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/128164
(Above) Aaron Yates (f 20) battled for a while with Erlc Bostrom (32) In the first race. Yates had a good da)' on the BlimplelYoshimura Suzuki. (RIght) Ba)'llss celebrates his victor)' In race one. (Below) The Yosh bop - Mat Mladln (fOf) and Yates (f 20) - lead Brlt James Toseland In World Superbike action from Laguna. A lap time of 1:24.888, just outside the new absolute track record of 1:24.833 (from Troy Bayliss) gave Castrol Honda's Colin Edwards a massively popular Superpole win on home ground, after a close and hectic competition. "I knew the lap time was in there," said the tall Texan. "I put it together but, better than that, we know that Michelin has a good one-lap Superpole tire and a good race tire for Laguna. I want to follow today with two wins tomorrow." Other riders were less fortunate than Edwards. Gregorio Lavilla did not start Superpole after suffering a painful crash in the final untimed qualifying session, and two riders crashed out of the Superpole session itself. HM Plant Ducati's Neil Hodgson scored an excellent second place, however, and may have taken the pole himself had he not experienced a lurid rear-wheel slide on the exit of turn three. Despite the cumulative effects of some severe beatings due to earlier crashes, Troy Bayliss braved his back pain to score a third place on the grid. His suffering was such that he missed the Superpole podium press conference to be in the Clinica Mobile for treatment. "I feel a little beat up, but I'm happy to be on the front row," Bayliss said. "We were thinking of sitting it out and we would have ended up eighth on row two, but we decided to go for it anyway. I'm glad 1 did because it's important to be as close as possible to Colin. The good thing is that the bike is really quick around here and I set some quick times on my race tires this afternoon, which makes me feel confident for tomorrow's races. I did a long run on race tires, about 20 laps, and was consistent, so I was very happy. " An excellent charging ride from Noriyuki Haga put the factory Aprilia twin on the front row. A similar feat of bravado and determination gave Eric Bostrom a fifth-place start, the first man on the second row. "The bike worked real well during the AMA race, so we knew we'd gone in the right direction with the tires," said Bostrom E. "It didn't feel quite as good during the preSuperpole free practice period, but it was certainly a lot better than it had been yesterday. ObViously, I'd have been happier with a front-row start. as the twins are real hard to beat away from the line, but fifth place will do me well enough. Just watch out for the Bostroms coming through from the second row tomorrow'" Bostrom's countryman, and the top wild-card rider, was Blimpie/Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates in sixth, while Ducati Infostrada's Ruben Xaus scored a good seventh, salvaging some pride and some pace after a difficult weekend. The last man on the second row proved to be L&M Ducati's Ben Bostrom, who fell in strange circumstances during his warm-up lap for Superpole, but due to his good qualifying performance before that, the local boy was only relegated to the last place on row two. Bostrom felt that he crashed on oil or dirt, but some trackside witnesses speculated that he might even have fallen on another rider's discarded tear-off visor. "It sucks crashing when going so slow on my warm-up lap: Bostrom said. "I don't know what happened, I was just going slowly down the hill to save my qualifying tires for the lap. I went through tum nine and took my tear-off strip and started to tilt it in for tum 10 and the bike just went out from under me. I thought 1hit dirt or oil, but it could have been a tear-off. 1 was pretty pleased with my long-run because 1went fast, the tire feels pretty good, the setup is close but we've still got a few more things to do tomorrow." James Toseland put his qualifying woes behind him to score ninth place on his HM Plant private Ducati, one place ahead of earlier crasher Mat Mladin and his Blimple/Yoshimura Suzuki. American Honda's Nicky Hayden had a difficult Superpole, scoring 11th place after a good regulation qualifying performance. Pier-Francesco Chili lost his second-row start status by finishing 12th, one place ahead of local HMC Ducati runner Doug Chandler and regular Ducati man Steve Martin. Lucio Pedercini was an early crasher on his self-entered Ducati, losing the front inexplicably at tum five. A total of 29 riders qualified for the brace of Superbike races on Sunday, with Jjri Mrkyvka the lone non-qualifier. His teammate, Mat Mladin, only finished the first race in 10th. He was forced out of race two due to his injured hands, swollen and weak after being slapped into the tarmac after a practice crash. Chris Walker's rookie Kawasaki ride at Laguna rewarded him with a top lOin race two, ahead of Aussies Steve Martin (DFX Ducati) and Broc Parkes (Parmalat NCR Ducati). He was disappointed to finish outside the single-digit finishers in race one, but put up a good show against the more experienced Laguna riders and those on big V-twins. "I got moved up a row when Gregorio Lavilla opted to sit out the first race, and that put me on the inside of the track for the start: said Walker. '" got away from the line pretty well and drove up the inside towards the first turn, but then I got boxed in as everyone closed up in the braking area - I think I maybe need to hook another gear there in race two. I had a good battle with Doug Chandler and Frankie Chili early on in the race, but by the time I'd worked my way past them, Mat Mladin was six seconds c u a I e ahead and out of reach. Frankie tried to mug me on the line at the end, but I got good drive out of the final turn and just managed to hold him off." A wrong tire choice in race two meant that Walker was struggling for grip just six laps into the race, but he still managed to improve on his raceone result by crossing the line in 10th place. "We had two tires to choose from for race two, and I chose the wrong one: Walker said. "Six laps in and the rear was spinning up everywhere and, even though' could see Toseland and Chili pulling away from me, there was nothing I could do about it. Overall, I've had a good weekend. The Laguna Seca circuit is awesome and, now I've had a chance to learn my way around, I'm looking forward to coming back next year." The Benelli triple of Peter Goddard scored two points for his 14th-place finish in race two, some reward for a team which is still plagued by reliability and problems of a general lack of competitiveness. Aistare Suzuki's Gregorio Lavilla, injured in a practice crash, elected n e _ s • JULv24,2oo2 13