Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

[Lavilla] kept the pressure on and rode a fantastic race, and I thoroughly enjoyed it," Hodgson said. "It was the best race of the year for me, definitely. 1 felt really comfortable on the bike; the bike was sliding, and it was a lot of fun. The first race didn't give me any real pleasure because I was on my own, but the second race was fantastic. I'm a motorcycle racer, and I want to race. That's why I race bikes. "We were definitely in a difficult situation in the wet, and I've been saying my prayers for it to stay dry. I've had a bit of bad luck in my career in the past, and I think maybe it's payback now, and everything is going my way. I'm trying to be nice to everyone and not upset people so that I have good karma from now on!" With Regis Laconi riding on the planet Desperate, attempting to prove that he deserves more than a second- rung machine in World Superbike, Hodgson had to use all his wiles for large sections of race one, although he did run out a clear winner by over seven seconds when he put in a few quick laps toward the end. Laconi had started from pole and took his first podium finish of the year in race one and a seventh in race two after a huge wheelie off the start line sent him backward as much as skyward. The reason was traced to a faulty "O"-ring on his clutch, which caused him problems thereafter. A fight back to seventh was a good result under the circumstances, and Laconi claims to have lost one place at the end because he was caught out with a false neutral - clutch related. "I am very happy because I made a good start," Laconi said. "I braked very hard into the first corner, and I was lucky not to go on the grass, and I am happy because it would be no good to crash on the first lap. For the rest of the race I try to push very hard. Neil passed me on the straight, I tried to follow him, but I cannot, and then I made a little mistake and had to start thinking about the second place and not the first. I continued to push hard for the rest of the race, and with four laps to go I had a small gap over James, so I finish second, and now I think about the second race." In race two the hard-charging Gregorio Lavilla and his Alstare Suzuki had an excellent race with Hodgson, losing out over the line by only eighttenths of a second after having led three laps in the early stages. Lavilla's bike is certainly improving every single time it goes out, and although he claimed that local wild card (wild being the operative word) Atsushi Watanabe (Team Suzuki) had a quicker bike, his own World Superbike regular mount topped out at 174 mph in race two and was fast enough to keep up with Hodgson's Ducati throughout the second event, with Lavilla leading for three laps. A whole 1000cc of four-stroke - restricted or not - obviously works fine in World Superbike already, which is good news for the future. The fact that Lavilia, the temporarily pressing Watanabe and their GSX-R1000s delivered an excellent second race at Sugo was more than just a small bonus. Pier-Francesco Chili put in another of his gritty rides to take third place on his 998 Ducati in the second 25-lapper, the oldie-but-goodie proving his motivation to succeed by obvious means, even after being dumped on his butt quite unceremoniously earlier in the day. "I was able to catch Gregorio [Lavillal and Neil [Hodgsonj very fast, but I used a lot of my tire, and after eight or nine laps the condition was not too good, and I cannot go fast through the corner because the rear was sliding and coming round without the The exact cause was still the subject of much discussion thereafter, with each rider having a different version of events. It appeared it started off when James Toseland almost tangled with Troy Corser (who in turn really collided with Ivan Clementi, pushing the Italian Kawasaki rider off the track), and the end result of their locked handlebars culminated in chaos when Clementi was pushed onto the grass. The falling machines ran toward the apex, Chris Walker was collected, and Chili became the fourth victim. Others, including Lavilla and Izutsu, were held up by the carnage. "I was just unlucky going into turn one; it was all pretty tight, and I got hit in the elbow from behind," Corser said. throttle," Chili said after the second race. "I tried to brake very hard to catch them, but once Neil decides to push harder with the throttle, I cannot catch them again. With three laps to go I look at the position, and third place is okay." Chili didn't make the finish in race one, not even the fmish of the first comer, after a severe pileup in the inside line. "I think it was Clementi. It knocked my hand off the bar, and I couldn't get my hand back on the bar in time, and I ended up going through everybody. It was a scary one. I've got a really sore ankle and calf muscle, but I don't think it's broken or anything." Walker seemed to be hurt, but after he was carried off by the marshals, he proved to have a bashed leg cue' e n e _ S • MAY 7, 2003 25

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