Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

a couple of practice crashes, and racing against hope said some, on what looks like a plainly outclassed Suzuki. Two 12th-place finishes is not really factory material. The Sugo race will not be remembered for that fact; it will, however, be remembered for a good second race, Bayliss being toppled and most of all a closing of a seemingly unbridgeable gap between Bayliss and - even if no one else can challenge all season Edwards. The only people who left Sugo unhappy about the drop from a 45-point lead to a 24-point lead for Bayliss were Bayliss and the men in Infostrada red. Nearer my leader to thee, sang the neutrals. eN Sportsl.nd Sugo Cln:uit Saga, J.p•• Results: April, 21, 2002 QUAUFYING: I. Noriyuki Hogo (1:28.806); 2. Neil Hodgson (1 :28.823); 3. Mllk"lo Tam"da (1:28.861); 4. Ben Bostrom (1:29.216); 5. Colin Edwards (1:29.259); 6. Akl", Vonogowo (1:29.545); 7. Troy BlIyliss (1:29.626); 8. Eric Bostrom (1:29.914); 9. Tokeshl Tsujlmuro (1:29.981); 10. Weturu Yoshikawa (1:30.188); 11. James Tosellind (1:30.287); 12. Ruben Xous (1:30.377); 13. Vuiehi Tokeda (1:30.745); 14. Chris Wolker (1:30.796); 15. Gregorio Lavill" (1:30.918); 16. Lucio Pedercini (1:31.291); 17. Hltoyosu Izutsu (1:29,612); 18. Juon Borjo (1:30.593): 19. Morco Boreloni (1:30.762); 20. Mark Heckles (1:31.620); 21. Kenichiro Nllklllmura (1:31.830); 22. Alessondro Antonelio (1:32.Q12); 23. Steve Mllrtin (1 :32. t 17); 24. Iven Clementi BRIEFLY••• All Japanese International bike race weekends make the perfect venue for meetings between racing's main power brokers, and Sugo was no different. There was even an MSMA meeting regarding the future of MotoGP on Friday. before the SBK International and MSMA one on Saturday. There were also discussions between Octagon Motorsports. on the shape of Alberto Flammin;, and the interested parties in World Superbike racing, with several items of great import to World Superbike racing's future under discussion. One was a proposal to bring the 1000cc limit in for the 2003 season, although no decision was made, The Japanese manufacturers took the chance to have a get-together as well, on yet another separate occasion, in the interests of presenting a united front. The strong iocal entries, tricky track and general air of oriental disorientation takes its toll on some riders at Sugo, but Neil Hodgson was completely unfazed by his latest Sugo experience. "I've been here five times now. so I don't feel like I'm at a disadvantage compared to the other riders. I watched a video of Tamada from last year's race and I think I have learned a lot from that." Tamada had the chance to learn from Hodgson, who went fastest after the combined qualifying times came in, deposing Tamada from his Friday provisional pole in the process. Sugo gave the Superbike World the first chance to see the flying Bostrom brothers' (below) very own red and green trapeze in operation in the 2002 season, although in the early stages Ben the elder was flying higher on his Ducati then Eric was on the Kawasaki. Eric was, in his own words, annoyed with his early form on Friday: "It's been a pretty miserable day. We went the wrong way with the set-up for qualifying and took a major step backwards. We know what direction we need to go in with the bike to improve matters, and I'm hoping the team will be able to sort things out before qualifying gets under way again tomorrow.Bostrom was in better form in Superpole, with a lap of aggression showing his AMA form more accurately. (1:32.190); 25. Brae Porkes (1:32.226); 26. Mouro Sonehinl (1 :32.573 RACE ONE: I. Colin Edwords (Hon): 2. Mokoto Tamede (Hen); 3. Noriyuki Hllgc (Apr); 4. Neil Hodgson (Duc); 5. Troy Bayliss (Duc); 6. Akira Yanagew£I (Kew); 7. Ben Bostrom (Duc); 8. Weturu Yoshikewe (Yam); 9. Jemes Toselend (Duc); 10. Takeshi Tsujimure (Yem); 11. Chris Walker (KllW); 12. Gregorio U!lvilla (Suz); 13. Eric Bostrom (Kaw); 14. Juon Borjo (Due): 15. Vuiehl Tokedo (Hon); 16. Lucio Pederclnl (Due); 17. Steve Martin (Due); 18. Ivan Clementi (Kaw); 19. Kenlchiro Nakamurll (Hon); 20. Mlluro &mchinl (Kaw); 21. Mark Heckles (Hon). Time: 37 min. 24.515 sees. Disumce: 57.92 miles Avelllge speed: 92.90 mph Margin of victory: .161 sees. Fastest lop: Noriyukl Hogo, I :29.175, lop 4 RACE TWO: 1. Makato Tamllda (Hon); 2. Colin Edwllrds (Hon); 3. Neil Hodgson (Due); 4. Troy Bayliss (Duc); 5. Norlyukl Hllgll (Apr); 6. Akirll Yanagawa (Kaw); 7. Ben Bostrom (Due); 8. Waturu Yoshikewe (Yam); 9. Ruben Xaus (Due); 10. Takeshl Tsujimura (Yem); 11. James Toseland "(Due); 12. Gregorio lllvllla (Suz); 13. Chris Walker (Kaw); 14. comer, The Japanese rider suffered an injured wrist in the fall (a fracture of distal end of the radius bone on his left hand) but no more serious injury. His concussion led to a precautionary brain scan, but he was given the all-clear after his visit to the hospital. He is expected to be out of action for two months, after the initial diagnosis, A second major crash, a few minutes before the end of the second part of the one-hour session, saw debris from Lucio Pedercini's Ducati spread on the track at the third comer, causing another interruption as it was cleared away by the marshals. A jubilee clip had broken in half and the loose radiator hose deposited water on the rear tires, causing the hapless Pedercini to fall on the third comer, the site of many crashes. With only three minutes remaining after the second restart, there was a cavalry charge from the top riders, trying to set a fast time in what was almost a multi-participant version of a dummy Superpole. Makoto Tamada and Ben Bostrom both crashed at the same point of the third comer, neither with serious injUry. Eric Bostrom's run off and eventual topple over in the gravel was not classed as a crash by the race direction. More than seven riders in total fell during the first qualifying session, one of the most incident-strewn in World Superbike history - which itself followed on from a red·flag incident in the untimed session on Friday. when water from Gregorio The timesheet war was eventually won on the first day by Makoto Tamada and his Cabin Honda, with the pairing ripping off a 1:29.314 - under lap-record pace. but some way off his own qualifying best of 1:28.658, The two-day total of crashers in the sessions was almost as high as the full-meeting total in 2002. Makoto Tamada's first-day qualifying speed, which propelled him to the top of the timing sheets, was reason enough to celebrate on the opening day, but the fact that the Cabin Honda rider, who almost won the 2001 All-Japan Championship on his VTR. was missing from the first race in the 2002 Japanese season was a mystery to the foreign journalists. He explained his absence thus. "I am a Honda employee and it is their decision not to compete in all of the races. I will only do six out of nine this season. I will compete in the Suzuka race in September on the RC211 V and I hope to do well so that I can ride it in Mota GP.The list of possible substitutions for the injured Izutsu was a short one, with probably Eric Bostrom and Akira Yanagawa deputizing for the next few months. Giovanni Bussei is another possible according to Harald Eckl, but not necessariiy the best bet. in November of the previous year, manufacture over the new year Steve Whitelock, the FIM Technical delegate, received a letter at Sugo stating that his services would no longer be reqUired, ostensibly due to his advancing years. The true reason is unknown. and according to Sugo scuttlebutt, a more accurate reason is that elements within the FIM have been unhappy with their technical delegate for some time. No fewer than seven official (and one unofficial) crashes affected the first Superblke qualifying session on Friday. A highside from Kawasaki rider Hitoyasu Izutsu saw the red flag hung out halfway through the first official qualifying session, as Izutsu was treated for his injUries on the track itself, at the exit of the final Boss of the HM Plant Ducati team, Colin Wright, didn't look like a man who's number-one rider had lost out on pole by a small margin when he was captured on the TV cameras just as his rider crossed the line. His natural sense of competitiveness was tempered by the thought that Hodgson was coming onto his seasonlong game. "I'm not too disappOinted not to take pole position. Being the be~t non.Japanese is aiways a bonus, and I'm pleased for both James and Neil. As Neil said, I'm sure he could have been pole if he pushed it harder coming out of the chicane." Pier-Francesco Chili underwent a restorative operation on his collarbone in Imola on Wednesday, April 10. The operation took one-and·half hours. The previous smaller plate was removed and has been replaced by a bigger plate and six locating screws. On Monday, April 15, Chili began his rehabilitation therapy, and expects to return to the World Superbike fray at Monza on May 12. After surgery, Chili stated: -I prefer to miss Sugo's race, even if the doctor told me that I could race. After the fall in Misana. two years ago, I was back racing in Valencia, just four days later, but Sugo is a more demanding track than the Spanish one, and also my injury is worse. Now we have to prepare to be in the best conditions for Monza, not only me but the team too: they will have a lot of work to repair the bike, which was almost completely destroyed in the accident. - WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS After 4 of 13 rounds): I. Troy Bayliss (174/6 wins); 2. Colin Edwords (150/1); 3. Nell Hod9son (98); 4. Ben Bostrom (95); 5. Noriyuki Hega (87); 6. Ruben Xaus (86): 7. Jomes Toseiond (57): 8. Chris Walker (52); 9. Hltoyosu Izutsu (47); 10. Mokato Tomodo (45/1 Win): 11. Juon Borjo (39); 12. Gregorio Lovlllo (38); 13. Akiro Vonogowo (20); 14. Morco Borcioni (18); 15. Lucio Pedercini (17). Upcoming rounds Round 5: Monza, Italy, May 12 Round 6: Great Britain, May 26 In terms of wild cards, the quality of Sugo riders is possibly the highest of all the races on the World Superbike calendar. Not only did Makoto Tamada win, set new laps records and the Superpole time on his SP1 in 2001, he also became the first winner of a Sugo race on a twin-eylinder machine for over five years. He's back this year as well, and was the man ali the top riders chose as their number-one threat, pre-race. The last time a Western rider won at Sugo was in 1995. when Carl Fogarty and Troy Corser took a win apiece for Ducati. Another local rider with a brace of Sugo World Superbike wins under his black belt is former Kawasaki SBK reguiar Akira Yanagawa. Yanagawa won on the ZX-7RR as recently as 1999, after his first success in 1997. Two riders, both from the YSP & PRESTO team, represented Yamaha. The highly experienced Wataru Yoshikawa and the five years younger Takeshi Tsujimura competed on their full factory R7s, with Yoshikawa a Sugo podium finisher in 2000. The name of Vuichi Takeda is well known to long-time Super· bike afiCionados, after he won the first race at Sugo in 1996, riding an RC45 Honda - aged 19. This year, he competed on a fullspec SP1 CTamada's 2001 machine} for the Sakurai Honda dealer team. The final local Honda twin rider, Kenichiro Nakamura, was Colin Edwards, who has suffered from poor starting this season, which has cost him dearly. had some unspecified new equip· ment from Honda to heip his iaunch to the first comer. "HRC have made one or two changes to the machine and that should help me get off the line a bit better than I have been this year, " said Edwards. "I've had bits of success at Sugo but never really got within a chance of winning, I'm confident I can do that on Sunday. I've won pole position, set fastest laps and beaten the lap record - I just need all that kind of form to come together for me to win. We had a good test here with Michelin at the end of last year. so we arrive here better prepared than ever. " The rash of crashes in the Friday timed session included one from Ben Bostrom, who, like many others. paid the price for having a cold tire on the first significant left comer for almost half the track, tum three. "I took my warm-up lap too slow, my Q tire was too cold and 1 crashed at the first [left) comer... After the last three races, I finally feel like I'm back racing again, and the fact that I crashed but I'm still smiling shows it." Noriyuki Haga, the pole man at Sugo, received a 1000-Franc fine from the FIM for refusing to re-enter the pits dUring qualifying, after being shown the black flag with an orange disc. the order to report back to pits for a mechanical problem to be fixed. Haga claimed he did not see the flag, but was fined 1000CHF anyway. Another local rider in trouble was Wataru Yoshikawa. who presented himself 30 seconds late for Superpole, and was fined 1000CHF. Several of the Dunlop-supplied privateers rebelled against the quality and standard of tires they had been receiving from the only manufacturer with a setup ready to feed their needs. Sergio Bertocchi was especially upset at some of the tires he had been receiving, claiming that some had a date stamp of 1999 on the side. Dunlop spokesmen refuted the claims, and put the limited choice on display at the flyaway rounds down to the fact that the planning for exactly what to bring for the April race has to be done Akira Vanagawa's life has been getting busier, not less busy since he left World Superbike, with his duties involving development work on the new Kawasaki MotoGP entry. and the existing World Superbike and Suzuka 8-Hour machines. Yanagawa has already raced the GP machine in the first round of the All-Japan Superbike' Championship, which allows prototypes in, without the possibility of scoring paints. Yanagawa finished third. behind two Suzuki GSV-R GP machines, with the winner last year's champi. on Akira Ryo. 22. Mouro Sonehinl (lUlw). Time: 37 min. 26.628 sees. Distance: 57.92 mJles Average speed: 92.81 mph Margin of victory: 3.297 sees. Fastest lap: Mekoto Temeda, 1:29.108. lllp 17. the lone entrant from the Blue Helmet MSC team (a branch of Honda R&D. not HRC), on a 2002-spec Honda twin. lavilla's crashed Suzuki spread across the circuit. period, then sea-freighting the hoops for their two month journey by sea to Japan. Eric Bostrom (Kaw); 15. Juan Borja (Due); 16. Yuichi Tl!!lkeda (Hon); 17. Marco Borelanl (Due); 18. Lucio Pedercini (Due); 19. Ivan Clementi (Kaw); 20. Steve Mllrtin (Due); 21. Kenichiro Nakamure (Hon); Karl Muggeridge and Paolo Casoli, the warring factions from the 2001 World Supersport Championship denouement. were called in to race direction for an official talking-to regarding their future behavior on-track. Quiet why the pair were brought in for their chat at this stage, six months and more after the initial problem was evident at Imola, was a mystery at first. until the fact that they were beside each other on the grid was brought into the discussion, and they were asked to cool it on the first laps. On Sunday morning, all the riders on the front two rows were asked in for another lecture on the dangers of going too mad in the first two comers. The Kawasaki team at Sugo carried out a special pre-race awards ceremony for their World Championship.winning rider Andrew Pitt and AMA Supersport winner Eric Bostrom. As well as a public vote of thanks from Kawasaki racing boss Hank Hosoi, the riders each received a replica Samurai crash helmet, of an astonishingly ornate design, mounted on a plinth with miniature Samurai swords and gold braid apienty. The riders, delighted with the plaudit. if bemused by the helmets themselves, were pictured together with Hosoi, wearing an unfamiliar form of protective headgear. Karl Muggeridge turned a comer in his so-far dreadful 2002 season when he qualified on the front row. He explained why it has taken so long to get into contention. "Everything is better here: the chassis, the engine, me. We've been improVing since the day we first rode the bike, but we started the season a bit later than anyone else. At the beginning of the year, we were just decimated - broken legs, bikes, engines - and since then we've been climbing up. So now it's time to catch some points. " cue. e n .. vvs MAY 1 ,2002 23

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