Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

James Toseland (52) was on decent form in front of his home race fans carding a second and a fourth. Ruben Xaus (11) was back in the hunt at Silverstone with a pair of third-place finishes. Here they lead Pierfrancesco Chili (7), Renegade Ducati's Sean Emmett, and Marco Borciani (20). some dirt tracking to get back on the circuit. I was worried about losing the front on the grass and crashing, so when I saw the tarmac again, I was laughing because I was amazed that 1 did it. When I re-joined, I had to clean my tires, and I saw Bordani in front, and that helped me a lot because he was a slower rider, and I could follow him un!il my tires came back. If it had been Chili or somebody, for sure 1 would have crashed chasing him. After that I made a good rhythm. It was not possible to catch Neil and Gregorio because they made an intelligent race and got away." Worries about the unmentionable chicane being a disaster in race situation proved to be somewhat off, as it just made everyone fall into line for a few seconds, allowing them the balance of Silverstone's fast corners to host the sometimes outrageously cavalier overtaking action. In race one for example there were five riders abreast on the main straight on one lap, jostling for position toward an ever-decreasing tunnel of safety and prudence on the racing line. The racing line at Silverstone actually proved to be something of an esoteric and ethereal concept as the Suzuki riders (Lavilla, Reynolds and his Japanese import Rizla teammate Yukio Kagayama) found grip and sanctuary in other areas than the hordes of Ducatis up front. For example Kagayama, a wild man from the East in the classic mold, was trying every which way to pass Hodgson in race one and ended up almost doing it at virtually every corner, only to be relegated by Hodgson before the pass was fixed in stone. He got by on occasion, but like the rest, he didn't get by for good. "The start and the middle of the race were good fun," Kagayama said. "In the closing stages my bike was moving a lot, and I was having to ride very hard and use maximum muscle. I made a mistake and ran off the track, but I managed to make a recovery. Now I will look at the telemetry, change the suspension and hope for a better result in race two." The lap chart, showing the position of the riders after each lap of each race, was like a cross between a mafia accounts ledger and an explosion in an ink factory. It appeared that the riders were playing a highspeed game of snakes and ladders on a three-dimensional playing surface. Speaking technically, there were five leaders of race one, four in race two, with Lavilla ahead ten times in the opener but out of contention in the final analysis, crashing out on lap 17 of the opener as he entered the slow chicane too hard on the brakes. away with those lines lap after lap. It's weird because even though I got passed by quite a few riders, I never saw James once in the race. I saw everybody else except him, and he was second." "The reason Neil is winning is because he is riding perfectly," Lavilla explained. "I am trying to get a good combination of bike, tires, suspension and rider. I came very close to the win at Sugo and in Monza, but in the last few laps Neil pushes really hard to win. 1 would like to win today, but second for me is like a victory." Silverstone allowed all the top men to enjoy an embrace from the goddess of victory, but only Hodgson got ...ten riders expressing their desire to win in a rolling maul that lasted almost all 20 laps. He made up for it in the rerun, almost, and was only 0.493 seconds down at the flag. In race one, it was second placer James Toseland sucking on a margin of 0.440, with Xaus only a tenth behind him. Each race was impossibly close in comparison to the usual fare served up this year, with Hodgson, Toseland, Xaus, Laconi, Kagayama, Reynolds, Chili, Renegade Ducati's Michael Rutter and HM Plant Ducati's Chris Walker covered by seven seconds. That's about a third of a second for each and everyone of the 20 laps, separating nine of the best Superbike men on the planet. Race two was equally close, with Hodgson, Lavilla, Xaus, Toseland, Kagayama, Laconi and Chili all separated by seven seconds. "That was fabulous, a truly amazing race," Hodgson said. "At one point I thought Kagayama was going to hit Lavilla, and it would have been a really big one if he did. I just closed my eyes and held my breath. Some of the lines he was taking were unreal, and I knew that he was going to run off the track eventually. You can't get to take her home after the prom yet again. The only man to have beaten Hodgson thus far is Toseland, and it looked like he had a better than even chance in race one, having recovered from a bad launch off the second row at the start. Unable to pass on the final lap as Hodgson wicked up the pace and widened his lines, Toseland almost crashed in the wheel tracks of the following Xaus as he gave it some gas in the middle of the flip-flop, and the Spaniard almost did the same on the way out of the overtight final test of patience. Mickey Mouse it may have been conceived as, but the last chicane is immeasurably safer than the previous fast Wood cote approach, and it was a real scene of many slides and dramas in the races, right in front of the busy grandstand at Luffield. "I don't know what happened at the start," Toseland said. "I just dropped the clutch, and the bike came right up. I knew I could get into a groove and catch back up because 1 had good settings. I had plenty of time to battle and get back to the cue I e front. There were places where I was quicker than Neil and vice versa, but it was very even. I tried hard on the last turn, but Neil was so wide I could not get past on the last turn." For Xaus, his visit to the tarmac at this point was limited to morning warm up, and his two thirds were like victories, as the big Spanish star rediscovered his abilities. A superb recovery from him this weekend, even if he did allude to the fact that his front-heavy style is finding the 999 no friend. "It has been tough in the last few races, and when you are down, it is difficult to get back up," Xaus said. "On Friday it was really terrible - lap times were bad - but I concentrated today on getting a good start, and 1 knew 1 could get on the same lap times as the other ones, and I thought that the wild card riders would not be ready to race for such long distances in these conditions. I took it easy and calm, and I was passing, passing. I got to the lead and made a small mistake and lost about two seconds, so I went down to fourth." Toseland's excellence in race one was not mirrored in race two, and he finished fourth, surprisingly off the podium, but ahead of the whirlwind of energy that was Yukio Kagayama. Twice fifth, Kagayama speared himself off the track to re-join in race one, with even Hodgson showing signs of amusement and awe at his antics . "The pace was certainly fast, faster than the first race," Toseland explained. "It's been a good solid weekend, and I tried as hard as I could and couldn't manage anything more than fourth. 1 got a little bit held up by Kagayama - I don't know how he rides the way he does - but fair play to him, and he tried right to the end. The move he made on me on the last lap, that takes some bollocks, so fair play. I wouldn't have done it; that's a fact. I don't know how they race against him in the UK. No wonder Shakey (Byrne) is clearing off if he's [Kagayama) riding like that in second place." Regis Laconi was far from happy, really feeling the fact that he has neither a factory bike of any kind, nor anything other than a lack of corner exit acceleration, which the last chicane exacerbates hugely. "I'm disappointed because my bike is not fast enough today, and you can see that there is only factory bikes on the podium, and I am fighting with them," Laconi said. "It's too difficult for me; the two wild card Suzukis had a very fast engine also, but I am not too happy. It was an exciting race, but I would like to finish higher. I think I am the fastest rider in this race, but I cannot win because n e _ S • JUNE 25. 2003 23

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