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/128238
Wo r ld S upe rbi ke Champio n ship G o o rb erg h o n t h e Yam aha Belg ard a m o unt, the Dut c hman re ga in ing third in th e se rie s with h is last-gasp o ve rtake of K la ff i Honda 's S eb a sti en Ch ar p enti er. It lo o k e d h arsh o n TV, b u t v an den G o o rb e rgh sa id it w as fai r, an d Charpentier sa id li ttle about it - except he was an noye d t o m iss o ut o n a gi ft o pportun ity t o t ak e a home -town pod ium. Al st are Su zu ki's Ste p ha ne Cham bon to ok fi fth after a fi ght w ith several im pr ov in g an d th e n w a n i ng r a c e thre at s. Hi s 11 p o ints proved g o od en ough f or seco n d in th e ser i e s , ahea d of va n d en Goo rbe rgh an d u ltim at e ly f o u rt h - pl aced Mugg eridg e . Su ch was th e c loseness o f th e fig ht for sec ond th at Chambon 's total was 137, v an den Goo rb e rg h 's 136 and Mugge rid ge 's 134. eN t ea m m at e Ma rc o Borc ian i. The b izarr e h ap p en ing s at M agny Co u rs in cl ud ed a c ras h on th e second race w arm -up lap f or Co rse r . H i s eight h p la c e in race one was encou r ag ing for h is team , bu t Ha y d on , in h is l a st ra c es f o r th e A n g l o -M al a y si an ra ce t e am , c r as hed aft er I v a n Cl eme n t i cl a s h ed w ith h i m i n ra c e o ne and th en fe ll in a si ngl e - r id e r in c id ent later in race tw o. Co rse r f in ish ed the c ha m pions h i p in ov era ll 12th , lo sin g o ut t o Bo rci an i tea ms an d very few wor ks tea ms again , t here are - as was m en t ioned at th e beg inni ng - m o re quest io ns t ha n answers in the near fut ure. If 20 04 is a success, and eve r better an d b igg er t eams an d m anu f a c tu re rs co me on boa rd t h e next yea r , th en t h e sky is th e li m it for th is formula of racing . If it is muc h less th an t hat , t hen t he d oom sayers w ill h ave proved to be the ones wi th th e cl ea rest cryst al ball s. L a c on i ve rs us T o s e l an d f or th e 2004 titl e, don ' t bet again st it. the bike felt great, " Mug ger idge said . "T he temperat ure m ad e ou r tire sele c tion diffic ult, bu t we go t it rig ht. I wa s just wa tc h ing my p it b oa rd and wa s ab le to m ain t ai n the ga p at th e fro nt. " His teamm at e, new c ha m p io n Ver m eu len , t oo k hi s t hird seco nd p lace in a ro w , an d ac hi ev ed hi s p ersonal am bi tio n of g oin g o v er 20 0 p o i n t s , now w ith a t ota l o f 20 1. T h ird in th e rac e we n t t o th e ext re me ly fo rce f u l Ju rg en v an d en Superbike World Championship Magny Cours, France R esults: O ctober 19, 2003 S /SPT Q UA LI FY I NG : 1. C h ris Verm eul en ( 1:43 .548 ); 2. Sebastien Charpentier (1 :43.8 8 1); 3 . F a b ien F o r et ( I :4 3 .8 9 4 ) ; 4 . K a r l Mu gge r idge ( 1:4 3 .930) ; 5 . St ep bene Ch am bo n ( 1:44. 3 2 5 ); 6 . .. Bro ck Park e s ( 1:4 4.5 10 ); 7 . Ka t s u a ki Fujiw ara ( 1:4 4 .5 2 0) ; 8. Per e Riba (.1:4 4. 7 7 0); 9 . Christian Kellner (1 :44. 77 1); 10. Julian Da Cos ta (1 :44 .808 ); 11. Jurgen vd Goo rbe rg h (1 :4 5. 0 68) ; 12 . Simone Sanna ( 1:4 5 .116) ; 13 . Matthieu Lagrive ( 1:45 .12 8 ); 14 . Ch ris tophe Co g a n ( 1:45.323 ); 15 . Thi e rry vd Bos ch ( 1:4 5.63 1); 16. Michael Schulte n ( 1:45.683) ; 17. Werne r Daem en (1 :45 .805); 18. lain MacPherson (I :4 5. 8 6 9 ): 19 . Lud ov ic Ho lo n (I :4 6 .03 2) ; 20 . Gianlu c a Na nn e ll i ( 1:46 .0 89); 2 1. Rob ert Ulm (1:4 6 .102) ; 22 . Didier Vankeymeu len ( 1:4 6 .19 0 ); 23 . Ken an S o fuo g lu ( 1:46 .3 19 ); 2 4 . F red e r ic S olley ( 1:4 6 .3 49) ; 25 . Yoa nn T ib e rio ( 1:4 6 .436 ); 26 . S ha nno n J o hns on (1 :4 7 .0 23) ; 27 . Den is Sacc he tti ( 1:47. 12 1); 2 8 . Se refino Cruci a n i ( 1:4 7.228 ); 29 . The dry but cool weather conditions continued at Magny-Cours, but the riders paid scant attention to whether or not the track conditions were ideal for Superpole, a competition HM Plant's James Toseland won for the first time in his World Superbike career.. His mark of 1:40.965 was close to the absolute best at the weekend at this new World Superbike venue, and he was joined in the 1:40 bracket by the new World Champion Neil Hodgson, making huge adv ances compared on his Fila Ducati to his earlier offici al times on race ti res. Th e HM Plant Du c at ; b oys ยท Ch r is Walker (9) an d J am e s Tose land (52) celebr ate their twothree f inish es in the . se cond race. and M au ro Sa nc h in i on t he fin al da y o f acti on in th e 2003 sea so n . T h e j u ry h a s g iven th e v erd ict o n t he F o g g y Pe t ro na s ex pe ri me n t - th e ha rde st j u ry p ossib l e - t h e one th a t i ssu e s points fo r p erfo rm an c e. W ith sig nifica n t ly different en gi nes fro m Cor ser o n o ccas io n, Haydon h a s fo un d t he FP- 1 a heav y cross to bear. Ev en t he d e v el o pmen t ta le nts of Co rse r an d some cl ev er b a ckro om bo y s put t he A ussie ju st in side t he t o p doze n i n what h as bee n a record recen t yea r W ith t he t it le all sew n up in Im ola, for C hris V erm e u l en an d Ten Ka te o f co urs e, t he next b at tl e to be d ecided wa s a si mp le b ut p lea sa ntly c l o se one . Unless you we re in it, o f course . T hr ee rid ers we re dis puting sec ond pl a c e i n t h e title chas e at M ag ny Cou rs : Ste p ha ne Ch am b on , J u rg en va n Den Goorbergh and th e othe r Ten Kate ri der , K arl M ug gerid g e. In t his th e 1 1th and last-gasp round for nonfact ory ent ran ts . It did , however, show we ll at the b eg in n in g and th e end , an d with an eng ine rev amp, t he fut u re is at least p roba bly m uc h brighter. As World Superbike hu rt les headl ong i nto t he v orte x of si ngle-make t ir es, uncert ain new ve nues , the in fl ux of g ro u n d b r ea k in g C h in es e -ba cked of t h e Sup e r s p ort Wor ld Ch amp i o n sh i p , Mu g g eri d g e sc ored anoth er rac e win , h is t hi rd cons ecutive suc cess afte r i m p ressive v ic to rie s i n Assen and Im ol a. He p uts it down to improved commun ication in th e team, an d that possib ly t ran slat es t o t h ei r doing w hat he as ks m or e of th e t ime. " I reall y w ant ed t o w in h ere, an d 18 O CTO BER 29 , 2003' e y e WORLD SUPERSPORT Ie ne_s "I had a win in Germany , and I want another one before the year is out," Toseland said. "It' s my first pole and the first pole for the team this year, and I'm happy to give them it , as they won't be here next season. Tomorrow should be fantastic racing, and I'm glad I'm up the front because the chicanes are going to be very busy on the first few laps: The local crowd were denied the sight of their hero Regis Laconi tak ing Superpole patriotic tric olor leath ers or not but th e pr oven race wi nner was very much in cont ention for his first race wins of the year, starting third on the grid. The fastest man after .regulation qualifying was the imp ressive Ruben Xaus, another rider sure to fight for the wins come Sunday. He secured a front-row start, but not with the Superpole win he so desired. , The second row of the grid would feature the talents of Laguna Seca race winner PierFrancesco Chili, who set fifth-best time in what was a dramatic and somewhat unpredictable Superpole competition - started 15 minutes late because of a high number of red flags in earlier interrupted practice sessions. Chris Walker eased into sixth place, Gregorio Lavilla lost time in the middle split and dropped from his front-row start spot after regular qualifying. Lavilla would have been particularly relived to beat the highly impressive time of World Endurance regular Sebastian Gimbert. The local wild card rider set the Superpole competition alight with his quick time early in the session and made it a nail-biting ride for some of th e reg ula r Wo r ld Superbike competitors who put their Superpole la ps b eh ind h im . Another wild card, Leon Haslam, ended up 10th, behind the DFX Pirelli Ducati of Steve Martin. The most success ful Superpole exponent ever, Troy Corser, lost his chance of a frontrow st art after h i s mac h ine 's back en d sl ippe d sideways on the entran ce to a co rM ner, ca using him to run wide , r u n o ver the gravel, but recove r to post a ti me . Despite h is brav e fin ish , he would sta rt from 16t h place on the grid.