Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128218
even Neil is close to my heart. We knew from Friday morning that James was going to be in with a shout, and we knew from Monza that he'd come of age and that he should be able to get up there now. But racing is racing, and although we weren't counting our chickens, we were confident something was going to happen." There was also the small matter of the first Dunlop-shod win in SBK since Makoto Tamada's success on a wild card VTR Honda in 2002 at Sugo. Toseland will be being toasted the length and breadth of both Birmingham, the base of Dunlop UK, and Kobe in where Dunlop Japan is based after this weekend. In fact the yellow and black packaged tires, rather than the yellow, white and blue ones of Michelin (or even the red and yellow Pirelli ones) had a field day, not just packing the podiums but proving to be especially good in the blistering 120-degree track temperatures, as the mercury hIt 86 degrees at some points. Roll on Misano and Laguna. Silverstone? Who knows, but Dunlops are the universal fitment in British Superbike... Hodgson was first to score, after taking a closely fought victory over PSG1 Ducati's Chili, after performing a similar feat over his old Italian mate in Superpole. In the opening 28-lap test of will and heat resistance, Hodgson was dogged throughout by Chili, who had led at the start but pulled over to allow Hodgson to pass after Chili experienced a petrol leak from his own machine. Realizing it was not as serious as it first appeared, Chili continued discomfort or no discomfort - and almost had Hodgson on the last lap. The rider of the day was unquestionably Toseland, however, who had given a good notification of his intent after his first-race miracle ride to third. Even if Chili set the fastest lap in the opener leg (still shy of the lap record), it was Toseland who set more quick ones than even the leaders. He deserved hIs podium finish, and his first race pace was a potential winner's omen that he would prove to be unerringly accurate in race two. A scare for Alstare Suzuki's Gregorio Lavilla saw him have to make a late swap to his second bike after the warm-up lap in race one; a bigger fright saw hIm crash after losing grip and clangIng into Toseland. The Englishman was forced to cut the first Hotel Corner and shot across the circuit, right through the melee of approaching bikes. How no one hit him at hIgh speed was something of a miracle, and despite a reshuffle in the leading order, everyone else escaped. Toseland's run to a seven-second margin of victory in race two was an assured ride from the British competi- tor, and he was joined on the podium by Hodgson and third Brit Walker, injured left leg or not. In such high temperatures, Oschersleben was a crucible for men and machines, and NCR Ducati's Regis Laconi put in two tough races to score a brace of fourths. "It was a very hard race, and it was very hot conditions," Laconi said. "We still have some big problems with the settings on the bike and struggled to get a good setting for the long corner where the bike is constantly running wide and sliding the rear. We worked very hard in between the races, and to get two fourths is very good for the championship." Ducati Fila's Ruben Xaus dropped from second to third place in the championship standings, after a fall in race one and a fifth place in race two. Not Ruben's day again, but he is still likely to win one, if he can master the front-end quandary of the 999 anything like Hodgson has. "In the first race I had problems with the front of my bike and unfortunately simply fell off," Xaus explained. "Then fifth place in race two was not so good, because I still had a few problems with the front. I didn't have a good feeling with the bike all weekend. I know I am a fast rider, but at the moment I don't feel that it is my bike. Tomorrow we'll be here for a day's testing and I'm sure we'll get some good results." Early race one leader Walker slowed after his Ducati 998F02 suffered from a lack of power from a broken exhaust in race one but made up for his misfortune with his podium in the second. "The exhaust broke or something the lap after Xaus crashed, and I lost all my speed," Walker explained. "I could lap okay but was just getting bumped back on the straights. I'm a bit beaten up from yesterday, obviously, but I felt that I rode okay, just gutted when the exhaust broke. Hopefully I'll have a bit of energy left for the second race and I can tum it round." DFX Ducati Pirelli's Steve Martin scored sixth on two occasions, ahead of his teammate Marco Borciani in race one and his other teammate Juan Borja in race two. Impressive on only his second full outings in World Superbike, Vittorio lannuzzo was the first finisher for the Alstare Suzuki team, after Lavilla's crash in race one and technical problems in race two - the top four-cylinder rider on show. "Eighth position for me is good," cue I • lannuzzo said. "I had a small problem with grip, but I think for the second race we can have a better tire. I am happy because this is my second race in Superbikes, and for me to be in the top ten twice and qualify for Superpole twice is good. By the end of the season I expect to be running in the top five." Lavilla's exit meant that this weekend was really a Ducati cup race, even if the action was also often as close as most other single-make series. Lucio Pedercini was ninth and tenth over the two; Yamaha UnionBike's GiovannI Bussei scored a top ten on his Yamaha Rl, his first of the year, in the opening skirmish . .Just behind, Mauro Sanchini was having a hot time on his ex-works Kawasaki 750cc four-cylinder in 11 th, with Pedercini Ducati's Nello Russo and teammate Serafino Foti 13th and 14th, respectively. Czech Jiri Mrkyvka riding the JM SBK Ducati scored the last point in race one, with Walter Tortoroglio, Ruben Xaus, Juan Borja, Ivan Clementi and of course Lavilla failing to finish. In race two Chili was a lowly 11 th, fighting against a broken steering damper that had a watering down effect on his otherwise awesome competitiveness. In 12th Sanchini led Clementi, Corser, Foti and the private Suzuki GSX-R 1000 of Sergio Fuentes to the cooling fountain of points scores. A torrid time for the Foggy n ... _ S • JUNE 11, 2003 21