Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

stock Champion Vittorio lannuzzo. Lavilla was flirting with the podium seemingly effortlessly again, and had Hodgson not wicked it up to a full 191 mph over the line in race two, maybe Lavilla would have kept the Ducati win total to 200, not 200 plus one. Riding with complete control, while burning smoke off the rear tire at 125 mph on the exit of the Parabolica, Lavilla once more showed !:lis and his machine's capabilities to the full. Race two was nothing less than a real war, as Hodgson, Laconi, Lavilla and PSG-l Ducati's Pierfrancesco Chili went at it for almost the whole race. With overtaking flying in as regularly as the marshals' posts were bypassed, at over 185 mph in places, Hodgson had to use the oomph of his factory engine and the slipstream to pass all his opponents in one sweeping run up the back straight. He made no real ground away from them, how- so total respect to anybody that pushes the bike that hard. Everyone is pushing, but at the moment I think Gregorio looks at one with the bike and is making the Suzuki look fantastic. I'm not even thinking about the next race; now I want to eat about four or five massive pizzas, drink loads of Peronis, relax and forget about motorcycle racing for a couple of days." Suffice to say that if there is a better race this year, you had better hope you're watching it live. A claimed 72,000-strong crowd were enthusiastic to a crimsonbedecked man, woman and child and offered god-like plaudits to each rider who walked the red carpet to the new podium, which straddles Pit Lane and the edge of the mighty Monza straight. Ducati's James Toseland missed out on both podiums, finishing fourth in race one and fifth in race two, after a front-end setup change between races backfired somewhat. Disappointed but simultaneously buoyed by his ability to run at the front more comfortably than he ever has before, Toseland was still in better shape than his teammate Chris Walker. "I caught a back marker at the wrong place," Toseland said. "I lost about a bikelength and had to catch up. I was getting good drive out of Ascari, and I caught them up, but I was just a little bit too far behind, and Lavilla was really hard going into the Parabolica. I braked as late as I could and tried to go round the outside, but the problem was that Lavilla had the ··1 think it·s fair to salt that 1 might have a bit of a speed advantage. and 1 feel a little bit embarrassed 1 honestllt do.·· Restrictors? Fitted but not taking the edge off too much apparently, the rise and rise of the 1000cc Superbike marches on at a double-quick pace. "Exiting Ascari, I was getting good drive, and it was possible for me each lap to pass Regis [La coni] by the bridge, but the back markers held me up a lot on the last lap, and I lost a few meters," Lavilla said after race one. "I had to brake very hard into the Parabolica, and I made a mistake, too. Without that I think it would have been possible to get second." As entertainment goes, Monza seldom disappoints, and as both races, especially the second one, proved the "transition" version of Superbike even without Edwards (commentating trackside for television), Troy Bayliss, Noriyuki Haga and Ben Bostrom can still set the heart beating in the right circumstances. Race two presented the best circumstances for an upset - race one a more unusual last-lap spectacle. Hodgson had fallen afoul of a couple of mobile chicanes in race one and almost fell off as he hit the apex of a comer when his concentration was broken. After such a predictable outcome up to that point, the waves of excitement were palpable for the last half-lap. ever, and 0.044 seconds after Hodgson tripped the lights, Lavilla broke the beam as well, with Chili third and Laconi (with a lack of power seven laps from home) less than one second behind the number 100 bike. "I am very happy with the result," Laconi said. "I made a good race, but I had a drop in power over the last 10 laps. I don't know why, but it made it easy for people to pass me on the straight. I finished fourth. I wanted a podium, but I was also very close to the win in this race. I led for many laps, which is pleasing, as my bike is not a factory machine, and to be fast at this circuit is a good result. There will be other circuits where I can challenge for the win, but here the factory 999 is too quick." Keeping track of the second race's close passes, audacious lines and aggressive moves over 18 laps of the 3.59-mile circuit, the fastest of the year at an over 117 mph average was possible but not recommended for the sanity of any onlooker. "I feel like an old man after that race," Hodgson said. "Gregorio [Lavilla J is riding the wheels off of the Suzu· ki; he's so good on the brakes, got great corner speed and is speedway sliding the bike out of every corner - Monza, in case you hadn't noticed yet, was as magnificent as always this year, the fast nature of the track bringing more good riders to the brink of a race win - even with Hodgson's bike in the pack - than any other circuit probably could. Add in quite dazzling race action from riders who are clearly champing at the bit to beat Hodgson first, and almost everyone goes home happy, satisfied in the collective desire for high-speed adrenaline, even if most have to experience the hit secondhand. One rider not part of the leading phalanxes was Ruben Xaus. Hodgson's teammate and closest championship challenger only scored nine points at Monza, after being eased off the track in race one as the result of a collision with Chris Walker at Ascari and fighting bravely through the field from dead last to seventh. He crashed out of race two - at Ascari and thus Hodgson now sits 85 points ahead of the Spaniard, 200 to 115. With his concussive crash on Saturday coming at Ascari, Xaus could be forgiven for lifting and relaying that particular piece of tarmac in a different direction at midnight. Despite a strong ride as part of the first-race freight train, HM Plant cue I ... n slipstream of Laconi, and I was trying to go outside both of them without a tow. I was a little bit better on the way out, but it wasn't possible to get in front on the drag to the line." A pair of sixth places was an indication of how much HM Plant Ducati's Chris Walker was affected by injury and muscle fatigue at this race. Injured twice at Sugo, he was unable to ride with all his strength. Despite his first race ding-dong with Xaus, he finished both races and nipped some points off the middle of the stack. "I didn't get the start I wanted, and lannuzzo got in between us and kind of held me up a little bit," Walker said. "Xaus ran straight on in front of me, and there were just a couple of incidents that meant that I lost the tow. I managed to hold the gap for two or three laps, but then they started to get away. I think they were dragging each other along down the straights, and I had no reserves to get back up with them. I was desperate to get some points and wanted a top five. I got sixth, so I'm not too disappointed." Local hero of the day was not English interloper Hodgson, praised though he was for winning for Ducati, but Pierfrancesco Chili, the King of Light and dark emotion, was the one ... _ S • MAV 28, 2003 29

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