Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

.---". . , -_. ~, . ", / -, I . f....!:p~rac!:LJ World Superbike Championship Round 3: Kyalami Circuit Three-time Kyalami race winner Colin Edwards ripped up the track on his Superpole lap, setting the fastest ever officially recorded Superbike circuit of 1:41.321. Edwards basically laid the thanks at the door of Michelin, which has only recently made qualifiers to his exact requests. "' was so nervous,' said Edwards. "' knew I could get pole position but I also knew what Ben [Bostrom] and Troy [Bayliss] were capable of, so my lap had to be perfect. Michelin came to the last round in Australia with their new Superpole tires and they're doing the job. We always knew the fast lap was in there, but you never know what might happen on that one Superpole lap. In the end, it came together but it took a lot of concentration. Our race setup is good and I'm confident of winning tomorrow. I've struggled a bit off the line this year; hopefully I can put that right. I need the points and I've got a good chance to take two wins and close the gap in the championship.• The Texan, third-last away on his single lap after finishing regulation qualifying third fastest, left the final two riders Bayliss and fastest qualifier Bostrom an impressive target to beat - and despite running it close, neither could snatch the pole. Bayliss was second on the stopwatch, with Bostrom third, although even Bostrom was only .232 of a second slower than Edwards. A much-improved Noriyuki Haga took fourth, and the last front-row position, with a 1:42.739, riding especially bard on the brakes on one of his favorite circuits. The first five were away and clear of the next competitors, with the fifth fastest man, Nell Hodgson, also on a 1:41 lap. Kawasaki's Hitoyasu Izutsu put in a strong 1:42 lap, compared to his previous best to score the sixth-place start, ahead of Pier-Francesco Chili and Lucio Pedercini. A disap· pointing performance from Ruben Xaus dropped him from the upper echelons of the qualifiers to 11th and the third row, just ahead of factory Kawasaki rider Chris Walker. The gathering thunderclouds that swept in toward the Kyalami circuit in the aftemoon did not make any impression on the result of the Superpole competition, but there were many worried expressions in pit lane at some points toward the end, when the sun went in and the temperature dropped noticeably. (Abovel Hodgson 11001 and Bostrom (1551 battled in both races, with the two _pplng the fourth and fifth finishing positions. (Below) Haga was fast and feisty all clay - rubbing elbows with Bayliss, hunting birds, and taldng the fastest lap In both races. A crash due to an engine failure took him out of contention In race one, and he faclecl back to sixth In race two. 30 APRIL 17, 2002' cue I e n eVIl's swapped fourth and fifth places, with Bostrom in the ascendancy in race one. Neither rider was happy to be in the 'Dunlop race' again, and Bostrom said as much without actually criticizing his rubber out loud in his postrace comments. "There's not a lot I can say. Unfortunately, it's another race out there. I A dramatic three-way fight for supremacy In the 25-lap World Supersport race became a two-way scrap right to the death, but the Kyalami race, just like at Phillip Island, went the way of Andrew Pitt from the German-based Kawasaki Racing Team. A battle of wills and wits between Pitt, Yamaha Belgarda's James Whitham and Alstare Suzuki's Stephane Chambon became a two-man struggle over the final laps with a slide on the last lap preventing Whitham from making a decisive passing move in the final few tums. Not to mention the superb race craft of Pitt, playing it fast and also playing it clever at the front, making himself wide at the right times. Pitt was on simply devastating form, incredibly consistent and blessed with the gift of aggression to go with his obvious race smarts. "It's typical, you wait two years for a race win and then two come along at once," joked Pitt after a grueling race. "It was pretty close out there and I knew that James would be trYing just as hard as I was to take the win, but I was getting good drives out of most of the tums and, at the places where I knew he was strong, I made sure I defended as best I could. Your tires always go off over the course of a 25-lap race, but the fact that the top three riders were ail on Dunlops just goes to show how good they were today.' Pitt's race strategy was clear - get to the front, stay there and fight off all comers. He had to as well, as Chambon was the early leader, and both he and Whitham had further bites at his lead, only to be repelled with gusto by the world champ. Chambon, looking like the smartest man in the leading trio for long periods - ailowing Whitham and Pitt the chance to bum up their 'rubber while he sat back . dropped back with five laps to go, and the diminutive Frenchman was 1.6 seconds from Pitt at the conclusion of the 25-lapper. Whitham was closer - much closer - losing the win by only 0.157 of a second. "I would reaily have had a go on the last few comers, as you would expect, but Andrew rode very weil and covered ail the possible overtakes, " said Whitham at the post-race press conference. "I knew that I would have at least second if I just stayed with Andrew and I needed to score some good points. Having said that, if I had any opportunity to pass I would have gone for it. I'm pleased to have taken a good podium finish after the disap· pointment of Phillip Island, but there is a big gap between me and Andrew, even now.' Whitham set the new lap record with a 1:42.975 on lap five, just as the top three riders made a break on the chasing group - or rolling war zone as it tumed out to be. A superb fight for fourth place was headed by Chris Vermeulen (Van Zon Honda), Jorg Teuchert and Christian Kellner (both Yamaha Motor Germany) and Fabien Foret (Ten Kate Honda) at various stages of the race, but the 2000 World Champion Teuchert held his nerve to pass Foret on the vel)' last comer· but only after Foret made the mistake of thinking he had the wily Bavarian beaten. Teuchert has stated that his particular choice of race Dunlops is different from those of the leading three, and unlike his excellent qualifying hoops, his race tires do not seem to last the race pace at hot tracks like Kyalami. Foret had to settle for fifth place, having been mugged by Teucbert, with Kellner sixth and unhappy about his inability to pass some slower riders due to their widely differing race lines. Foret was singled out for particular criticism, and with just cause, as the Frenchman was hammering away onto the rumple strips and beyond as usual. Paolo Casoli, Whitham's teammate, was a steady seventh, happy to score more points after his race-leading crash in Phillip Island. His tires bad gone off by the time he reacbed half distance and the exact nature of his riding style dictated that he would simply have to settle from that point on. lain Macpherson (Ten Kate Honda) rode well to catch the second group and finished eighth, and headed off Vermeulen - who initially looked like he may have been the man to break the wild bunch, had he not made a mistake to lose three places on one lap at middistance. Macpherson, the first Pirelli·supported Supersport rider to finish on wbat was (ironically considering the Superblke result) a Dunlop track, claimed that Vermeulen was the main reason he could not finish higher, as he dropped many places after Vermeulen's mishap. Alessio Corradi took the last top-10 position on his Team Italia Yamaha, his off-track fiamboyance matched by his efforts on the bike, even if he did end up the last man in the main peleton. Pitt now leads the World Championship alone with 61 points, from Chambon on 52, Foret on 43 and Christian Kellner on 36.

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