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/128152
World Superbike Championship Round 4: Sugo. Japan record time of 37 minutes, 24.515 seconds, reducing his great Ducati rival Bayliss' championship lead as he aced his first race since aschersIeben in September 2001. Edwards outpaced wild-card rider Makoto Tamada (Cabin Honda, and Dunlops) and Aprilia's Noriyuki Haga to take the first top prize on offer, with Bayliss only fifth. In fourth place, riding exceptionally well on a 2001-spec factory Ducati, came Briton Neil Hodgson on his HM Plant-backed machine; desperate to score his first podium of the year, but once more just missing out. Temporarily. The first four-cylinder finisher in the opener proved to be Kawasaki's Akira Yanagawa in sixth (a position he was to repeat in race two) with the former World Superbike star proving to be a force to be reckoned with on his home tarmac. He said he enjoyed it and he looked like he did, even if he only appeared in the peripheral vision of most watchers of the top battle. "I've really enjoyed myself this weekend," he grinned, "It's good to come back to World Superbikes and score two good results, and to finish as the top four-cylinder rider in both races. I opted for a harder rear tire for the second race, and that was a good decision. My average lap time was a lot better and I was still able to turn in 1 :29 laps at the end of the race, which helped me catch Ben Bostrom in the last couple of laps. Overall, the weekend has been a lot of fun." Tamada's sheer determination to score another Sugo win, to add to his double from the 2001 season, brought him the second race spoils, (at a lap record pace) with Edwards second, ahead of Hodgson; the English rider finally taking his first podium finish, the lead for large parts of the race, and happy about it he undoubtedly was. "That was unbelievable," Hodgson said. "I was so pleased to get the lead - it relaxed me - and to be the top Ducati rider in both races is really encouraging. I'm very happy with the bike, my chief engineer understands me perfectly now and I have the kind of set-up I need to begin to push the bike hard. The team has gelled really well and my confidence levels are sky-high, so I can't wait to get to Monza and get on with it. I have never been so high in the World Championship and I'm quite proud of that." Tamada's new lap record stands at 1:29.1 08, and was set (on Dunlops remember) on the 17th lap, a late stage to suddenly find your true pace after a race spent shadowing Hodgson and Edwards. Tamada was almost certainly playing to some unwritten team-orders in race one, and was asked as much in 18 MAY I, 2002' cue. e the first race press conference. His reply that he was trying to pass Edwards, but his machine was too fast on the straights rang more hollow than a Shinto temple bell. It appeared that, no matter what, in race one there was an understanding that Tamada would not interfere too much in the Edwards/Bayliss battle. He went for it in race two, however, and was untouchably fast, and thankfully for him, as memorable as last year. "I am very happy about the second race; I didn't expect my tactics to work so well," said the local boy made good. "I hope everybody in the world remembers my name now. Usually, I am not so good at the start, n e _ s so I don't expect to get the holeshot again in race two. The temperature was lower in the second race, so it was easier to overtake the other machines. Once I was leading the race, I just concentrated on my job, and not to make some silly mistakes." Bayliss, on a red bike of a different manufacture to Tamada's, was a determined fourth in race two, conducting something of a damage-limitation exercise after Edwards' earlier attack on his points lead, but still saw his pre-Sugo 45-point advantage cut to 24 at the end of the day in any case. He was, however, a giant compared to his 2001 self, and in race Tamada was able to pull away from the batUe tor second between Edwards (21, Hodgson (1001 and World Champion Troy Bayliss (1) in the second race., turning the tables on Edwards, who had won the first race. two he worked himself into the rear echelons of the podium battle in fine style, lapping quicker than any of the leaders except Tamada. "In the first race, I was over 40 seconds faster than last year, but the result was worse because I finished more places down than Colin," said ultra-realist Bayliss. "I'm sure I can do a lot better after the break, but I need to work on grip, because I feel