Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Superbike Championship NorlyukJ Haga leads Nell Hodgson onto the front straight In their battle for fourth place in the second leg at Phillip Island. r!l!®ufJ(jJ ~f!D[j)@[J@IJ)(§){J1J @[Jufi)DiJi)[j)O@(jiJ@[JuO[j)B ffi@(lJ]DiJ@j f92 [JJD7]1J ©®UUD[J)D(j;lJ@~ uOD@ ~@{J The ecstatic Australian crowd was treated to a full triple crown of race wins for local riders when Andrew Pitt, the reigning World Supersport Champion, finally took his first race win in thJs class of competition. Having never so much as won a pole position to go with his 2001 title, Pitt settled both outstanding accounts with his excellent race win and his Saturday pole time. He was a bit pleased, strangely enough. "What a fantastic weekend. To claim my first World Supersport pole position at my home circuit was good, but to back that up with my first win in the series was awesome - I still can't quite believe it. After (Paolo] Casoli crashed, it was just a case of trying to stay focused for the last two laps. I could see the team and the crowd cheering as I came round to take the checkered flag, and I'd like to say thanks to both the team for all their hard work and the crowd for their fantastic support. Let's just hope thJs is the first win of many this season." A race of crashes and retirements was led away initially by James Whitham, who eked out an early lead of half a second, which he extended comer-by-comer until he fell on the second lap, losing the front on the apex of MG comer. Mystified by the cause of the error, he cursed his way back to the pits. "I have no idea why I fell off because I was riding very easily and expected a good result after being the fastest in morning warm-up and having a tire which I knew would go race distance. I really wasn't pushing the front at all, so I'm really gutted to crash. Nothing could have been set up better for us to have a good result here, so I'm really disappointed with myself - although I really wasn't pushing hard when I fell. But I have no excuses." Another Englishman, Rob Frost, had a huge crash on the same second lap, at the ultra-fast tum one. He almost totaled the bike, but hardly scratched himself. Whitham's misfortune caused some shuffling in the chasing pack, as Paolo Casoli, Whitham's Belgarda Yamaha teammate, took advantage - and the lead - ahead of the fast-starting Stephane Chambon and Pitt. The race eventually developed into a battle between Pitt and Casoli, with each exploiting different areas of machine advantage to lead the race at various points. Pitt was especially aggressive. bouncing into and block-passing Casoli at least twice at Honda corner, but as he was to find out, Casoli was not to be intimidated - not by Pitt, anyway. The Italian freaked himself out eventually, crashing on lap 19 of 21, and the crash was of his own making, as he maybe left the brake dragging a tad too long when he lost the front at Siberia. "I had many slides from the rear tire but not even one single slide from the front before I lost it," Casoli said. "Pitt was riding very aggressively, but for me first or second would have been a good result after Valencia. I am really disappointed, and confused, as to why the front just went with no waming." Keeping his nerve to take the win, Pitt was met with waves of applause from his adoring fans, and no small amount of relief from his team. Piergiorgio Bontempi was right with the leaders early on, and eventually took second, setting the new lap record on lap three - a 1:37.128. Although he eventually fell from the leading pace, his superb ride on the NCR Ducati netted huge praise from the entire paddock, especially as the last time a Ducati scored a podium fmish in Supersport was 2000, at Brands Hatch. "I tried to follow the Ten Kate Honda, but the difference in power is terrible," said a curiously pessimistic Bontempi. "My bike today 18 APRIL 3,2002' cue I _ n __ .. Ben Bostrom (155) was In the heat of the· battle in both races· but he wasn't pleased with fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the two races. Here he Is led by Ruben Xaus (11) and chased by Nell Hodgson (100) In the second race. was right for this circuit; also I think it helped that I like this kind of track. In the next circuit, maybe I will have some more difficulties. But obviously I am happy to finish on the podium." A six-way fight for the last podium place went the way of Stephane Chambon, who won the internecine battle with his Suzuki Alstare teammate Katsuaki Fujiwara after an eventful race. The war behind the leading trio was superb, with riders jockeying for position at the end of the main straight every lap. Karl Muggeridge, a local like Pitt, was in a fine fourth place, heading up the battle for possible podium positions when his Honda engine blew in spectacular fashion on lap ] 1, causing those immediately behind to scatter to the edges of the wide Phillip Island straight. He limped his bike off the track, seemed to lay no oil as he did so, and proved that thus far the Honda UK effort has got some way to go to allow Muggeridge to show his true talents. "There's nothing we can do about a problem like that, they just happen and that's that," said a desolate Muggeridge. "I was going well but that was all down to the changes we made to the machine. After warm-up this morning, we had a close look at the setup and realized there was one change we could make to improve it. We ended up with a more balanced feel, and without it there's no way I could have thrown the machine around like I did." Jorg Teuchert and Christian Kellner, from the Yamaha Motor Germany team, scored fIfth and sixth places, although Kellner was blamed by Fabien Foret for hitting his swingarrn with his front wheel, sending Foret off for a bit of trackside trail riding at the Iinal comer. Kellner never even mentioned it. "I could have maybe finished higher, but I made a mistake on one of the comers," he said. "I normally go round it in second gear, but this time I went round in third, so I ran wide onto the dirt and lost some time. I could not make the gap up again. But I am relatively happy because this is also my best result here, and I am fourth In the championship - it could be a lot worse." BKM Honda rider Christophe Cogan ended up seventh, two seconds shy of the main body of the battling group, and his teammate Robert Ulm fInished 13th, having had to battie through from a poor start. lain Macpherson managed to beat his teammate Foret, who had to settle for ninth after his unwanted outing. Rounding out the top ten, Alessio Corradi took his Yamaha to its first PhUlip Island fInish, unable to make too much impression after his strong showings at Valencia. Chris Vermeulen, from the Van Zon team, scored 11 th after a hard race at home, but was still fast enough to beat a regular Phillip Island competitor, Kevin Curtain, who had already notched up a win in the earlier national race. As the neutrals said, at least the previously dominant Foret didn't win, and the championship fight is a nicely balanced one as we move toward the third round at Kyalami. The World Champi· onship lead is, in fact, now tied, with Pitt and Chambon sharing 36 points. Foret sits on 32, and Christian Kellner on 26, with Bontempi on 25 and Vermeulen on 18. Troy Bayliss crash and you do not understand the reason." Mark Heckles, the rookie in World Superbike this season, used a decent Michelin rear to grind out a 14th place in race two, a reward for the considerable pain he underwent through both races. In the World Championship chase, Bayliss sits on top, with a perfect score of J 00 points. Edwards' pair of second places promotes him to second, on 69, with Bostrom third overall on 53 points after four solid, if unspectacular finishes thus far. Haga sits on 50 points, with Hodgson on 45, easily the top non-factory rider. A brace of Phillip Island third places scored Xaus a promotion to sixth overall, on 43 points, with seventh place held equally by race-two crasher lzutsu and Walker, each with 29 points. For everyone at Phillip Island, however, there were some serious worries about Bayliss and his amazingly unstoppable motorcycle. Andrew PItt (1)8nd Paolo Caoll (21 fought hardin the Wortcl ",lIrsport I'IICe until Caoll crahed his v....... In the cIoelng ....... allowing PItt to sc:.- hi. ftrst-_ eta. victory. His unique achievement of winning four races at the start of a season is more than impressive; it may just be impenetrable for his peers, all of

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