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World Superbike Championship Round 3: Sugo, this weekend, largely due to a mismatch between what they thought would work at Sugo and what actually did work. In measurable terms, the Sugo track was slower this year, the lap record stayed intact, and the race times were about a second slower all around. Theoretically this should add up to a spectacle of little interest, but the reverse proved to be the case. After the tragic accident that claimed the life of the deeply revered local rider Daijiro Kato at the Suzuka MotoGP race, and after some scary moments and injuries in practice at Sugo, Japan's latest global race day could have been conducted in a somber mood. Despite the race-one anxieties, which proved to be groundless, real close and exciting racing, especially in race two, and some pleasing variety at the business end of affairs mean that Sugo will be remembered fondly and for mostly positive reasons. For the fans and Hodgson, at least Sugo was a much-needed treat. For the other riders, the overall championship race is inexorably slipping into something of a foregone conclusion - but we said that last year after Bayliss had won a straight six at season's beginning, and his name never made it on to the trophy after all. On present evidence, however, it's going to take another almost-perfect Colin Edwards and factory Honda style combination to beat him. Any takers? WORLD SUPERSPDRT No one is exactly sure why the total race time of the 2003 World Supersport event was a whopping 17 seconds slower than the 2002 version, but it may have been down to the fact that the Pirelli riders never really found a perfect solution for the Sugo tarmac. The circuit itself appeared 28 MAY 7, 2003' "" U "" I • ~apan slippery after the downpours of Friday, and each rider was desperately short of dry testing time - for an obvious reason. Even the lap record was not secured by the 2003 new tech legions, with Fabien Foret's record of 1:33.015 still intact, despite the best efforts of fastest lapper Christian Kellner. The fact that the German rider won the race was down to a 24-lap chase of the leader: first Stephane Chambon (eventually third) then Karl Muggeridge (eventually sixth) then Ryuichi Kiyonari (eventually second). Kellner led for the all-important 25th lap, after stuffing it up the inside of Kiyonari in no uncertain terms at Horse's Back Corner. Kellner made himself as wide as possible for the next half a lap, and thus - after Katsuaki Fujiwara's Suzuki success in Valencia and Vermeulen's Honda win in Australia - Kellner also made it three different winning manufacturers in as many races this season, riding as he does for Yamaha. Kellner's win promoted him to third overall in the series, behind the duo that jointly led the championship going into Sugo - Vermeulen and Fujiwara. "That was a very hard race at the beginning," Kellner said. "I had a bit of a worry at the first chicane, but after that I felt more at ease and concentrated on riding fast and consistently. The whole package was good, and it made all the difference. This year Supersport is very tough because there are so many good riders in this class now. In Phillip Island I was 12th, but three weeks later here I can win the race! There are a lot of very good riders on competitive machines, which makes winning all the better. n Quite why Fujiwara fell from a strong second place, at the apex of the chicane on lap eight, is another n e vv s mystery that Fuji-san will be chewing on for quite a while. He fought his way back to 15th position to salvage one point, which could become very valuable at the end of the season. Not as valuable as the 11 points scored by new clear championship leader Vermeulen, the best regular Honda rider at Sugo. Chambon's superb start proved short lived, the lead being something of a 15aton to be passed to Muggeridge on lap three and Kiyonari on lap six. Chambon, the littlest Supersport hobo, fought back and diced with Kellner before fighting back to re-pass Muggeridge and hold third place as the Aussie went backward. Ten Kate Honda's Karl Muggeridge led for three laps but suffered from a poor tire selection, and by lap six his rear Pirelli was gone, and he dropped to second and ultimately sixth. There were some notable fallers and retirees - two World Champions among them. Jorg Teuchert crashed on lap two - pushing too hard from a fourth row start, while Kawasaki's Fabien Foret pulled out of the race after setting only a single circuit, saying he heard his engine make a peculiar noise. Foret's teammate Pere Riba started on the front row but got hammered into the first corner, dropping to ninth by end of first lap. Riding beyond the bike's capabilities, Riba's underdeveloped machine was getting slaughtered up the start-finish hill due to lack of power. On lap seven Dark Dog Honda BKM's Ryuichi Kiyonari took the lead and led for the next 18 laps as he, Kellner and Chambon broke away from fourth position. "I was giving 100 percent throughout the race, but I think I was riding a little bit wild, and my tire was affected," Kiyonari said. "I wasn't thinking about what was going on behind me. I was just pushing as hard as I could, and I got passed on the last lap. I am really disappointed about that, but I am happy to complete the race safeIy. It was good to be racing in the World Supersport Championship, and 1 was a little bit in awe of all these world-class riders. n Tekkyu Kayo, the local wild card rider for Yamaha Belgarda, was eighth on lap one and made consistent progress throughout the race. On lap 12 he passed Muggeridge, holding onto fourth place to the finish four seconds ahead of Vermeulen, who was fifth. Vermeulen actually took a theoretical third and top Pirelli rider (taking out the two wild cards that is) and in doing so proved that he could grind out results on circuits that his bike or his tires are not particularly suited to - a handy attribute if you're going for gold over a full season. Dark Dog Honda BKM's Broc Parkes battled through a fever, starting 10th on lap one, and ended up seventh, on the back wheel of Muggeridge after 25 energy-sapping laps. Yamaha Belgarda's Jurgen van den Goorbergh was on the back of the leading group all race long, but his plan of pouncing toward the final curtain ended at midrace distance, when his Pirellis were starting to lose drive. He had to work hard from then on and was happy to finish ahead of Riba by one second. Yamaha's Alessio Corradi rounded out the top 10 after qualifying in 15th position. Fourth-place finisher at Valencia Christophe Cogan took a relatively lonely 11th. Werner Daemen was 12th, and although making good progress, a fourth-row start prevented a better result with the leading group of riders gone within the opening lap. lain Macpherson was a disappointed 17th, riding his cobbled-together second bike, the same one he had crashed during an earlier session. His number one bike was already in bits on the garage floor after a pre-race warm-up session. The upshot of the latest visit to Sugo's undulating topography is that Vermeulen now leads by 10 points from Fujiwara. Kellner escalates himself up to third - nine points off Fujiwara. VDG holds fourth, six points adrift of the German, and Chambon is joint fifth, with him, Corradi and Muggeridge aII on 29 points - despite Chambon's missing the opening round. At a track the Alstare team have nominated as one of their test tracks and tested at shortly before the race, Fujiwara should have cleaned up on his home circuit, not picked himself up from the gravel trap. Whether or not this has greater significance will be decided soon enough,