happy to finish in the top five in both races," Hodgson said. "I was working hard and my lap times were good. It really enjoyed working my way through the field. It was a challenge. Clearly the weather wasn't on my side this weekend." Chili had a great showing on the Alstare Suzuki, running fourth in both races - just not quite fast enough throughout the whole race to challenge for a podium finish in race one. Four-cylinder debate? What fourcylinder debate? Chili now sits sixth overall. Akira Yanagawa could not keep up his early pace on the Fuchs Kawasaki and finished with a sixth and an eighth, and he could do nothing about Xaus rampaging past him to seventh in the World Championship standings. Well, 95 points in an eight- Colin Edwards 11) relinquished his title to Bayliss at Assen after finishing third and 10th In the two races. Here he leads Stephana Chambon 124) and Bostrom 1155). day period can do that for a man. Tadayuki Okada had another lessthan-sparkling weekend, ending up seventh and 13th in his two outings forgettable for the man who won a 500cc Grand Prix at Assen as recently as 1999. So much for the impetus of his Suzuka 8 Hours second place. Gregorio Lavilla was well down at a track he qualified well on, making a poor first-race tire choice, going two seconds per lap quicker in race two, but from too lowly a start in the early laps to get on terms. Hitoyasu Izutsu, the third prong of the Kawasaki trident this weekend, was blunted by the complex nature of Assen and finished in 24th and lapped after a technical problem, followed up by a 16th place, just out of the points behind Lucio Pedercini in race two. Regis Laconi was seventh and ninth, just ahead of young British firebrand James Toseland, who could not show the same pace in racing as he did in qualification. Eight and 10th weren't bad for the Superbike rookie, even if he does know the track from his World Supersport days. "There's only one more round to go, said Toseland, "and I've really enjoyed racing in World Superbikes this year and with Neil [Hodgson] as my teammate. I think I've been able to improve a lot faster than I thought. I can't wait for Imola - another chance to get back on the bike and go racing." Stephane Chambon was down the order from his sometimes inspired