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/128157
Slippery? Apparently so as Troy Bayliss almost hlghsldes as he tries to match Colin Edwards' pace. Bayliss crashed twice In the first race but still finished fifth. Hodgson had the luxury of not showing too much bravery late on in any case, having survived the scariest moment possible in the first few laps, and continuing to try his damnedest. Misjudging the crucial final corner somewhat, Hodgson ran onto the grass on the exit of the last corner and proceeded down the start finish straight a meter off the hard black (or even white-painted stuff), in a game of high-speed, high-danger motocross that saw him regain the track just before the first corner had to be negotiated. "The grass was grippy," was his incongruous explanation on why he did not fall off. Or for the full version: "When I ran onto the grass, I was just a passenger and there was no skill involved, I was heading for the wall, but didn't touch the brakes or throttle and actually found the grass grippy.· He survived, scrapped his heart out with Haga, despite his not quite suitable rear tire, and swapped to a more grooved version in race two, which proved to be a lot drier affair in relative terms - than race one. "In race two? That was as good as I could do with the package I've got and tire I chose," Hodgson said. "I thought it was going to rain and chose a tire that wouldn't aquaplane like the first race but the track dried. More points for me, though." He finished sixth. Fourth in race one was PierFrancesco Chili and his NCR Ducati, followed by Bayliss and new local hero Mark Heckles. Chili was seriously disenchanted with the conditions and thought the race should have been stopped early, although a halt in the rain just before the possibility of a shortened event yet still long enough to earn full points - persuaded race direction not to bother, and the full 20 laps were run. "I was nearly crashing everywhere and I think that they should have stopped the race,' Chili said. "It is too dangerous and for me there are to many risks. It is not good, but I have to do my job." Heckles was immense on his VTR - no pun intended toward the six-foot plus young Liverpudlian rider who rode maturely to take his first dou- ble-digit World Superbike points score. He was to fall in the second event because of tarmac he later described as "not wet enough. It's harder to judge the half-wet, half-dry stuff.' He continued. "For the first two to three laps in the first one, I took it easy and just settled into a pace and let everything warm up. Once I got going, it was great to be able to catch and pass other riders. Halfway through the race, the rain came down again and there was so much standing water that when you got behind another rider you cue I e couldn't see a thing - no visibility at all in race one." L&M Ducati's Ben Bostrom, Ducati Infostrada's Ruben Xaus, Renegade Ducati's Shane Byrne and HM Plant Ducati's James Toseland rounded out the top lOin the opener, a race which was some 10 minutes away from being canceled in the first place, due to the adverse weather. A drier second outing, although fully wet in places right to the end, saw Bayliss catapult into the lead at the first opportunity. He led Edwards almost throughout and was to regret allOWing Edwards, on similar Michelin tires, to burst through to the front, as he was blinded by spray from the Honda VTR. "I got a good start in race two, but had my foot down motocross-style into turn two, after I went for a position that wasn't on," Bayliss said. "I thought Colin was just sitting behind me easily, but it was a big mistake letting Colin go by. As soon as he was past, the visibility was terrible and I wanted to try and get back at him as soon as I could. Colin is a clever guy and I knew that if he didn't clear off straight away I'd have a good chance to get back at him. I've given away nine points to Colin this weekend although I didn't give them to him; he took them." Bayliss nudged ahead soon after and outpaced Edwards, who was suffering from a misted visor and a tooshort footpeg. The latter was a relic from a comedy moment for all but Edwards, when he crashed at the final turn, just before the final grid formation on the startline. He had earlier swapped to his number-two bike, because of persistent misfire on n e _ os • JUNE 5, 2002 27