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World Superbike Championship Final Round: Imola, San Marino ~ @m~ @fJutfJ!JwfjJO(§){AAfJ/JuOfjJ fJIOUiJGJO !Xl@f!!][jj]@8 DWD@DffJfj !?@[?@(l (Above) Japanese factory Kawasaki man Hitoyasu Izutsu (14) was 15th and 10th In the two races. (Right) Edwards ended the day a hero • much to the delight of his wife, A1yssia. (Below) Hodgson (100) and Haga (41) go at it. Hodgson ended up third in the World Championship, with Haga fourth. (Kaw); 13. Lucio Pedereini (Due); 14. Steve ~rtIn (Due); 15. Mauro S21nehini (Kaw); 16. IV21n Clementi (Kaw); 17. Alessandro Vl!llla (Due); 18. Jeronimo Vide I (Hon); 19. Redamo Assirelli (Yam). WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 13 of 13 rounds): 1. Colin Edwl!lrds (552/11 wins): 2. Troy Bayliss (541/14 IIIlns); 3. Nell Hodgson (326); 4. Noriyuki Haga (278); 5. Ben Bostrom (261); 6. Ruben Xaus (249); 7. James Toseland (195); 8. PierFrancesco Chill (167); 9. Chris Walker (152); 10. Gregorio Lavilla (130); 11. Broe Parkes (77); 12. JU21n Borja (74); 13. Lucio Pedercini (71); 14. Hitoyasu Izutsu (62); 15. Marco Borciani (55). (Duc); 11. Chris Walker (Kaw); 12. Alessllndro Antonello (Duc); 13. Steve Mllrtin (Duc); 14. Lucio Pedercinl (Duc); 15. Hitoyasu Izutsu (Kaw); 16. Marco Borcillni (Duc); 17. Mauro Senchini (Kaw); 18. IVlJn Clementi (KllW); 19. Alessandro V8lia (Duc); 20. Mark Heckles (Hon); 21. Peolc Blora (Duc); 22. Redlllrno AssireJIi (Yam). RACE TWO: I. Colin Edwards (Hon); 2. Troy Bayliss (Duc); 3. Ruben Xaus (Duc); 4. Noriyuki Haga (Apr); 5. Neil Hodgson (Duc); 6. James Toseland (Duc); 7. Gregorio l.evilla (Suz); 8. Sroc Parkes (Duc); 9. Ben Bostrom (Due); 10. HitoyllSu Izutsu (Kalil); 11. Juan Bo~a (Duc); 12. Chris Walker 16 OCTOBER 9. 2002· cue I e n e _ s &fJfJi] fli}ffJ!JfJuD® uDD@ !?@n Memories of last year's tragicomic end to the points leader's chances of winning at the final round in Imola were in most people's minds as the delayed (due to the late and restarted Superbike race-one debacle) got under way. Twelve months ago, almost to the day, Paolo Casoli, the hottest favorite in a long time, banged with Karl Muggeridge's bike and Casoli's championship chances ended laying in the gravel with him. This year, the first lap was even more worth the watchjng, as the 17point leader on race eve, Fabien Foret, is not noted for his calm and even per· sonality, nor his blemish-free record in the needless crash stakes. But, give him his due, he may be as nervous as a hunted fox, and he can certainly think like one· and pay attention to his pitboard when required. Thus, in the deciding race, clever race tactics from the Ten Kate Honda rider gave him and his Dutch squad the World Championship, despite the race victory enjoyed by Foret's only title rival, Katsuaki Fujiwara and his Alstare SuzukI. The nightmare for Foret was that he would finish less than eighth. Gifting the title to the remarkably resilient Japanese rider, who had been written off on frequent occa· sions as a Suzuki salary man, only there to make up the numbers. How wrong that has proved to be, as 'Kats' has roared in the late-season setting sun, taking three wins in the last six outings and another two podiums. No matter how hard the Suzuki pilot raced at Imola, jt was never going to be enough unless Foret fell over himself. In the leading group for most of the race, Foret played it cool to slowly drop back to a safe fourth (fifth before James Whitham was excluded after his bike would not start on the button in parc ferme), earning more than enough points to give him the championship - his first-ever world title and Pirelli's first solo World Championship win since 1989 (Fred Merkel on an RC30). It was alsn Honda's first full-status World Supersport Championship, making it a clean sweep of the Japanese big factories on top of the Supersport world in consecutive years (Foret and Honda 2002. Pitt and Kawasaki 2001, Teuchert and Yamaha 2000, and Chambon and SUzuki 1999 - the first year of full-on World Supersport racing). Fujiwara's win was his third of the year, with Foret on a total of four. (The others? Pitt in Austria and Kyalami, Chambon in Sugo, Whitham in Silverstone, and Casoli at Oscher· sieben). Stephane Chambon, Fujiwara's smaller, usually faster teammate, had to settle for second today. third overall after a good fight with Foret. The final podium place went to the young firebrand Chris Vermeulen (Van Zon Honda) who will replace Foret in the Ten Kate team next season, and who gave Foret not an inch as he passed him on the fast and thrilling rollercoaster of Imola. Whitham was the top Yamaha finisher until he was excluded from the results when his machine failed to start on the button after the race 21·lap race. Gutted wasn't the word for Whitham, more Hvid, especially as it was the second silly electrical fault that he has suffered this season, robbing him of valuable points and dropping him to 10th in the champi· onship. Jorg Teuchert. a man battling many demons this season. slayed a few on his way to fifth, not bad for a notoriously poor qualifier. Hjs teammate Christian Kellner elected not to ride after his Assen injuries proved a painkiller too far for his bad shoulder. Behind, the local talent shone through in the form of Antonio Carlacci, taking sixth on his Lorenzini by Leoni R6, and faring better than Alessio Corradi (Team Italia), suffered an eerily similar fate to that which affected Kellner at Assen. What looked like a blow up was blamed on an unscrewed oil filter, a real worry after Assen's near carnage. In second place at the time. the oil cloud he laid affected the circuit, and ensured that all the riders behind got a liberal dose of oil on their visors. Andrew Pitt blamed this for his vision problems and an almost immediate crash., his season in tatters but an almost assured MotoGP contract in his pocket for Kawasaki. A fair swap, really. lain Macpherson, never in touch with the leaders after the first couple of laps, took seventh and stayed ninth in the championship, happy enough to have another good year looming on a van-Zon Honda. Rob Frost's disastrous Saveko Yamaha season, with absolutely no points on the board so far, 8 world of crashes behind him, and duct tape holding his bike together on many occasions, had a sudden change of fortune and scored no fewer than six points at Imola. Fabien Foret, the flawed jewel in the Supersports crown, could definitely have done better this season. Some would say he almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on several occasions, but when he really had to concentrate on. the job in hand. he managed to run out to a fairly comfortable championship winner. And all that despite a disqualification In Lausitz, a crash and remount for sixth at Oschersleben, and another million close calls. Foret's points total ended on 186, with Fujiwara tantalizingly close behind on 181. Chambon was a clear third with 162, with Yamaha rider Paolo Casoli fourth on 128. Casoli's case draws a clear veil over Imola 2002, as the local favorite again failed to score at home, a jammed open throttle stopping his race before it had properly begun. "I tried to push hard at the start and to concentrate. I knew that fifth position was okay for the championship, and I was looking behind me to see who was there, but for sure today was the longest race of my life,' Foret said.