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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128146
World Superbike Championship Round 1 : Circuito Ricardo Torma (Above) Colin Edwards (2) was no match for Bostrom (155) in race one, but was able to make some changes to the bike and get on the podium ahead of Bostrom in race two. (Lett) Chris Walker (9) rode admirably, despite suffering from Bell's palsy, finishing 1 otto and seventh in the two races. Wild and crazy guy Steve Martin (99) rode his DFX Racing Ducati to 17th in race one, but a much· improved ninth in race two. DFX Pirelli Ducati's Steve Martin regained some confidence with his ninth place in race two, after making a poor tire choice in race one, missing out on even a single point. Martin looked ragged on his Superpole lap in qualifying, and is looking forward to Phillip Island so that he can race on tarmac he knows well. "Basically, I'm at the stage of working myself back to full confidence. I made a mistake with my tire choice in race one but we were a lot better in race two. It was nice to start lapping in the high 37s, which got some of my confidence back. I've had a lot of crashes lately and I'm trying to get back my speed." Lucio Pedercini could not capitalize on his relative practice excellence and squandered two second-row starts, taking only two points from race one and five from race two, even with race two's high attrition rate. The Italian privateers clearly liked each other enough to cluster together like it was dinner time in Roma, with 11 th through 15th in race two comprised of Pedercini, Borciani, Clementi, Foti and Sanchini. Broc Parkes, an Aussie privateer on an Italian bike, ran out 15th and last in race one, after suffering from a pre-race infection, but failed to score points in race two. With the first honors exchanged, the season looks like it will pan out An entertaining Superpole arrived to kick off the fir~t race of the year, a competition which saw the top 16 filled with some surprising names was a case of two went in and one came out. I lost 10 seconds but still managed a top-10 result. It's been a tough weekend, I had a big crash yesterday and running two full race distances has been hard, but we've had two solid results here this weekend" Chris Walker was battling for seventh in race two, despite suffering the lasting effects of Bell's palsy. Physi- 200 I, it was small peas, and none of them Kawasaki green. "Apart from the crash, I'm pretty happy with today," said Lavilla. "Don't forget we've got a new bike, with new suspension and there's a lot of work to do. Also, I'm the only rider in the team so there's nobody to share information with. I overtook Toseland at the first right-hand comer and was in front of him on the approach to the second right-hander, when suddenly I felt myself hit by something and the next thing I knew I was in the gravell I'm disappointed because my lap times were nearly as fast as the leaders and I know I could have challenged for fifth place." Toseland was unrepentant about his problems with Lavilla, stating that the Spaniard failed to react properly to his original mistake, diving inside and pushing them both wide. "I had a coming together with Lavilla and it 24 MARCH 20, 2002' cue I e cally drained, he was nonetheless back to his old self in terms of spirit and commitment. His GP nightmare recedes, day by day, but his physical ailments linger. Pierfrancesco Chili, ninth in race one, was eliminated in race two for ignoring a black flag signal to return to the pits to be penalized for jumping the start. Frankie was properly furious, angry about what he saw as unfair treatment, as his grabbing clutch mechanism pushed him forward and he gained no advantage over those on his own row. n e _ s even before Superpole had started in earnest. AU three Pedercini privateer bikes were present, ridden by Lucio Pedercini, Marco Borciani and Serafino Foti. Pedercini provided a small shock to all with his second-row qualifying time of 1:35.909,ahead of local charger Ruben Xaus. Visually, Xaus looked to be on a superb lap at points, as he ran over curbs and slid into comers, but his spectacular style was not favored by the stopwatch, and he was forced to start from the third row. Juan Borja thus became the fastest local, sixth, and just behind Neil Hodgson, who was using his Superpole experience from last year to full effect. Noriyuki Haga was good enough for fourth and a front-row start, with Colin Edwards fast but a little too loose for his liking and into third on the top times. Provisional pole man Ben Bostrom had to watch Troy Bayliss sit at the top of the sheets, and despite the young American riding hard in all the sections of the track - most effectively the middle one, which appeared to favor the Dunlop riders - he could not quite catch Bayliss' time of 1:34.814. Despite the almost ideal conditions in the Superpole competition, Bayliss could not get close enough to threaten his I :34.261 time. set in pre-season testing two weeks prior to the Valencia race. He wasn't bothered much, and had a pre-race plan all worked out. "I'll definitely be the first into the first comer tomorrow. There are a lot of excited riders here looking forward to the first race, so the only way to keep out of trouble is to make a good start. Valencia is a strange circuit because it changes every time we come here. so you have to simply adapt and change the bike around to suit it." The biggest fallen angel in Superpole, aside from Xaus, was James Toseland, who crashed on oil in the pre-Superpole qualifying session and bashed a hole in his left elbow. His pain hampered his Superpole attack a little, but the young Englishman attacked with his usual gusto.