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/128204
World Superbike C By There may be Foggy Petronas triples, there may be 2002-spec factory 998s, there may even be a factory Suzuki GSX-R1000 (complete with intake restrictors), but nobody has got so many chips on their end of the table as the new red, white and blue boys - Fila Ducati. . GORDON RITCHIE- PHOTOS BY GOLD & GOOSE VAlENCIA, SPAIN, MAR. 2 hey say you should never bet against the ho.use and expect to win, and in this year's Wmld Superbike Championship there is only one fully equipped house to bet against the Casa Corse - in the shape of the Ducati Fila team. EEluipped "iith unique technology in the shape of the 999 F03, running Michelin tires on a basically solo enduser basis, the factory pairing of Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus has the most unfair of unfair advantages possible - the only two truly works Vtwins on the grid. T 16 MARCH 12, 2003ยท c u e I World Superbike Championship may have been a walkover, but 'he was walking pretty quickly, setting a five- Even taking Hodgson's British Superbike Championship-winning career into consideration, this was "I had to use my back brake as soon as the front lifted to prevent being blown off line " Of the two riders, Hodgson was the one most on the pipe all weekend. Hodgson was the class act; Ruben Xaus a reluctant supporting player. Hodgson's double-race win at the opening round of the latest format of e n e vv s second-faster sec~md race time than Troy Bayliss' best race time of 2Q02. In race two he also scored a new lap record of 1:35.007, on his way to his second comfortable win. And on lap 12, no less. Hodgson's first-ever double win. . Equally strange, given his impressive racing reputation, is that this was his first World Superbike win - and then wins - outside the British-based rounds of World Superb ike. He took his personal career total to five victodes, with the prospect of more waiting in line to be picked off. "The conditions out there were terribe; the wind itself wasn't such an issue, but the fact that it was so inconsistent did cause a problem," Hodgson said after race one. "It was very physical out there, and I had to use my back brake as soon as the front lifted to prevent being blown off line. Valencia wasn't my favorite circuit, but doing five full race simulations in the last few weeks along with taking the race win today, I've grown to like it. In the early stages it was tough being in a race situation for the first time in nearly six months. I didn't want to make any silly mistakes on the early laps, so I just waited to see what everyone else was doing before making my move." Hodgson's rides to the top podium placing were pretty impressive for