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 Superbi k e Champion sh ip R o u nd 1 1 : A utodr o m o Enzo e D ino F erra r i exclu di ng it f ro m com pe t ition aft er it Troy Corser rode the Petnlnas t o a pair of seventh-place finishes after starting 011 the second row in sixth. had taken big ste ps to come back to Superspo rt. It m ay a lso , iro n ica lly, p ro ve so me of th e points FGSport has been m ak ing about the o ne-sided ness of SBK c ompe t itio n as f ar as t i r e s go . A bizarre e nd to anot he r tempestu ou s weekend . M a gn y Cours is th e next st op o n th e SBK express, th e la st o ne th i s y ear and th e last o f t he c urrent SBK The reason may h ave been the relatively cold 28 -29 ' C track surfa ce , but as a post-race Ducati release had Xa us quoted as saying , " T h e tires were fine . Michelin wanted to show to everyon e that they cou ld win w ith a street ti r e d esign , and the y did i t today . We d id eve n better la p t imes than the slick tires in race o ne ." ( T h ey d idn 't g o fa ster th an t he classic Edwards/Bayliss duel of 2002, compete wi th in Sup er sport n ext year, not cut slicks at all. " W e wa nt ed t o prov e that w ell desig ned , grooved Michelin tires can deliver g ood p erformanc e, " Mi ch elin ' s head of com pe t ition N icho las Gaubert sai d . " T h a n k s t o Du cati , w e ha v e proved tod ay t ha t grooved tires a re w ell ad apted to ra cing m o t orc y cl es close to production rules ." Bu t th e "st reet" tir e p o i n t was however, in la p or overall race time. ) Apparently the tires on the rear of the D u k es wa s nothing sho rt of the same on es M ichelin was hop ing t o proved both wa ys . We can ass ume it was a p ol ite but p o int e d m e s sa g e from M ichelin to FGSport about the impending singl e t i re ru l e in SBK (Above) James Toseland (52) ha d his w orst weekend of the year after he fa iled to finish In e ither race. (Below) Corser (4) battles Lucio Pedercini (19) in ra ce two. Pedercini eventually got by Co rse r for sixth. era o f ti re compe ti t io n . We ca n ha p p il y save any more d iscussion about th e future of SBK for t he n. bec ause with few ri d ing lineu p s fi rm ed up i n Imol a, desp it e m an y p eop le hoping to d o so , it see ms t he future is stil l being formed in so me un sp ecified place o ut o f th e co nt ro l o f any of th e p ow erbro k er s in SBK . W ORL C S UPERSPCRT It is fitting in a wa y th at th e team that has extracted more out of its machine ry th an a ny o t he r in W orld S upe r s po r t t h i s year h as b e en th e ve ry team that put on such a dom inan t d i spl a y o nce m ore - r ight wh en i t really mattered . No one in h is rig h t mind cou ld h ave fo res een how th is c ha m pi o ns hi p would hav e panned out in 2 003, wi th so m an y manu f a c tu r er- supp orted team s. riders li ke van d en Goorberg a n d S anna i n th e fra y , r id ers like Foret o n a new Kawasa k i th at lo oked l i k e a g ree n- pai n te d amph etamine an d just so much effo rt g oing in by so m an y tal en t ed , p rofe ssional p eople . A nd eve ry J a p an e se m anu f a cture r d esp erate to wi n . But Verm eul en a n d th e T en K ate H ond a s d omin at e d at a lm o st every tr a ck and now have won six races o ut of th e ten co nte ste d so fa r. Verm eulen is now th e young est -ev er rid er to w in th e c ha m p io n sh i p , at the t ender age of 2] , and a br ight future aw ait s. "B e ing W orld Champ i on h asn 't sunk in ye t ," Vermeu len sa id . " I was just enjoying t he race . I made a mistake at the end , and K arl got th e bett er of me , We kn ew right from the first test session that we had something s p e c i a l w ith the 2003 CBR600RR . E ven j us t si ttin g o n the machine felt good , and we knew stra ight away that it had been b u ilt to w in rac es ." Th e aw esom e ri di ng t ale nt of Rub en Xaus earned th e Spaniard a perfect opportunity to take his first -ever Superpole win , and when his only remaining rival J am es Tos eland fail ed to beat Xaus ' t ime of ! :48.636, he added his name to an illustrious list of pol e winn ers . Xaus ' time was the best of the weekend and the first inside the ] :48 mark . "I am happy to be on pole and feel that I am riding the bik e well ," Xaus said. "A t the last chica ne I relaxed too much and had a problem with the front, but it is okay ." The start of the Superpole competition was a harum scarum affair, with Sergio Fuertes almost crashing at the exit of the last comer on his approach to the start/fi nish line. Staying aboard, he completed his lap but was slowest of all 16 fastest riders from regulation qualifying. With the riders starting in reverse order of their qualifying tim es. provisional pole man Toseland brought the competitio n to a close, with the current top four men in the overall championship standings eventually taki ng a spot somewhere on the front row for Sunday's pair of 2 1-lap Superbike races. Leader Xaus is followed by second-fastest man Regis Laconi. Xaus and Laconi are the only two current SBK combatants to have won a race at lmola, an ominous portent for their rivals ranged out behind. In third spot the new World Champion Neil Hodgson had to make do with "merely" a fro nt- row start, with Toseland fourth . Local hotshot Pierfrancesco Chili was good value for his fifth place on a two -year-old but rapid PSG- ! Ducati . The sixth -place performa nce of the undisputed King of Superpole, Troy Corser, was further proof of the increasing prowess of the Foggy Petronas triple. The 900cc machine giv es away 100cc to all its rivals. but recent work on the engine and electronic management system has released more of the machine's potential for advancement. Top pure pr ivateer Steve Martin attacked the curves and bumps of Imola on his DFX Ducati machine and will start the race from seventh pla ce. in a strong second-row position. Joining Martin on the second row is the second top Spanish rider in Superpol e, Juan Borja , Martin's teammate. Top four-cy linder runner proved to be Gregorio Lavilla . tak ing ninth-fast est tim e. ahead of an aggressive but ulti m ately disap poin ted HM Plant Ducati rider Chris Walker. who scored tenth on his year-old factory machin e. Ivan Clementi scored an early success, setting the best time for a long period and ending his day! ] th on the 750cc ex-factory Kawasaki ZX-7RR. ahead of the privateer Ducati Pedercini 998RS of Lucio Pedercin i. The three-rider DFX Ducati effort was completed in Superpoie by Marco Borciani , who went ] 3th fastest, outpaci ng Mauro Sanchini. DFX Ducati rider Sergio Garcia scored 15th. ahead of the near-crasher Fuertes. 30 O CTO BER 8 . 2003' C II c I ... n u vv s