World Superbike Championship
Round 6: Silverstone
his best machine, but only one tire
had been swapped over, or so he
reckoned.
"I had a misfire for the last six laps
of the first race, but we thought we
had cured it for race two," Edwards
said. "It started misfiring again so I
changed to my spare bike, but only
one of the tires was changed over
and I crashed on the warm-up lap. I
was going so slow I could have
walked quicker and managed to
keep my leg between the ground and
the bike and save my clutch lever.
The lever was okay, but I broke off
part of my footpeg."
He continued, "In the race, I got a
good start and had a battle with Troy.
As soon as I got up behind Troy, I
couldn't see. I wear the best helmets
in the world, but all I could see was
curb. I was having to drop back and
let things clear, but at the end my
visor was just solid and I had to actually lift it up to see."
(Above) In what was a renewal of their
past British Championship battles,
Neil Hodgson (100) and Chris Walker
(9) battled in the second of the two
Silverstone races.
(Left) Edwards and Bayliss were really
the only two riders with a firm grasp
on the miserable conditions.
(Below) A picture paints a thousand
words.
Xaus had similar problems to
Edwards in race one, and was only
eighth.
"In the first race, I had a problem
with water inside my helmet and it was
good to just finish. The second race
result is good for the championship, I
made a fast start and try to stay with
Troy but it is not possible. Third position is fine, but it's a very long race
and very difficult. The Silverstone track
is wonderful, the faster tracks are good
for the adrenaline and it would be nice
to race at Hockenheim or the A-l ring.
The track would be good in the dry - it
would be good if it was in Spain."
Xaus, as he indicated in the aforementioned comments, was to join
Bayliss and Edwards on the second
race podium, with Kawasaki's Chris
Walker the top home finisher, taking
his four-cylinder machine to a wildly
popular fourth place.
28
.JUNE 5. 2002'
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