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/128155
World Superbike Championship Round 5: Monza, Italy Bayliss stood on top of the podium for the eighth time in 2002 and he further extended his championship points lead with two dominating races. entrance to the first chicane, in a strangely simultaneous fashion. Haga fell behind what turned into a scrapping three-rider battle for the win, with Hodgson, Edwards and Bayliss continually overtaking each other as they played a high-speed game of chess, adopting alternative racing lines as circumstances allowed. Haga regained his strength of purpose in the last few laps to work his way into the leading bunch again, to the great surprise of Hodgson and Edwards. Said Haga of his second outing, "It was a tough race, because in the first leg we only went around a few times, so we had to start the second without any references about tire wear. Then, after just a few laps, there was an incident on the first chicane, which pushed me back from the leading pack. But I gave it all I'd got and managed to catch them up: I up dicing and Troy got away. The rear steps out so much into the first chicane because you are changing from sixth to first and its difficult to get the revs right it's not a tire thing because it happens on a race, qualifier or Superpole tire." Fifth in race one was Toseland, riding his heart out to finish 18 seconds down on Bayliss, and having the pleasure of finishing ahead of factory Infostrada Ducati rider Ruben Xaus, who survived his huge morning warm-up crash virtually unscathed, only to crash again on the third lap of race two, lowsiding right under the nose of a following rider, who was himself lucky not to collect the tall Spaniard. Xaus is now the leading World Superbike-dass crasher of the season, on his own with eight in qualifying and racing. Toseland was excited with his ride with the big boys in the early laps. "Race one was amazing," he said. "I got a good start, which put me up into fifth. I was expecting to have a bit of a scrap with Haga for that position until his bike packed up. I was determined to keep fifth place, so from there on in I just kept my head down and rode as hard as I could." The second race at Monza proved to be every bit as nail-biting as the first, even though Bayliss made a break from the leading bunch in the final section of the 18-lap race. Six riders formed the leading peleton in the opening laps of race two, until Chili and Toseland fell at the 20 MAY 22, 2002' c u e • • n Sidecars storm through one of Monza's many chicanes. e _ 50 HM Plant Ducati rider Neil Hodgson (pictured) showed delicate throttle control throughout his lap, concluded in 1:47.913 - the fastest qualifying time ever at Monza. Hodgson's pre-race win came as a surprise, even to him, as his on-board lap timer had broken before his lap was commenced. "I'm getting used to the new bike now and it's nice to be riding a bike that's as quick as these guys','" he said. "My form's been good since the South Atiica second race. I went really well at Sugo and I love the Monza circuit - the long, fast straights are like no other track, with people hanging over the wall. It's a beautiful place." He added, "We have a race tire for tomorrow, Dunlop have been working very hard and we have a tire that wJ1l do the distance .but with no chatter, which should make my life easier. The plan is that there is no plan, just go as fast as I can and give 100 percent and we'1I see where we end up at the finish." A dramatic Superpole was started in bizarre circumstances, when Aussie Brae Parkes (16th in regulation qualifying and thus first away) encountered someone on the main straight as he flashed toward the start line. In the interests of faimess, Parkes was given another chance to set his best lap right at the end of the session, but in a twist of cruel luck his machine expired and he failed to set a lap time, automatically dropping to 16th. Lucio Pedercini was the first of the riders to make significant inroads into the Superpole order, eventually ending up seventh, earning himself a second-row start on his privateer Ducati. Noriyuki Haga jumped from his lowly qualifying position of 11th to the pole for the majority of the qualifying session, until Pier-Francesco Chili whipped it from him. The local man was himself only displaced in the last few minutes, and eventually finished with an all-important front-row start. Third-last away, Troy Bayliss took pole until he was overhauled by second-last man Colin Edwards, by a mere two thousandths of a second. Bayliss made a - whisper it - mistake and acknowledged it as such. "The times are very close and I did everything I could, but 1made one mistake and one mistake is not good enough. The important thing is that I'm 01) the front row and we should have two goodraces. " Truly, none could match the sheer pace and determination of Hodgson, who was looking for his first race Wins of the season, haVing scored his first podium finish in the preceding event at Sugo. The front row thus consists of Hodgson, Edwards, Bayliss and Chili, with Haga, James Toseland, Pedercini and Eric Bostrom filling the second rank. Bostrom was the top fOUTcylinder rider in the Superpole ratings. Eric's brother Ben had a disappointing finish to his good Superpole start, ending in 10th behind Steve Martin's DFX Ducati. GregOrio Lavilla's good work in regulation qualifying was undone in Superpole, with the Spaniard dropping to an unlucky 13th. Chris Walker, seventh after regulation, dropped to 15th after hitting the curbs on the Ascari chicane very hard.