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/128220
World Superbike Championship Round 6: Silverstone, England By GORDON RITCHIE PHOTOS By GOLD [, GOOSE SILVERSTONE, ENGLAND, JUNE 15 ilverstone did not have a great C) introduction to the world of Superbike racing last year. A dangerous final corner, a monsoon of cold and miserable wetness over the whole weekend, and a feeling that SBK was somehow not quite wanted in Formula One's British cradle (even if Octagon was parent company on paper to both SBK and Silverstone) were all culprits in 2002. This year, the circuit opened its vast arms to the masses - all 83,000 of them over the whole weekend with warmth, both spiritual and meteorological. The mid-70s temperatures, generally efficient running of the event on all levels, and an impossible-to-define feel-good factor pervaded the weekend even before the races started. Only the all-new chicane complex, situated before the final bend at Woodcote, could spoil things, being as it was a ridiculous flip-flop cop-out of a thing, where most bikes were lucky to go much over 25 mph in qualifying. And many expected them to simply topple over due to lack of forward motion if anything went wrong. In the end, the chicane from hell was arguably a contributing factor to probably the best race (or races) of the year, even allowing for the excellent action at Monza and the occasional man-to-man battle at the sharp end at Sugo and Oschersleben. But the main thing that made Silverstone a big success this time r:< 22 JUNE 25, 2003' cue I e around was the race action, all 40 furious Superbike laps of it. Race one proved to be the most combative event so far in 2003, as the gloves came off for regulars and wild cards alike. Rider clashes, both psychological and actual, littered the track action like confetti at a wedding, and it was a big reception in any case, with ten riders expressing their desire to win in a rolling maul that lasted almost all 20 laps. Race two was only a little less hectic, but the winner was once more the man who has been only five points shy of perfection this season so far. "It was really hard," Hodgson said. '" made a bad start and was down in about tenth place, and when you've got nine world class riders to pass including Chris and James, it's difficult. There's no easy way. Luckily my bike is really fast on the straight, and I got a few there, but everyone is riding really well and are full of confidence so it makes for a really exciting race. I'm just knackered. I've been ill all week, but it's not an excuse. I'm turning into Carl Fogarty, whenever he used to win he'd turn round and say he was really ill, and I'd be thinking, 'No you weren't.''' As the calendar clicked over the halfway mark, Fila Ducati's Neil Hodgson has amassed 295 points out of a possible 300, a statistic which demonstrates two main facts: Hodgson can be competitive absolutely anywhere, and so can his Ducati. What the facts hide is that Hodgson has had to pull out all the stops this season to get where he is. Valencia may have been a cakewalk, but the rest have been a barefoot negotiation of hot coals. It's evident that his 999 has as many extra horses over the others as all previous full factory Ducati versions - not that many, but enough but his bike is proving to be wayward in many situations. He is nonetheless able to ride around and over the front-end inadequacies, just like all the best riders do. This weekend Hodgson's tormentors once more ended up on the rack, but the fight for his two wins was breathtaking and ceaseless. The woes experienced by Ruben Xaus lately prove this point twice over, as the Catalan, still capable of some outstanding feats of machine control and audacity, has latterly been crucifying himself on the unyielding front end possessed by the Ducati 999 F023. A pair of third places at Silverstone, the second of which could well have been a win had Xaus not collided with British wild card Rizla Suzuki's John Reynolds and had to go grasstracking for a spell, were a fine reward for Xaus. "I made a good start, we did some work on the bike, and it was better, and I moved really fast up to fourth position," Xaus explained. "I was behind Reynolds, and he had a big problem when changing direction in the slow corners. I collided with him on the brakes and ended up doing Neil Hodgson keeps on finding a way to win despite not being totally comfortable with the 999's front end. nevvs