Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Superbike Championship Final Round: Imola. Italy Bostrom (155) fought tire problems in both rae. . and ended up cardIng a pair of fourth-place finishes - enough to . .cure third in the final points standings. on the Pirelli-shod Ducati. Just one and a half seconds separated leader Bayliss from Edwards in fifth. On lap four, Peter Goddard retired the Benelli Tornado into the pits. After five of the 21 laps, the pack had closed up, so that around eight riders were close together. Bostrom suffered from this, being passed by Laconi into Villeneuve and then taken by Xaus a few corners later. A lap later and there were five changes of the lead in just 20 seconds as Bayliss, Laconi and Xaus battled from the Villeneuve complex, through to Tosa and Piratella. Then Laconi came through at the run toward Acque Minerali, only for Bayliss to come back at him, then Laconi and Xaus came through, demoting Bayliss to third. Then at the final chicane of Variante Bassa, Bostrom made a pass on Bayliss. The end result of this passing and re-passing was that Bayliss went from first to fourth by the end of lap six, with Xaus leading Laconi and Bostrom. That battle also allowed Edwards, Okada and Corser to close the gap on the leaders. At the end of lap seven, however, Xaus and Laconi started to pull away from Bayliss, Bostrom, Edwards, Okada, Corser, Antonello and Chambon. By the 13th lap, Xaus was still being shadowed closely by Laconi. Then came a mistake by Xaus at Tamburello, which allowed Laconi to close still further and get past the Ducati rider at Piratella. On the 14th lap, Chili pulled into the pits on the factory Suzuki. Okada, meanwhile, had moved right in behind Edwards and moved around his teammate on lap 15 as they headed into the Tamburello chicane, but he ran wide, allowing the 24 OCTOBER 10, 2001 • c u e I • Texan to move back past - followed closely by Corser. Corser's teammate Antonello, meanwhile, pulled out of the race with tire problems. With three laps to go, Bayliss got past Xaus to reclaim second place, but a lap later Xaus went back through at Piratella with the Ducati pair running side-by-side down the curved straights. On the penultimate lap, Xaus caught Laconi and forced his way past into the right before the climb toward Minerali. Bayliss then passed Laconi into the double-apex left at Rivazza, and shortly thereafter it all went wrong. Bayliss, hard on the gas, hit the slippery grasscrete and was highsided into the path of Laconi, who couldn't do anything to avoid the crash. Bayliss was out with a broken collarbone, but Laconi was fortunately uninjured. The melee allows Xaus to take the win from Corser, Edwards, Bostrom, Okada, Martin, Lavilla and Chambon. Hodgson, meanwhile, was able to climb from last to 10th. RACE TWO Edwards got the holeshot at the start of the second Superbike race of the day at Imola, closely followed by Laconi. The Frenchman was soon through into the lead, passing the Texan in the Tamburello chicane. Close behind were Bostrom, Hodgson, Antonello, Xaus, Corser and Okada. Before the end of the first lap, Xaus started to make up for his poor start by overtaking first Antonello and then, on lap two, Hodgson on the run up to the Tamburello chicane. Then he began an earnest pursuit of Bostrom. On lap three, Laconi led Edwards from Bostrom, Xaus - who set the fastest lap of the race at 1:49.69 on lap two - Antonello, Corser and Hodgson. Xaus went past Bostrom on lap three at the double-apex left-hander at Rivazza, while Hogdson started to slip backward as his gamble on suspension setup began to fail him. After three laps, Edwards was n ..... s beginning to threaten Laconi again, with the American getting the gap down to just one tenth of a second on the next lap, while lining up Laconi for passes at Piratella and Acque Minerali. Edwards was also coming under pressure from Xaus, with the Spaniard threatening the Texan on the downhill run into Rivazza. After five laps, just three tenths of a second separated the top three men, with just two seconds separating them from Corser, who was sixth. On lap six, Corser managed to pass Antonello into the Alta chicane with just 3.3 seconds separating leader Laconi from seventh-placed Okada. Xaus was pushing Edwards hard and he eventually moved around the Honda heading into the Variante Alta chicane. After seven laps, Laconi led Xaus from Edwards, Bostrom and Corser - who sets the fastest lap of the race at 1:49.39. Xaus started to put Laconi under real pressure, following the Aprilia rider up into Villeneuve chicane and then taking advantage of the Frenchman's wobble over the rumble strips on the exit of the turn to take the lead. Edwards, meanwhile, was starting to lose touch, the on-board camera showing a large hole in his screen where it looked as though a large rock had been thrown up into the Honda's path. As the rider's started the 10th lap, just 2.82 seconds split first to sixth. Corser continued his movement up the order, taking Bostrom's fourth place as the pair hit the brakes into Villeneuve. On the 11th lap, disaster struck for Corser and Edwards as Corser crashed at high speed going into the Villeneuve chicane, and Edwards seeing the Australian and his Aprilia heading toward him halfway across the chicane - had no option but to head off into the gravel and then the tire wall. Both riders were out of the race, but thankfully were uninjured. The shuffled order at the end of that lap read: Xaus, Laconi, Okada, Bostrom, Antonello, the Suzukis of Xaus celebrates • his second win of the year with a wlt_lIe. Chambon and Chili, Martin, Lavilla, Broc Parkes and Hodgson. A lap later, however, Chambon was forced out with a mechanical failure. Xaus also seemed to be having problems as his Ducati seemed to be sliding more than normal on the entrances to Imola's four chicanes. The result was a Laconi pass as the pair entered the braking zone for Villeneuve chicane. At the end of 14 laps, Laconi had a slender three-tenths lead over Xaus, with Okada then just a further second behind. Over the next three laps, Okada would close on the leading pair, making it a trio battling for the win in the closing laps. Xaus was visibly trying hard to catch and even stay with Laconi, with the Spaniard backing the Aprilia into the chicanes. At the end of lap 19, Laconi led Xaus by two tenths of a second, with Okada just a further four-tenths back. Bostrom was next, followed by Antonello, Martin, Lavilla, Chili, Parkes and Hodgson. It all went wrong once more for Antonello on lap 20, as the Italian crashed on the exit of the Tosa hairpin. On the final lap, Laconi held off a last-corner charge from Xaus to win by just .021 of a second, with Okada in third. BostrorT\, Martin, Lavilla and Hodgson - who made a last-lap pass on Parkes - followed. Then came Chili. EIIZtI D Din. Fernri Circuit 1 ...,-, Italy Results: Septllmber 2a-3D, 2DDI QaAUFYING: Troy Corser (1:48.694); 2. Regi. Loconi (1:48.904); 3. Troy Boyli•• (1:49.146); 4. Colin EdW8rds (1 :49.366); 5. Ben Bostrom (1:49.371); 6. Ale••ondro Anlonello (1 :49.746); 7. Neil Hodgson (1:49.748); 8. Ruben Xou. (1:48.462); 9. Todoyukl Okodo (1:50.076); 10. Jome. Toselond (1:50,189); 11. 51ephone Chombon (1:50.792); 12. Pier Francesco Chill (1:51.026): 13. Giovanni Bussei (1:51.227); 14. Lucio Pederelnl (1:51.479); 15. Broc Porke. (1:51.971); 16. Akiro Vonogowo (1:50.695); 17. Juon Bouti"o Bo~o (1:50.781); 18. Steve Mortin (1:50.794); 19. Gregorio Lovlllo (1:51.272); 20. Mlluro Sanchinl (1 :52.514); 21. Alex Gramignl (~:52.223); 22. Morco Boreloni (1:52.412); 23. Peter Goddord (1:52.445); 24. Mortin Croggill (1:52.514); 25. Betrond 5tey (1 :53.200); 26. Lueo Po.inj (1:53.266); 27. Poolo Blo," (1:53.446); 28. Serofino Foti (1:53.679); 29. Robert aim (1:53.781); Jiri foIrkyvko (1:55.753). RACE ONE: I. Ruben Xous (Due); 2. Troy Co...r (Apr); 3. Colin Edwards (Hon); 4. Ben Bostrom (Duc); 5. Tadayuki Okadl.l (Hon); 6. Steve Martin (Duc); 7. Gregorio Laville (Kew); 8. Stephene Chambon (Suz); 9. Lucio Pedercini (Due); 10. Neil Hodgson (Duc); 11. Glovllnni Bussei (Duc)' 12 Martin Crllggill (Duc); 13. Mauro Sanchini (Duc)' 14' Paolo Slora (Duc); 15. Alex Gramignl (Yam);' 16:

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