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/128235
World Supe r b ik e Championsh ip Round 1 1 : Autodromo Enzo e D ino Ferrari tile SpaniarCl completes a perfect weekend. Xa us and Hodgson were ce rt ai nly rid in g lik e m en on a mission to save th eir sou ls rathe r than their desired r id es, and at Im ol a the m an o f th e m e etin g w as f ar a n d aw ay Xau s , doing th e double. "My pl an was to sta rt from pol e, be first into th e firs t corner and win - wi n bec aus e I had a good setup and race pa c e," Xa us sa id . " Ne il w as f ast in some plac es, and I was fast in some others, so it was not easy t o be behi nd him . I wa nted to pass, but I co uldn' t. When I d id p ass, I d idn't k now th at Ne il had go ne off the track ." In rec ent tim es Xa us woul d be the one t o cr ack, to ride bey ond th e limit ra the r tha n pus h it rig ht to th e edge and stay in control, a la Hodgson in th e first half of thi s year. He had one sm all m om ent in race one, lost the lead to Hodgson, for a tim e, but tod ay it was Hod gson who was the one to m ak e th e erro rs that cos t him the races. " I' ve got no exc uses, and Rub en rod e a fa nt astic ra ce," Hod gson said . "T he p robl em wa s the last turn . Wh en w e a r riv e d , th e r e we re t w o b a c k m ark ers wh o were in th eir ow n race, so th ere was four of us tr yin g for th e same pi ec e of tra ck at th e same t im e, but that's racing ." No doubt about it, Hodgson sha red wins with his teammate Ruben Xaus at the previou s A ssen round and was a worthy cham pio n on the top step of a pod ium in the sec ond rac e, bu t th is weekend he had to play second fiddl e, a ro l e he was deep ly unh app y in , By G O RDO N R IT CHIE P HOT OS BY G OLD f, G OO SE IMOLA, ITALY, SEPT. 28 ~ n s i d e r the problem of Ne il Hodg " ' -son and h is cu rrent betw ixt and between st atus Hodgson bec am e the crushi ng victor in thi s yea r's cham p ionship when he won th e title in A ssen , wi th fiv e ra c es sti ll l eft to go . Wh y even Mat Mladin had to wait until th e end of the year to win th e AMA Super bike series he has been so gene rall y d om in ant in , and even Ross i is st ill wa iting in line for th e gol den ticket for the third ye ar in a ro w . N o w ta k en serio us ly as a M oto GP ind uctee almost in that paddock they all say yet th ere has still been no anno unce m ent o f Hodgson ' s impend ing m ove acr oss th e str eet. Then t ake anothe r q uand ar y , th at of Ruben Xa us. T hr ashed lik e all th e rest by Hodgson over the ye ar, he is suppo sed ly out of W orld Supe rb ik e after three years with no full y cr ed ible c ha m pio ns h i p ch all en g e und er hi s belt as of yet. T hey w ant him in th e AMA seri es; he wants to go MotoGP. Th ey want to keep him in th e Du c at i fo l d someh o w , and h e wa nts t o stay on a Du cati if possibl e. S o giv e n th e fac t th at t h er e is much tal k ing stil l t o b e d one and muc h w h eelin g a nd d eal ing o n th e go, there is still a lot to play fo r in th e sharp end of SB K . For m or e th an just th e ride rs . 28 O C TO B ER 8, 2003' C II c I e n e vv s despite his post ra c e c o m me nt s. Well , that's natural and is even a good si gn in any wou ldbe World Ch ampion . " I wan ted t o win today and was frustr at ed when I didn't," Hod gson said. "T he bac k m ar k e rs were the sa me for everyone, and it was rea lly d iffi cult to pass two sid e by sid e. No ex cuses - I ro de well, but Rube n won th e races. It was good ra cing t od ay , and in th at second rac e the tire gave a lot of feeling and g rip. I k now I coul d have go t Ruben bec aus e I was rid in g well, and I alwa ys go fo r th e w in - but I'm no t c om p laining about th e resu lt." Bravo to Hod gson fo r his pug ilism a nd evide nt aggress io n , almost t o o much agg ress io n at tim es, but Xa us hel d a better bala nce in hi s t hrott le hand to day and can leav e for Magn y Cours w ith the pr ai se of all , eve n his for m er critics, rin ging in his ears. Rac e one was the pro of. Fran ki e Ch ili stalle d on th e lin e. He was pu sh ed off to th e sidel ines, and th e r a c e we n t a he a d d e spit e h is prote st at i on s t o p lea se wa it a f e w secon ds only . He claimed not to have to uc hed any thing as his engi ne idled awa y at 3 0 00 rpm - then sud de n l y cut out. "When I wa s on the gr id , th e bike just st opped ," Chili said . "1 didn't do anything. I was so far back , and at the Xaus scored wins in both races; it was the second time he has done that feat this year. start o f th e rac e I was beh in d ri ders that I'd never seen before. It was diffi cu lt t o pus h bec ause of th e traffic, and m y lap t imes were up and down , bu t I am very happy to fi nis h fifth ." Xa u s , H od g s o n , Re g i s L a c on i, Ja m es T os e la nd , Chris W al k er a nd Troy Co rse r shot away and st ream ed into th e f ir st T a m burell o Chi c an e , b ut th e F il a f a c ti on were o n th e ir wa y alread y . T osel an d was soo n cruising o n the entra nc e t o th e fir st Rivazza , burbling in t o Pit Lane , and af te r a short di scussio n in Pit Lane, he ret ired, much to hi s di sgu st. Bro k en gea r lever, o f all unusu al thi ngs. With o ne En g lishman o ut , th e rest were in the thick of th in gs. " T ha t was my wo r st wee k end o f the ye ar," Tosel and said . "Aft er having gon e so well thro ughout q ualify ing, it's hard t o b el i ev e that I have co me away from Im ola without a sin gl e p oint. I'l l j u st have t o pu t t h is week end beh ind me and con centrate on th e final round of th e cham p io n ship at Magny Cou rs , w here it w ill be