Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Superbike Championship Final Round: Imola, San Marino BRIEFLY••• According to paddock rumor at Imola, the fiercely independent GSE Racing outfit has been in discussion with no less a racing entity than Honda, to run their VTR SP-2 machines in the 2003 World Superbike Championship - despite the expected plan being to race as a Ducati Corse team. The ideal would most likely be for them to become a full-status factory team in Superbike racing, but logic again dictates only with HRC support, Or else they would be better placed to continue with the current plan, to run one-yearold factory Ducatis, as the favored team of Ducati Corse, The mere supply of even factory VTR SP-2 machines, without full works team status, is not an option they could realistically consider, given their already strong links with Ducati, and exclusive access to F02s for 2003, No sense trading unless you're changing up, and for the long term to boot. Or so says common sense, Conjecture atlmola was inflamed by the fact that the future of the Castrol Honda team - new World Champions no less - is still in the balance. And the teams are both British, And Honda Europe despite budgetary Issues - still wants to go World Superbike racing, It is rumored that talks have been held between the British GSE team and the present Castrol Honda setup, Honda UK and many of the visiting Japanese Honda staff at Imola, to find a way any way - to run factory Hondas in the 2003 championship. Assistance from SBK in this matter would be a foregone conclusion, with no Kawasaki or Benelli in for 2003. According to sources, the GSE Racing team has a Ducati contract in their possession, although curiously no announcement was forthcoming on whether it had been signed or not, despite the expectation of news of their iong-term partnership being sealed on the final day of the season. With Honda set to launch a l000cc version of the four-cylinder CBR954RR (even if ~ is differently named) in 2004, it also makes sense to have either the current Louth team infrastructure, or conceivably the existing GSE team, still around and in Honda's camp for that occasion, Leaving World Superbike for one year, and dispersing your championship-winning team, and ditching the obvious improvement work on the VTR at a stroke, appears folly in the extreme. Even in simple image terms, why leave when you've just won a championship? The fact that the Ten Kate Team is supposed to be running 954s in 2004 may mitigate against any rumored involvement from another setup, and the wall of silence and denial from the GSE team may indicate little in any case, Noriyukl Haga has, according to his team. signed for the Aprilia factory Superbike effort, but according to rumor at Imola, only if they stick to using Dunlop tires. The plan at one stage was - and may still be - to use th.e less tried and tested Pirellis. Ruben Xaus has already been reported as saying that he would happily join the Aprilia squad, if he were only made to use Dunlop, not Pirelli. Alessio Corradi, the colorful rider for the Team Italia team, will make a return to the World Supersport paddock for his current squad again in 2002, according to a press release from his team, He will not be a fully supported rider like Jamie Whitham or Paolo Casoli. but can expect some favors as his season carries on. All of the top Superbike riders who use Suomy helmets - Troy Bayliss, Ruben Xaus. Ben Bostrom, Neil Hodgson and James Toseland - had new lids, and thus new helmet designs at Imola, launching the new Spec 1 product from their sponsor in a highprofile way. Ducatl was at the merchandising stall at Imola, announcing their new Bianchi-produced road bicycle and a new watch. A supposed clash with Daytona has caused a change in the date of the first round of the World Superbike Championship in 2003. with the new date oong March 2. as opposed to March 9. This fueled rumors of some of the teams, namely Ducati. retuming to Daytona for the first time since the- mid-'90s, although no comment was forthcoming from the factory. Honda released its Supersport plans for the 2003 season. with four fully supported factory teams out in force. The lineup is Ten Kate - Chris Vermeulen and Karl Muggeridge: Van Zon - lain Macpherson and Wemer Daemen; BKM - Christophe Cogan and Broc Parkes; OPCM - Kevin Curtain and Robert Ulm. The usual stream of incidents at Imola was not long in coming, with the first session of the weekend, the Superstock untimed sector, being halted and restarted after Spanish rider Jose Manuel Hurtado fell from his machine, eventually proving to be unhurt. The first timed Superbike session was stopped twice, the first due to 011 on the track after Redamo Assirelli fell from his Yamaha, then Neil Hodgson claiming to be knocked off by the everexcitable Ruben Xaus, with his bike damaging the Air Fence. A further two red flags affected practice as such, one in the second untimed Supersport session, when Matthieu Lagrive crashed into the Air Fence, puncturing it once more (and calling its use into question as a viable alternative to other permanent systems). The final one was a horrid incident in the title-deciding Sidecar race, when Mick Frith's arm was caught in his outfit's rear wheel, degloving his arm muscle on the ulna side and causing severe injury. The race was stopped and the results declared at that point. giving Steve Abbott his first World title in 20 years of trying, On race eve, Colin Edwards made his feelings clear about how he would approach the Imola race. "Troy has made life hard this 18 OCTOBER 9. 2002' C .. C • e n year, and ifs taken a lot of hard work and a lot of record-breaking to get where we are. There's no way I'm going to throw It all away now, in the final round. I know whaf s needed and I intend to go out there and do it. I have a lot of family and friends over, and the last time they came in force like this was for Brands Hatch in 2000 when I won the title. It doesn't put any extra pressure on me, and neither does all the talk about what I might or might not be dOing next year. Right now I've got a job to do and there isn't one person connected to the Castrol Honda team who doubts my ambition and desire to win both races on Sunday." Bayliss. for his part. also felt that the title would be his if he played it smart - and fast. "I thought my Superpole lap was faster than it was, and it would have been nice to have been on pole for the final race of the year here atlmola in front of all the Ducati fans, Now I feel like Colin felt a couple of months ago, but I'm determined to tum things around tomorrow. We've got a couple more things to try in the moming after we lost today's qualifying session because of rain. I'm feeling really good on the bike, and tomorrow I'm certainly going to give it everything I've got to beat Colin and take the title. " Ben Bostrom, signing off from active Ducati and World Superbike duty all in one weekend, had a poor Superpole, and even he said so. "That was a terrible Superpole lap. and I don't really know why." he acknowledged, ruefully. "After the wet morning session, I had programmed myself to lap in a certain way, where to brake and where to accelerate, and I think I just carried on like that in Superpole. The bike feels great, the tires are also great: it's just that the rider wasn't working well today. I have no complaints, sixth place on the grid means I will just have to work a bit harder tomorrow, but I'm sure it's going to be a good race." The injury saga of Kawasaki factory rider Hitoyasu Izutsu, who broke his wrist at Sugo in April, and is still suffering pain and lack of strength, has explained his long recovery as being due to an unsuccessful first operation. A rash of rider changes in Supersport saw one of the competitors injured in the Assen race pileup replaced for the weekend. Thus British-based Aussie Paul Young replaced Werner Daemen (broken but healing collarbone) in the Van-zon Honda squad, Michael Laverty stood in for the deposed John McGuinness in the Honda UK team, and Giovanni Bussei was a retumee for the NCR team again. The planned exit of Ducati, i a factory sense at least. from the World Superbike Championship was rescinded for many reasons, but one lesser-known one came forth at Imola. Had Ducati tumed their effort over to anyone other than a full factory team. Michelin would have withdrawn from the series itself. leaving SBK in general another gold bar short of a iI's previously accumulating bank vault. An MSMA m_ting on Saturday moming at Imola delivered the final verdict on air restrictors. They will be here for fours in 2003, and in to stay for 2004 for everyone, They will be the original sizes unveiled earlier, and they will be for all engine configurations; twins. triples and fours in 2004. According to sources close to the MSMA. all the manufacturers in the powerful regulatory body (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Ducati and Aprilia) have agreed that the system is the best one to allow any and all types of manufacturer to race their streetbike-derived machines, despite the bad history of air restrictors in some formulas. Donington Park was not on the World Superbike calendar in 2002, but many at Imola were beginning to wish it was. after news filtered through that the 41-year-old Scot Steve Hislop had set a lap time on the GP circuit (during the final round of the British championship. which he leads by 37 points) of 1:31.457. This is even better than Valentino Rossi's previous absolute circuit best of 1:31.563, set on the RC211V this year. Hislop's achievement is even more staggering when the fact that he rides Dunlops - this season's least favored World Superbike tire - and that he is on a 998RS Testastretta, not even an F-Ol or F-02 exfactory model. James T oseland, fast all weekend and obviously buoyed by his strong rides at Assen. described what the Imola track, one of the quicker ones on the calendar. was like to ride on, and the difference qualifying tires made to the whole deal. "I've made steady progress today. The track is technical and bumpy and they've resurfaced a few of the comers but to be honest they need to do the whole thing. I've been working on achieving a good base setting, which is a lot different from Assen. but we're getting close now. The problem I'm having is through the fast tums where they are bumpy. On a race tire, the rear starts to slide over the bumps, which in tum lifts the front and makes it impossibie to tum the front. On a qualifier. though, the rear grips and you can take them flat out and still tum. We now need to be able to get the suspension right so that we can take them flat out on a race tire. " An unusual move from the Imola race jury decided to allow the inclusion of Superbike non-qualifier Redamo Assirelli (YamaNeil Hodgson's Air Fence-puncturing ellercise on Saturhal due to his Inability to set a lap in the first untimed qualifying day came as a result of what Hodgson attributed to a piece of session and the fact that that second session was wet. Way off recklessness by Ruben Xaus. "I got taken off by Xaus early on, I the normal limit of 107 percent of the best lap time, Assirelli set a don't think he realizes that when he's leaning off the bike how far 1;58.213 in the wet. Four riders (before Assirelli's reprieve) failed out his body is from the bike and he just ran me off the track like to qualify for the Superbike race. with Jiri Mrkyvka being one of he did to Chili at Kyalami. I was able to go out on the second bike them. He was unusually refused entry to the track for the second , and went quicker, my two bikes are identical. so it was no probsession after an FIM inspection of his machine declared it unfit for lem having to ride the second one. " further use. Mrkyvka suffered his fourth high-profile engine blowup of the year in the first timed session at Imola, bringing about The copybook of the normally efficient Imola marshals was the attention of the race authorities, blotted slightly when oil on the track was spotted in the Superbike session, cement dusted liberally, but not brushed in properly, According to sources close to the Benelli Sport racing making the line slippery and avoided by most of the riders from team, the company, a subsidiary of the Benelli streetbike brand, then on. is to be wound-up gradually from the Monday after the Imola weekend, bring a close to two years of potentially glorious, but Karl Muggeridge, ever one to court unwitting controversy, ultimately under-funded and under-developed triple racing. especially at Imola. had a horrendous experience during the first day. "Yesterday I came in to the chicane and the bike hit a false The Imola circuit itself came in for some criticism from many neutral and then mid turn it came back into gear and the back riders who felt that the tarmac was much bumpier than in previous came right around on me. It highsided me, but I kept hold of it and years. and because of the iower sun experienced in late Septemended up doing a handstand on the handlebars and when I came ber than that of mid summer (even the bright and warm conditions back down on the bike my left footpeg went into my left knee. It which arrived after the heavy rain shower of Saturday aftemoon) was without a doubt the worst pain I have ever experienced. I failed to dry those parts of the track continually in shadow, After managed to get back to the p~s and was lifted off the bike and last year's many problems with riders being wamed about jumping sat down for a while. It started to feel better and I considered curbs at the lmoia circuit. a similar system to that employed at going out again, but when I stood up I was in agony and it felt like Kyalami's chicane was instigated. with lengths of rubber hose my leg was going to bend backwards. I went back to my planted like flowers just outboard of the main chicane apexes. A motorhome and after falling asleep I was lying on my stomach directive from the organizers stated that any rider passing over bending my knee trying to keep it moving and there was a loud the hoses on the outside would be punished by a stop-and-go Cin crack as something clunked back into place and now the pain is a race situation) and the loss of their best lap time in a qualifying bearable. " session. Fabien Foret suffered a bizarre injury on day one, ripping the Colin Edwards' Honda team, having the benefit of a test on skin from his hand after saving a potential highside. He almost Monday, September 16 at Imola. their second designated test crashed, pulled the bike upright ~h such violence that his skin track, were justifiably pleased to see their rider two seconds was tom from inside the web of his fingers, drawing blood and faster than anyone else after the first untimed session on Friday. causing him to resort to a small bandage on day two. Although the gap dropped somewhat, Edwards simply owned the track for the days of qualifying. The time the team admitted to in The closest sidecar season in history came to a stunning finale at their private tests. 1:48. 1, was actually a sandbagging maneuver, Imola with Steve Abbott and Jamie Biggs (Eastem Racing) with the team cutting a best of 1:47.7 in private tests. Initially. the taking the 2002 crown after finishing fifth in a hard-fought and two resurfaced sections, at one part of Acque Minerali and one action-packed race. The Austrian pairing of Klaus Klaffenbock and Rivazza, were thought to be responSible for Edwards' turn of Christian Parzer (Klaffenbock Racing) were eventual winners in a speed, but in broad terms the Imola circuit was, by consensus of race that was prematurely ended on lap 14 of the scheduled 16 the riders, much slower due to bumps and track residue. None of due to a bad accident that necessitated a red flag stoppage. Mick which stopped Edwards and Bayliss setting repeated lap records Frith the passenger of Bill Philp CSili Philp Racing) got his right arm in the races. caught in the back wheel of the sidecar resulting in very severe injuries to his hand, wrist and forearm. Frith was taken to hospital The Alstare Suzuki team will run one Superbike in 2003, with where he will stay for a predicted 35 days barring any further Gregorio Lavilla on the all-new GSX-R 1000, launched at the complications. "Is that it then, can I go home now?i Abbott said Munich show. Although no announcement has been made so far, after the race. iI still feel numb; we had a slipping clutch right from this is expected to be firm news, with Suzuki the first of the big the start so it was just a case of bringing it home. When I was out manufacturers to go the route of air-restrictors. Only an official on track I had no idea that we were in a position good enough to announcement from the Suzuki factory is holding up the news take the win, It's not so bad it's only taken 20 years to win my from breaking from the team. first World Championship. " __ S

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