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/128148
Wof'ld Superbike Championship The second race started out much like the first one with Bayliss (11 leading the way. having a good race and fighting with Hodgson and Haga, but I had to push real hard to stay on terms with them. I managed to force my way through into fourth place, but then lost the front going into MG comer on lap 17. It wasn't so much a mistake; more a case of knowing that if I didn't push it as hard as I was, then it wasn't going to be long before I found myself back in sixth place again." Patience Hitoyasu san, Sugo is coming around soon enough. A war of attrition between HM Plant Ducati's James Toseland and Alstare Suzuki's Gregorio Lavilla in each race put Lavilla seventh in race one and eighth in race two, with Toseland his mirror image each time. Izutsu was in the fun in each race, but for both Toseland and Lavilla, their feud from Valencia continues. This time, however, each rider finished each race. "This was a tough day for us," said Lavilla. "I made a good start in the first race. In some parts of the track, I was quicker then the others I was rid- ing with, and in some places they were faster then me. Izutsu and I had a good battle and I could see that he could open the throttle quicker then me exiting the turns. If I had tried to do it like that I probably would've crashed. I kept the same bike setup for the second race and again I started quite well. I felt that I could go quicker, but Toseland held me up and it was hard to pass and then stay in front of him." The other Kawasaki factory rider in the field, Chris Walker, had a subdued ride in each outing, scoring a brace of ninth places, and working hard in the process. Still with a semifrozen face, Walker is quietly impressive and building confidence with each passing session. Having seen about as many checkered flags in two World Superbike weekends than he did in his ill-fated GP adventure in 2001, Walker is in a nice enough championship position after Phillip Island. "If it hadn't been such hard work, then race one would have been a bit Colin Edwards 121 did manage to move ahead of Bayll. . at one point In the second race, but his lead was short-lived. n 16 APRIL 3, 2002' a U c • • _ boring," the Brit said. "I got a really good start, moving up to about sixth place in the first turn, but then I got boxed in and had to roll it off. You never really recover from that and, once I'd worked my way past Frankie Chili, I ended up circulating on my own. I could see the group of riders in front, but they were just too far away for me to close the gap." Ducati Privateers Juan Borja and Lucio Pedercini took a 10th-place finish each, with Borja top 12 in the opener. Pedercini, fast in regulation qualifying, was one of four riders to retire in race two. The final DNF in that leg belonged to Pier-Francesco Chili, falling from his NCR Ducati after losing the front at Siberia corner, something he had already done in qualifying. A retirement in race one, because of a poor tire and a less-than-special chassis setup solution, left Chili's more than promising practice form in the skip behind his pit garage. He was already shaking his head at his misfortune before he had stopped sliding toward the sea. "It has been a very bad day!" said a disappointed Chili. "The troubles started in the morning warm-up, but at the end of the session it appeared to be better. But after the first start, I suffered bad chattering, from the front as well as from the rear, and I preferred to stop. My crash in the second race was in the same corner and in the same conditions as yesterday, with the front tire losing grip suddenly. So I have now lost my feeling, as always happens when you §@}WffJ[?@)~ IJffJffI@~ @G!J[j)@[l[j);..::....-..0@-'---0{J_@ _ The Superpole competition delivered only one real surprise, the first sign that Troy BayUss may not be indestructible after all, as Colin Edwards scorched to the prerace psychological victory, his 11th such "win" in his eight-year World Superblke career. "Everything's gone well for two days," Edwards (right) said "I knew I had the fast lap in me but you never know what the opposition have got in reserve. It's great to be on pole again after so long." Oschersleben in 2000 was the last time he was so high prerace. Bayliss therefore missed out on his expected success, but maybe only after making a mistake of his own device, as he later explained: "I had a little problem at tum II and also at Honda Comer. I lost a bit of time, but otherwise the whole weekend has been going great. I maybe tried a little bit too hard in Superpole, made a couple of mistakes. I wasn't happy with my lap but I'm on the front row, so I'm quite happy with that. Congratulations to Colin, he did a really good lap and he's also the most consistent guy out there that J have to deal with at the moment as well. He's also on Michelin's and I think it's looking quite good for us." Noriyuki Haga was an expected front-row presence on his Aprilia, but after many setup problems and a return to some older settings on his HM Plant Ducati, Neil Hodgson was something of a shock inclusion on the front row. Eleventh after regulation, he romped up two rows after his assured Superpole lap. Ben Bostrom's big slide on the fifth-gear left during his fast lap dropped him to fifth, and Ruben Xaus - completing a triple crown of flawed factory Ducati Superpolers - sixth, after he missed a gear. Hitoyasu Izutsu was a good seventh on his factory Kawasaki, but the ride of the session came from Juan 8oIja, wobbling, Sliding, yet pinning the throttle all the time to go eight fastest. The enigma that is Borja just got deeper. Pier-Francesco Chili's brace of falls a mere hour before Superpole had some bearing on his lowly ninth, but James Toseland had no such fears as he scooted his HM Plant Duke to 10th. The biggest losers were Lucio Pedercinl, a provisional second-row qualifier who dropped to 12th, and Gregorio Lavilla had a timid and mistake-plagued run to 15th on his factory Suzuki. Two riders failed to qualify all together after regulation, Jiri Myrkyvka and Venn Gyger, Myrkyvka for the second race In succession. Local Kawasaki rider Al1istair Maxwell did, however, qualify in 23rd and last place.