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/128314
La coni All The W ay snap decision to put out the Superbikes an d then Supers port bikes on the slightly wet circuit. Absolutely no one took the chance in Superbike, the Supersport guys went out in dribs an d drabs, but th e ru le book was sa tisfied, an d t he main classes could go ahead as planned and on t ime. In these peculiar circumstances, Pirelli was able to supply an additional set o f tires to the teams to allow for the extra practice sess ion, uppi ng th e tir e count a tad . Come the sta rt o f the first Superbike race, t he track co ndit ions - wetter in some place s than others - took t heir toll. Some chose slicks , some a cocktail o f slicks and wets, some fully wet. Ro n Haslam was even seen cutting the slicks of his son Leon's rear slick o n the startline with a craft knife. N ot allowed said some, but no action was taken. First Laconi fell off in the warm-up, runni ng back to the pits for his spare bike. Then Noriyuki Haga was off, then Ivan Clementi, as the glasslike Valencia circui t messed w ith the plans of fact o ry an d privateer teams alike. Laco ni restarted on his spare bike , using two o f the tire quota he had no t used d ur ing qualifying, and Haga did like- w ise. Afte r a blinding start in race one, l.ac o nl's race lasted fo r two corners. He fell out of contention, but his woes wo uld continue wi th a chain, which jumped the sprockets in race two an d put him out early once m o re. He was at least philosophical about his mis fortune . " I ca nnot sa y I feel bad beca use that's raci ng, these t hings ha ppen, but for su re I'm not ha ppy because I made a mistake in the first race, an d t his is not good," Laconi said. " In the second race with thi s problem I had to stop. I didn't do one lap today, so I ho pe everything finishes here and things will be better from now o n." A d isas te r for Laconi was an opportunity for all o the rs . And all is the operative w o rd . O n a bizarre and slick track surface, such well-known World Superbike e ntities as local boy Se rgio Fuertes had a chance to lead, an d rookie rider on a Pedercini Ducati 998 Gianluca Nannelli got to threaten the podium places. Toseland and Haga had a short du st-up (or spray-up); Fue rt e s and even Chris Vermeulen a bit behind them fo r t he first few circu its added to the mix. On the t hird lap of a contest that was as fascinating as it was incongruous, there were three ride rs ab reast at one point, and during this rash move Tro y Corser crashed on the fas t final corner as he tried to ride around the outside of Haga. He only succeeded in ru nning up the ambulance service road and eventually falling from his Petronas triple. His indiscretion was soon to be forgo tten , despite the immediate despair in the Foggy Pe tro nas pit , when Ch ris Walker, who had gone up and down the race order as the t ire cho ice s chimed in and out, really looked like he could score the team's first podium finish. He was to, but not befo re a dose of he artbre ak for Steve Martin an d the DFX Ducati team. Fight ing hard wi th Pie r-Francesco Chili at th e end, his machine started to smoke from the fairing, and he was black-flagge d o ut of play - with one a nd a half tantalizing laps to a po dium finish. To Regis Laconi the early awards, the leading Fila Ducati rider so far, and thus the leading rider overall. Maybe it was Laconi's experience that made him faster than a who le gaggle of supposedly equal riders, and by a whole second in Superpole. but w hat ever it was, it we nt against the general pre-race feeling that the new Pirelli tire rule, and the lessening in the gap behind the factory bikes and the rest , wou ld have an effect pre-race . Laconi's I:3S.93S outdi d his own best previou s effort in the high Winds, winds that plagued th e first tw o days for all riders in all classes. Last away fro m the 16-rider Superpole session, Laconi was peerlessly into the I:35s. James Tose land, his own Ducati Fila teammate, was second, and he had to battle , thank s to a superb pe rformance from a slightly unexpected source. "Like yesterday the cond itions were very difficult - the trac k was st ill cold, and the wind changed direction all the time - but I am rea lly pleased with my seco nd-ever Superbike po le position ," Laco ni said. "I wanted to get down into the I:35s, and I did, but on ly just! Eve rything is going well. We did a good jo b with my team this weekend, and I am very happy. The tire I chose for my long run wasn't entirely sat isfactory, but then we tried another tire that I liked, and so I feel confide nt for the races tomorrow." Tose land nailed his tackle to the pit wall to ove rcome a lack of confiden ce in his initial setup, pro blems he had encountered in qualifyingand preseason. The seco nd star of the show, after the swift Laconi, was undoubtedly class rookie Chris Ve rmeulen and the Ten Kate Honda CBRI OOORR. Both rider and machine are new to the specialist discipline of Superpole - and the World Superbike Championship itself - making Vermeulen's third-place time an even more remarkable feat . W ith no proper slipper clutch in place yet and a bike tha t could be as little as 80 percent of its potential as yet, this was a rea l ride fro m a man wh o has already proved many points . In a good day for the British riders , with tw o on the front row, Renegade Ducati's Leon Haslam con fo unded many mo re experienced Wor ld Superbike pilots to finish fourth fastest and earn himself a start on the front row. It was a delightful Supe rpole all arou nd for the new -to -World Superbike Renegade team, as multitime race winner Noriyuki Haga secured a sixth place on the grid, on his most recent return to his alma mater. He blew an engine in the qualifyingand had to con duct Superpole o n his second bike. DFX Ducati rider Steve Martin wen t fifth q uickes t, as the starry names started to live up to some of their starting prices . O ne case in point - Xe rox Ducati's Garry McCoy, wh o wen t seventh fastest despite some recurring tec hnical issues. T he diminutive rider struggled partic ularly badly in the high winds as he rode his first-ever Supe rpo le lap. He showed enough improvement over the weekend in general to be taken as a serio us race -day threat. His last sector split was the best of all, as he took it easy at first and the n showed the speed that has made him a multiple GP race winner. He is also starti ng the season at his best-ever track. The mar ch of the privateers continued with DFX Ducati's Marco Borciani mining his rece nt rich seam of for m on ce more to take eighth place . Local interest (alth o ugh ther e was not too much in the co ld co nditions - emotionally and climatically - that followed t his weekend of racing in Spain) was fueled by th e q uick early time put in by Sergio Fuertes. The local Suzuki Valencia rider wou ld start the race from the th ird row, after lapping ninth fastest, taking so me scalps in the incred ibly cold • conditions. Chris Walker 's uncharacteristically smooth lap, good enough fo r 10th place, made him the quickest of the Foggy Petron as riders, his tea m mate Troy Corser o nly finishing his day in 12th place, well o ut of so rts in the winds. 14 MARCH 10,2004 • CYC LE N EWS 40th Anniversary