Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

• Trre Wars more riders bunched closer together. Van den Goorbergh, hitting 172 mph on the straight (and later going even faster), a speed only equaled by lain Macpherson's van Zon Honda, dispelled any concerns the watching world may have had regarding his ability to mix it and admitted that a little bit of touching in Supersport is not necessarily the end of the world. VDG's teammate Simone Sanna was creeping closer to the leading phalanx of riders in the first half of the race but was to drop back, complaining of throttle response problems. Broc Parkes exited, heartbroken at home, after his BKM Honda lost all its internal water on lap six, cause unknown. In the most audacious overtakings of many this weekend, Van den Goorbergh slipped past four rivals at the end of the main straight on lap nine, jumping from eighth to fourth as Teuchert forged his way back up to the tail of the pack, chasing the leaders. Stefano Cruciani's hopes withered on the vine green Kawasaki Bertocchi machine as it expired, van den Goorbergh's having a slight setback as he made a mistake going into Honda corner, allowing Curtain to pass, with the Aussie himself dealt with in form fashion by an everaggressive Foret. An indication of how close the fight was for the top positions behind the leading duo, no rider from fourth to 14th was ever separated by more than .7 of a second from the man in front, a man who usually changed by the corner, rather than by the lap. With the escaping van den Goorbergh now breathing on the tail squab of Chambon in third, Macpherson lost the front at the 120 mph Hayshed corner, approaching Lukey Heights. His bike, spiraling away from him as it gathered, rather than shed, momentum, bounced off the top of the tire wall and came within inches of hitting a spectator as the machine cleared the trackside barriers. With no one hurt and the incident missed by the TV cameras, all the attention was on the battle for third, and van den Goorbergh made it stick on lap 19 of 21, leaving the slowing Chambon, still suffering from pain due to his broken ribs in Valencia, to the tender mercies of Curtain. Chambon's race craft told now, forcing Curtain wide on the final corner, making the final finishing order Vermeulen, Fujiwara, van den Goorbergh, Chambon and Curtain. The only man who got remotely close to Venneulen was Katsuaki Fll,jiwara (2), the winner of the first round in Spain. Fujiwara held on for second place. In the championship, sharpening already, Fujiwara and Vermeulen share the lead, with 45 points apiece after a win and a second place. For the rest, it is too early to make any conclusions, other than to say that if van den Goorbergh ever gets a good start, it may be he who does a runner from the chasing masses. Behind the podium men and racelong challengers, Foret had to drop back to a disappointing 11 th, and Muggeridge, so like a man determined to fight for a podium at home, had to settle for seventh. Alessio Corradi was disappointed not to be in contention after his Valencia podium ride, Robert Ulm happy to have made some kind of result on a bike he reckoned was not quite right. Kellner, in 12th, could not hide his dislike for the track; Cogan was just glad to finish after his dramatic quali· fying experiences. Werner Daemen and Sanna were the last two points scorers, holding up the rights of the littlest guys in the field, although neither was happy with his race setups. "I've been hanging out for a win, and I'm really, really happy," Vermuelen said in the post race press conference. '" rolled the throttle off with four or five laps to go, and I kept it calm but, gee, it seemed to take a long time to the finishl There is still a lot of work to do, but I'm looking forward to Sugo, and I think the Honda CBR600RR can get better and better." eN Australi.n World Superllike Phillip IsJ.nd, Ausll'llii. Results: MlIn:h 3D, 2003 [Round 21 SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING I. Neil Hodgson (I :33.030); 2. Pier-Francesco Chili (I :34.1 18); 3. David Garcia (1:34.184): 4. Chris Walker (1:34.211); 5. James Toseland (I :34.329): 6. Troy Corser (1:34.512); 7. Gregorio lovilia (1:34.585); 8. Ruben Xaus (1 :34.585): 9. Steve Martin (1 :34.598); 10. Regis Laconi (1 :34.712); 11. Lucio Pedercini (1:35.008); 12. Marco Borciani (1:35.086); J3. Mauro Sanchini (1:35.475); 14. James Haydon (1:35.591); 15. Ivan Clementi (1:35.598): 16. Nello Russo (1:37.053); 17. Juan Bautista Borja (1 :34.760); 18. Giovanni Bussel (1 :34.592); 19. Walter TortorogJio (1 :35.639); 20. Steven Cutting (1:38.669); 21. Jay Normoyle (1:38.780): 22. Davide Messori (1 :39.061); 23. Alistair Maxwell (1:39.211). RACE ONE: I. Neil Hodgson (Duc); 2. Ruben Xaus (Due); 3. Gregorio Lavilla (Suz); 4. Steve Martin (Duc); 5. Troy Corser (Pet); 6. Regis Laconi (Duc); 7. Chris Walker (Due); 8. David Garcia (Due); 9. Mareo Borciani (Duc); 10. Lucio Pedercini (Due); II. Ivan Clementi (Kaw); 12. Juan Bautista Borja (Duc); 13. Mauro Sanchini (Kaw); 14. Giovani Bussei (Yam); 15. James Haydon (Pet); 16. Nello Russo (Duc): 17. Jay Normoyle (Suz); 18. Steven Cutting (Suz): 19. Alistair Maxwell (Hon). Time: 34 min. 51.974 sec. Distance: 60.742 miles Margin of victory: 7.745 sec. Fastest lap: Neil Hodgson, 1:33.895 RACE TWO: 1. Neil Hodgson (Duc); 2. Ruben Xaus (Duc); 3. Pier Francesco Chili (Duc); 4. Regis Laconi (Duc); 5. James Toseland (Duc): 6. Chris Walker (Due); 7. Gregorio Lavilla (Suz); 8. Troy Corser (Pet); 9. Steve Martin (Duc); 10. Marco There is an argument which states that World Superbike is something of a bastion of the tire wars that often make motorsports a fascinating battle of not just men and machines, but the all-important selection of race rubber. In recent years there have been a high number of different winners from each brand and circuits which have been very much Michelin tracks or Dunlops tracks, In the last couple of years, the Michelin/Dunlop/Pirelli battle has swung firmly into the French camp, as Michelin riders have become not only the guys who win most races, but the ones who win virtually all the races, irrespective of the venue in question. Other than a hometown result for Makoto Tamada in Sugo in 2002, Michelin riders (from Honda and Ducati) monopolJzed the podiums, and at the first race of the 2003 season, the story was 'repeated, with the only Michelin team, Ducati Fila, twice finishing one-two. Dunlop's current World Superbike position was explained at Phillip Island by Dave Watkins, based out of Fort Dunlop in Birmingham, the UK's second biggest city. "There are three priorities for Dunlop this year: MotoGP, World Superbike/Supersport and AMA. Our newest tire is the NT, for 'new technology,' and we have some of those tires here with us. Chris Walker, for instance, used one in the opening session of Friday." Despite the work put into so many racing classes, Watkins admitted that, "Priority number one is in MotoGP, but a lot of the work from that is directly transferable to World Superbike, so it is beneficial to both categories." Whatever the technical reasons for the big jumps Michelin has made in World Super· bike in recent years, Atkins underlines the fact that Dunlop has been working hard to close the gap, which he again admits is still there at present. "This year we are half a second off the Michelins, but at Valencia we were something like 25 seconds better in race conditions than last year," Atkins said. "I think we have less people than Michelin, but I don't think we are suffering from a lack of resources." One unexpected critique of the Dunlop philosophy, of trying many new types of tire to find the best ones, is that the Dunlop riders are often offered too many possible choices at a race, even with the restricted number of 13 rears in total during qualifying this season. Watkins refutes this, and despite a commonly held belief that Michelin brings really only three types of rear, of various grip levels, to each race, Watkins believes that, "If they did find themselves in trouble, I feel sure that they would have more options in the truck that they could try." It appears that the trend in recent years to use more of the Japanese Dunlops in World Superbike has been reversed. "There are tires made in Britain and the UK, and in Japan they tend to use the Japanese ones in the AMA series: said Atkins. "I don't know if we use many of the Japanese ones in World Superbike now, however, and in general they have a different profile from the UK ones, which means that the bike's gearing, setup and so on sometimes has to be altered when you swap between Japanese and British." The exact changes in the NT tires are obviously something of a company secret, but the thought is that they are of thinner construction than the most recent MotoGP derived tires, to help with heat dissipation. And of the future? "The new tires are moving towards more contact patch in comers, not triangulars as such, but tires which have a lot more contact patch when leaned over to improve side grip: Atkins said. "We may have to go in that direction." Neil Hodgson, a man with the best possible ins.ight into the difference between Dunlop and Michelin characteristics and technology, made some qualified comments about both sets of tires in World Superbike use. "You have to remember that I have only really tested at Valencia this season, so it is hard to make conclusions about other places - but thus far I would say the Dunlops allow you to go faster earlier in the race; the Michelins need a lap or so to reach proper working temperature," Hodgson said. "The main difference is that the Michelins have more consistency, in terms of lasting longer - throughout each race really - the Dunlops seem to work well for half the race: Hodgson continued. "Also in terms of quality control, I think the Michelins we have had are pretty much 100 percent on that score." Barciani (Due): 11. Ivan Clementi (Kaw); 12. Mauro Sanchini (Kaw); 13. Nello Russo (Due); 14. Lucio Pedercini (Due); 15. Juan Bautista Borja (Due); 16. James Haydon (Pet); 17. Walter Tortoroglio (Han); 18. Steven Cutting (Suz); 19. Jay Normoyle (Suz); 20. Aistair Maxwell (Han). Time: 34 min. 44.425 sec. Distance: 60.742 miles M.argin of victory: .070 sec. Fastest lap: Ruben Xaus. 1:33.813 WORLD SUPERSPORT QUALIFYING: 1. Chris Vermeulen (1 :35.291); 2. Stephane Chambon (1:35.828); 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara (1:35.841): 4. Fllbien Foret (1 :35.965); 5. Karl Muggeridge (1 :36.008); 6. Jurgen van den Goorbergh (1 :36.060); 7. Broc Parkes (U6.226); 8. Rober Ulm (1 :36.326); 9. Kevin Curtain (1:36.464); 10. Pere Riba (1:36.479); II. lain MacPherson (1:36.506); 12. Christa in Kellner (1 :36.517); 13. Simone Sanna (1:36.648): 14. Jorg Teucher' (1:36.653); 15. Gienluca NenneJli (1:36.758); 16. Werner Daemen (1:37.044); 17. Thierry van den Bosch (1;37.106): 18. Alessio Corradi (1 :37.269); 19. Gianluigi Scalvini (1;37.351): 20. Christophe Cogan (1:37.374); 21. Matthiew Lagrive (1 :37.427); 22. Shannon Johnson (1:37.645): 23. Kai Borre Anderson (1:38.310); 24. Didier Vankeymeulen (I :38.719); 25. Stefano Cruciani (I :39.841). WORLD S(JPERSPORT: 1. Chris Vermeulen (Hon); 2. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Suz); 3. Jurgen ven den Goorbergh (Yam); 4. Stephene Chembon (Suz); 5. Kevin Cuurtein (Yam); 6. Jorg Teuchert (Yern): 7. Karl Muggeridge (Hon); 8. Pere Riba (Kaw); 9. Alessio Corradi (YZlm); 10. Robert UJm (Hon); 11. Fabien Foret (Kaw); 12. Christian Kellner (Yam); 13. Christophe Cogan (Hon): 14. Werner Daemen (Hon): 15. Simone Sanna (Yam); 16. Gianluca Nllnnelli (Yam): 17. Shannon Johnson (Han); 18. Thierry ven den Bosch (Yam); 19. Kai Borre Anderson (Kaw); 20. Didier Vankeymeulen (Kaw); 21. Matthiew Lagrive (Yam); 22. Stefano Cruciani (Kaw). Time: 34 min. 3.675 sec. Distance: 57.98 miles Margin of victory: 9.29 sec. Fastest lap: Katsuaki Fujiwara, 1:36.642 SUPERB1KE WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 12 rounds): 1. Neil Hodgson (100/4 wins): 2. Ruben Xaus (80); 3. Chris Walker (48); 4. Gregorio Lavitla (44); 5. Steve Martin (41); 6. James Toseland (40); 7. Regis Laconi (34); 8. Troy Corser (28): 9. Marco Borcian; (26); 10. Lucio Pedercini (23); 11. David Garcia (18); 12. Ivan Clementi (17); 13. Pier Francesco Chili (16); 14. Juan Bautistl2 Borja cu cle (15); 15. Mauro Sanchini (10). WORLD SUPERSPORT C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 11 rounds): 1. (TIE) Chris Vermeulen (45/1 wln)/KatsuakJ Fujiwara (45/1 win); 3. (TIE) Jurgen van den Goorbergh/Alessio Corradi (23); 5. Jorg Teuchert (21); 6. Karl Muggeridge (19); 7. Christophe Cogan (16); 8. (TIE) Stephane Chambon/Pere Riba (13); 10. Christian Kellner (12). Upcoming Rounds Round 3: Sugo, Japan, April 27 Round 4: Monza, Italy, May 18 Xaus, Hodgson and Chili celebrate their three-one-two finishing order after the second race. n e _ s • APRIL 9. 2003 17

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