Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Superbike Championship Round 4: Monza, Italy Just not enough pressure Ducati's 200th and 201st race victories, matching Hodgson's new total of 200 points thus far. A fitting backdrop for Ducati and its devotees, based only a short freeway blast down the byways of Italy from Bologna. Had you chosen Hodgson for two wins before race weekend, you would have been among the multitude. So is it all too easy for Hodgson, to be parked on top of the best bike in the field? With all the top talent gone to MotoGP and most other riders on the less favored Dunlops and year-old Dukes? Too easy for a guy who left SBK with his confidence in tatters in 1998 and yet has built himself back up to be the unchallenged force in SBK. Objectively or subjectively, if you count the race wins, Hodgson is CUTrently peerless. If you count the actual race action and background stories at Monza, the numbers tell a little white lie. Truth is, it may well have been another Ducati rider who notched up the magic 200 this weekend; such was the bizarre ending of race one and the spectacular 18-lap mosh pit of race two. Hodgson's three-second lead in race one was ultimately trimmed down to only 0.3 seconds, after the intervention of backmarkers held up By GORDON RITCHIE PHOTOS By GOLD & GOOSE MONZA, ITALY, MAY 18 istory was again made at Monza, a circuit with more of a colorful past than almost any other single track in the world. More than one small share of the many landmarks Monza has witnessed, since it was completed in the early 1920s, was dished out on May 18th this year with Neil Hodgson and the booming Desmo Ducati 999 central to the telling of the latest legends. Neil Hodgson on his Ducati Fila 999 F03 has been immaculate and assured this year has never been in question, whether he has run away with each race or had to fight for it. He himself has been Mr. Perfect at Valencia, Phillip Island, Sugo and now Monza. To deal with the statistics first, no rider in the 16-year history of SBK racing has made such a sustained winning start to the season. Eight wins out of eight so far. Colin Edwards did score nine straight wins at the end of last year, and this will be Hodgson's new target, we suppose, but as starts go, Hodgson is The Man. "I think it's fair to say that I might have a bit of a speed advantage, and I feel a little bit embarrassed - I honestly do," Hodgson said. Monza 2003 also witnessed H 28 MAY 28, 2003' G U C • .. n .. _ so the Ducati Fila rider, who was unaware that the chasing pack of four riders was quite close to him on the exit of the final corner, as he relaxed for the run over the line. ,; "I made a good break and was watching my pit board," Hodgson said. "On the last lap I had plus two seconds when I went over the line, so I was pretty relaxed, but I came up on two back markers who didn't know what they were doing. They were unprofessional, looking around, looking at one another, nearly hitting each other, and I lost over a second in that one section alone. I went the rest of the lap at medium speed, and as I went over the line, I didn't realize how close the other guys were. I closed the throttle, and they all came flying past. It was the closest it could have been, and I nearly got caught with my pants down." Luckily for him, the finish stripe was close enough for him to blitz over as the winner, beat- ing Troy Bayliss' record for the most number of race wins at the start of a season, with seven in a row. Second pJace went to Ducati NCR's Regis Laconi, who was in aggressive form in both Monza races and, like most of his nonfactory brethren, on Dunlop tires, which certainJy eamed their keep this weekend. "I am very happy with second place, but my bike is not so fast like the 999 of Hodgson," Laconi said. "I am very happy with my bike, though, and it may be possible to challenge for the win in race two. 1 had to be very fast through the chicanes to get a good drive as I had my first gear very long. I think we put on a very good race, and I am happy with the result." The gossip in the paddock was that the Dunlops might have an actual advantage over Hodgson's Michelins for the first time, although ther may also be an even more esoteric explanation for Hodgson's need to use the hardest front Michelin in the crate on Ill-degree tarmac - at least on such a fast track. The weird aerodynamic package of the 999 compared to the old 998 apparently pushes the front end of the bike down at high speeds. In consequence, braking for a corner works the tire hard on turn in, squashing it more than normal and heating it up faster. This theory would certainly explain why Hodgson was caught and passed by a diverse selection of riding styles and two different types of machine in race two. Third in race one and second in race two were earned by the increasingly competitive 1000cc Alstare Suzuki GSX-RIOOO of Gregorio Lavilla, who had a riding partner this weekend in the form of Italian rookie and reigning European Super-

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