Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Superbi k e C h a m p io n s h ip R ou n d 1 1 : Auto dromo Enz o e D ino F e r r a r i Alessandro Gramigni (Yam); 13. Serg io Fuerte s (SUI); 14. Ho r st Sa iger ( Ya m); 15. Lu ca Pini (SUI ); 16 . Walter Tort otogli o (Han) ; 17. Simo ne Conti (Suz) . Time: 38 rnin., 29 .867 sec. Dist ance: 2 1 laps. 64 .22 mi les Ave rag e speed: 100 .100 mph Margin of victory: 12.038 sec. Fa st est lap: Ruben Xeus. lap 5, 1:49 .181 S /S PT Q U A LIF YI NG : 1. Karl Mu g g e ridg e S/BK RACE ONE : 1. Ruben Xeus (D ue) : 2. Neil Hod gson (D uc) ; 3 . Regis La co nl (Due} : 4. Greg ori o Lav ille (Suz); 5 . Pierfrancesco Chili (Du c ); 6 . Ste ve Martin (Du e ): 7. Troy Corse r (Pet ); 8. Maur o Se nc hmi (Ka w); 9 . Ivan Clem enti (Kaw); 10. Marco Borcia ni ( D u c ); 1 1. Juan Bor j a ( D uc ); 12 . Dav id Ga rcia (Duc) ; 13. Ale ssandro Gramigni (Yam ) ; 14. Sergio Fu ert es (Suz); 15 . Lu ca Pin i (Suz) ; 16 . Giu sep pe Zan nini (D uc) ; 17. Hor st Saige r (Yam) ; 18 . Walt er To rto tog lio (Han ); 19 . Lu ce Ped e rs o li (D uc ); 20 . (1,51.592): 2. Stephane Chambon ( 1,52.253); 3. Gian maria Uv erani (Yam) ; 21 . Simo ne Conti (Suz). Chris Verm eulen ( 1:52.353 ); 4 . Sebastian Charpentier TIme: 38 min., 30 .586 sec . (1,52.751 ); 5. Jurgen van den Goo rberqh (1'52.835): 6 . K at su aki Fujiwara (1 :52 .934): 7. Tekkyu Kayo (1,53.015); 8. Gienluce Nannelli (l ,53.21O);9_Eabien Foret (1,53.229); 10. Kevin Curtain (1,53.293); 11. Distan ce: 2 1 laps, 64 .22 miles Average speed: 100 .069 mph M. rgin of victory : 2.793 sec . a Fa stest lap: Neil Hodgson . lap 7.1 :49 .317 S/BK RACE lWO : I. Ruben Xeus (Due) ; 2. Regis L ac on! ( D ue) ; 3. Gr egori o Laville (S UI) ; 4 . N eil Ho d gso n (D ue) ; 5 . Chri s Wa lk er ( Due ); 6 . Luci o Ped erc in i ( D ue); 7 . Tro y C o rser (Pet ) ; 8 . Mau ro Sanc h in i ( Kew }: 9 . Juan Bor j a (D ue ) ; 10 . D av id Gar c i a ( D u e ); 11. M ar c o B or c ian i (D u e ); 12 . Robe rt (JIm ( I :5 3. 3 0 2); 12. Ch ri st ia n K elln er (1:53.388 ); 13 . An toni o Carlacci ( 1:53.6 16 ); 14. Jorg e Teuchert (1,53.746): 15. Simone Sanna (1,53.779): 16. Matt hieu Laqrtve (1:53 .870); 17. A lessio Corrad i (1:53.932 ); 18 . lain MacPherson ( 1:54. 037): 19 . Pere Riba (1,54.086): 20. Werner Daemen (1,54.1 95): 21. Ale ssandro Polita ( 1:54.572 ); ·22. Shannon -Johnson The rumor mills at Imola we re fairly boosted by gales of hot air from seve ral directions. Among the billow ing negat ivity. the hopef ul opt imism and general air of sadness. some facts were concreted into the crumb ling Imola track surface . The first is that Ducati has definitely stated that it will be back with a two-man full fact ory team in SB K, with Fila sponsorship - and a sepa rate Supersport effort as well. The lineup in SBK is almost definite ly goi ng to be Regis Laconi and James Toseland , and no mailer what, Ruben Xaus is out of the picture in SBK . Ducati wants him to go to America as part of its confirmed new single-rider Austin Ducati AMA team, as it wants to hold on to his talents but feels he has had a long enough crack of the 'SBK whip . Hodgson's expected move to MotoGP appears more distant with every day that passes, and Luis D 'A ntin. the boss of his prospect ive GP team, really wants to have Xaus as we ll if he has to have Hodgson - even if has warmed to the Englishman. MotoGP is also by far Xaus' preferred option . Ducati' s dilemmas increase when only one rider has signed for the Fila team so far. leavlnq a bolt hole for Hodgson if for some reason the MotoGP optio n goes away. It appears Toseland is not that man. and neither is l.aconi. which more than likely means that no rider is absolutely certain of signing Ducati' s Supersport effo rt . suppose d to be a tw o-man deal wit h Lorenzo Lanzi (a Supers tack rider at present) and curre nt test rider and former W SS winner Vit to Guareschi. Sponsor ship of this team is an issue at present, as the Fila deal only extends to th e Superbike guys. W ith suita ble sponsors on board. then it would be able to run two riders for sure and maybe farm another bike out to the NC R team, The addition of one factory WSS team in 2004 has been leveled out by the loss of anot her, as the Kawasaki facto ry effort. run by C hristian Bourgeois out of France, will be no more next season. Thus Pere Riba and Fabien Foret have come onto the busy rid er market to become cov eted prope rties in WSS . The new s was no surprise to Foret, but Pere Riba. having tested the 2004 Z X-6RR and pronounce d it a real race winner. go t an unpleasant surpris e when he arrived in Italy. There will be four WSS Kawasakis on the grid ,in 2004 in any case - just not wo rks supported ones . Bert oc chi Kawa saki and Savek o have those gigs; Riba loo ks to have been snapped up by the Italians at Bertocchi already. Fabien Foret's expulsion/a bdication from Kawasaki means he is one of the favorites for a ride in the Belgarda Yamaha team in 2004. and they will be running two - maybe three machines. Van Den Goorbergh is a definite. but there are four potential riders planning to be in the Belgarda squad - including Imola wild card Tekkyu Kayo or an Italian rider. possibly Gianluca Nannelli. Alessio Corradi has already signed with the 5 Racing team for 2004 . which will no longer be a team Italia entry. A younger Italian rider will benefit from that support in 2004. although the lucky pilot is not yet decided. NCR Ducatl were in the running to score the two man Ducat i WSS gig. but recent deve lopments would seem to rule that out. and the Supersport effort may be another in-house Ducati offering. It seems that David Garcia was on the brink of signing again for NC R. but that has been put on hold, and the second rider is stil l t he subjec t of some co nfusion . Some repo rts sta te that Ducat i Corse will be pushing Shane Byrne toward an NCR Ducat i slot. equipped with a custo mer version of t he 999 RS03 . In nor mal circumstances Ducati builds a factory bike exclusively for the use of the full works team, a satellite team level machine. which is a re plica of the prev iou s yea r' s wo rks bike . and a cust o mer machine. which is a replica of the two-yea r-old factory bike . In the com ing season, howeve r. the custo mer and work s bikes will be 999s. albeit of different specs . The tire cost i ss ue reared its head again at Imola, with Italian privateer Lucio Pedercini claiming to spend 5000 euros less per season for his current Dunlops than he will be required to spend on t he forth coming Pirellis. He also mentio ned the fact that he buys the tires from Dun lop but will only rent them from Pirelli. Thus. any unused Dunlop tires or part warn s he and other privateers have on board will no longer be an asset to regain a few useful pennies for the race effort. Pedercini put s his current one rider expe nditure on t ir es as 40 .000 euro s per annum . as O CTOBER 8 . 2 0 03' eye I e Bosch (1,55.473): 28. Jury Prciettc (1,55.678): 29. Va lt e r Ba rt o lini ( 1:56 .010) ; 3 0. A rn o Vi ssc he r (1,58.768). S /SPT : 1. K arl Mug ger idg e ( Ha n ); 2 . Ch r i s Ver m eu len ( Ha n); 3. J ur ge n v a n de n Goo r berg h (Yam) ; 4 . Ste pha ne Cambon ( Suz) ; 5 . Se bas tia n Char pentier (Hon); 6 . Gi anluca Nennelll ( Yam); 7 . T ekk yu Ka yo (Yam ); 8 . la in MacPh erson (Hon ); 9 . A nto nio Carlac ci (Yam) ; 10 . Simone Sen ne (Yam ); H . Mett hie bagrive Yam); 12. Christian Kelt ner 4Yam ): 3 ¥ Rob ert (JIm Hen ): 1 4 ~org e Ieuc he rt ( Yam) ; 15 . Al essand r o Pol tt e ((Ya m ) ; 16 . Did ier Vank eym eulen (K aw); 17. Valter Be rtolin i (Han) ; 18 . Denis Sacchett i (Yam ). 19. ury Protetto (Hon):" 20 . Ste fano Crucianj ( Ka w}. -_--Ti me: 39 mi n. 48.471 sec . es is ta nce:-2 l'Ta'ps, 64.2 2 mill ~:'--""'--""---I-·~-----'--------------...A verage speed : 96 .806 mph Margin of victory : .77 1 sec. opposed to the 45.000 each team outs ide the top four in this year' s championship will be charged. BRIEFLY••• 32 ( 1:54.6 89); 23. Didier Vank eym eulen (1:5 4.734); 24 . Ivan Goi ( 1:54 .79 4); 25 . Deni s Sacchetti ( 1:55. 0 19); 26. Stefano Cruciani (1:55 .401) ; 27 . Thi erry van den n e Weather conditions for the first two days at Imola remained bright, but a local earthquake a few days before the event brought forw ard the novel poss ibility of a practice session or race being stopped because the track itself starte d movin g . The pre -race dramas did not end there. whe n on race morning there wa s a power outage all over Italy. The power was rest arted in the lrnola area at 7,30 a.m.. in time for the event to take place . but surrounding areas were still suffering a blackout. A narrow escape. The gloss on Ruben Xaus' fi r st ever S uperpole win was taken off somew hat - inadvertently - by the fact that Ducati Charlie Cox and Steve Parish. Suzi Perry for the rider interv iews. plus own camera people). It will cove r SBK and MotoGP (at Phillip Island) from the studios in London. Strong rumors suggest that it will also be doing all MotoGP races from on-site in 2004 and World Superbikes by " remote control. " The ride of the phoenix continued at Imola in qualifying, with the ashes of the Fo g g y Pet ro n a s tea m's early-season hop es reforming afte r their trials by fire into a reasonably potent weapon for Troy Corser to joust with. His Superpole finish of sixth was another boost for team in need of one. and with a new engine design contract apparently out to tender for the 2004 season, the who le Pet ronas effort seems to have turned a comer . The main reason is the cylinder head design. which came out at Assen but only Corser used in Imola. In fact . turning come rs has never been a real problem. but powering the FP-1 out of them has been. Thus the engine cont ract. currently held by Eskil Suter' s compa ny in Switzerland, is reportedly out to tender with four companies in the running . incl uding Sut er and Coswor th. On the rider fro nt the soon-to -be-released James Haydon had another to rrid time. qualifying 18th on the "old" engine. His replacement is expected to be Chr is Walker. altho ugh young Brit Jamie Morley is due to test the machine at Magny Cours soon. vv s ---_--1 Ale ssand ro G r a m lgnl . a Yamaha wild card rider in lrnola, has recent ly and will shortly once more test the all-new race-killed R1 Superbike, based on the extreme new stree tbike. The race kit itself was launched this weekend at Donington. by Rob Mc Elnea' s Virgi n Yamaha squad. A launch phot oshoot for the race-killed bike was carried out short ly befor e Donington. so the kitted bike was sent up to the UK afte r being built by Marti al Garcia's Yamaha Motor France out fit. Robert U lm' s pre-race preparatio ns were disrupted by a highspeed crash on Saturday morning. which pitched the Austrian into a row of crash barriers and which in tum pitched his machine end over end to it s severe damage. Ulm retumed to the fray and qualified well by the time-honored method of following a faster rider around. this time Vermeu len. The Ducati facto ry machines proved so mewhat fallible in qualifying at Imola, with first Xaus (Friday) and then Hodgson suffering smoky technical failures out on trac k. Suzuki' s plans for SBK are still as yet undeclared. but the pro spect of factory support for Superb ike is almo st certainly closed off. and acco rding to the com ments of a team spokesperson. the future of Alstare in Superbike is "e ntirely in the hands of Suzuki. If they want us to race Superbike, we will. and we are not interest ed in running any other form of machine. We have too big an investment in Suzuki for us to change to another manufact urer." Alstare will go along with the conce pt of a multirider Supersport team. and with Suzuki unveiling a full-on new 600 at the M ilan show, Al stare are fully expected to campaign this machine in 2004 . There is a strong possibility that there will be a fo ur-rider WSS team. with Cha mbon and Fujiw ara already fixed and with lannuzzo and maybe M ichel Fabrizio running in anot her A lstare team . with more input fr om the Italian side of their operations . The Plrelli/FGSport presentation at Imola was pre-empted by the appearance of several team managers al the back of the meeting. just before things kicked off. They we re polit ely but firmly asked to leave before proceedings began. with Colin Wright (GSE Racing) one of the high-prof ile evict ees. The announce ment of th e SBK t e sting d ates was made at lmola, and the full Pirelli supported off icial dates are supposed to be Phillip Island on January 13-15, Valencia on February 11-13 . The teams had a meeting on Saturd ay night after many expressed concerns about the cos ts involved in going to Australia. and they decided to vot e against the idea. No response from FGSport or Pirelli was forth coming at that juncture. W ith the V4 KTM M otoGP b ike on indefinite hold. there were a few novel ideas flying around in Rio about its use in the fact ory Kawasaki, but accordi ng to a magazine interview with KTM boss Stefan Pierer . the new KTM RC8 twin will be raced in Superbike at some stage. Pierer was one to state that he fully supported the single-make tire rule. allowing a level playing field for all involved . Suzuka may be the replacement for an increasingly shaky-looking Sugo round in 2004 . The classic Japanese track of Suzuka has been dro pped from the Mo toG P calendar. but the possibility of running an SBK race on a circuit the MotoGP guys have deemed too dangerous is a real one. Despite there being theoretically one standard of track homologation for a W orld Championship. several of the current SBK venues would not be used for MotoGP races. If Suzuka were to be homologated. afte r the recent announcement that it would not be modified in time for the 2004 GP , it wou ld be an interesting situation for the FIM to explain. A Friday press confe rence was called by the FG Spo rt/ Pirelli p artne rs at Imola, with Pirelli spok esman Ugo Forn er making most of the speech play . He confirmed that it was FGSport who approached Pirelli with the plan. "A few months ago we were contract ed by FGSport to ask us if we were interested in providing this unique tire activity. ~ said Forne r. "At the beginning we were a lillie bit surprise d, but after a few we ek s' going deeper in the understand ing of the proposal. we discove red a new philosophy of the promot er and the FIM - and found this new development very interesting for us. The aim and the missio n we have at the end of the day is to build up and make innovation and build up the standard of the product available to the market. " When asked if the re wo uld be any possibil ity to run nomi nally treaded t ires somewhere down the line to reflect its road-going product even

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