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/128321
Martin In A Wet Dne was - an d the n Regis [Laconi] blew past . His bike is a bit faster than mine. It was a good decision to stop the race. O ne more lap and it would have been a bit dangero us, so it was a go od decision from the race direction." In race two, with a liberally wet tra ck in front of them, t he ch o ice - mostly - was fo r full w e t tire solutions, the exc eption pro ving to be t he ruler. T hat was Chili, o n his latest spec of 998R made race ready. He made slow progress in the w ettest sections o f t he track be fore charging through at up to two seconds pe r lap faster than his peers. With some help, as he later ex plained . He tracke d Laconi and on the final lap took the advantage over his championship rival , as his ha rd com pou nd wet rear tire became unsuitable for th e d rying track. " T hat was hard to ride because I made 24 laps in the first position, and [Pie rfra nce sco] Chili overto ok me on the very last one," Laco ni said . " He ch ose an int e r m ed iate . I t hink he was the onl y o ne , an d it was the right thi ng to do t oday. I was so happy because I gave my best . With a wet tire o n t oday I could not do better. I was more t han 100 pe rce nt fo r the last two laps." For once Regis Laconi had to give best to another, predictably a Ducati rider, but unpredictably Steve Martin, who had been saving himself to that point. It was a strange Superpole session in all, not least because of the adoption of alternative ways of determining the final grid. Instead of the normal Superpole procedure, the wet patches around the Misano circuit made for a "Wet" Superpole, during which the top 16 qualifiers are allowed SO minutes and a limited number of pit exits in which to set their best lap times. This comp licated matters somewhat for all competitors, some of whom had fewer qualifying specification tires to use. Others used a "cockta il" of slick and intermediate tires on occasion. The final winner on the end of a peculiar day was a deserving one , DFX Ducati's Steve Martin, who has been a long-time Pirelli user. "The first pole for me and my team , and that's really satisfying," Martin said. "My team is Italian, I live in Italy, so we sort of did in front of a home crowd. Front row is one thing, but pole is another - the whole team is rapt." Frenchman Laconi, winner of both previous Superpole contests, took second place on his Ducati Filamount , only a couple of tenths behind Martin's 1:36.823. "Of course I tried to go pole , but I am happy for Steve Martin," Laconi said. "He deserved the race win on Australia, and this is a good substitute for him." Riding a two year-old Ducati 998R converted streetbike with a 2004-spec engine, Pierfrancesco Chili secured third , the top Italian rider on his home soil. "This new bike had only about 45 minutes to run because it was only ready on Friday night," Chilisaid. "Fo r all that it worked welL" Another rider on a somewhat dated Ducati, Lucio Pedercini, ended up fourth and took the last position on the first row for Sunday's two Superbike races . Mauro Sanchini gave his Kawasakiteam a morale-boosting fifth position at his local circuit, while the unique three-cylinder machine of Troy Corser roared to an excellent sixth, his teammate Chris Walker completing the second row in eighth. Corser was docked his best time for maklng a 13th lap, not the maximum of 12 he was allowed. Hence his frontrow start was a fleeting phantom of a thing. Seventh , lucky for him in the first year of competitive life of the Ten Kate Honda CBRIOOORR, was Chris Vermeulen, 2003 World Supersport Champion and rookie in the Superbike class this year. Ducati Fila's James Toseland, the current championship leade r, was a haunted man this weekend, and he failed to qualifyfor Superpole , going only 20th fastest in a field of 27 eventual race qualifiers. Race winners Garry McCoy and Noriyuki Haga were 14th and II th, respectively. In third place, D FX Ducat i's Martin was fully 32 seconds behind Chil i, with the rest tailing back in dribs and drabs. " It was a lot o f work fo r everyone. but it was great for us , but the other two guys rode really well today and deserved to be first and second," Martin said . " I finished t hird, so I cannot complain. I we nt for full wets a nd I was slid ing arou nd all over the place - but I really enjoyed it ." In fourth , Haga was another charging force o n a less-t han- per- 22 APRil 28 , 2004 • C Y CLE NEWS 40th Anniversary fect tire c ho ice, while his teammate in the Re ne gad e D ucati squad , Leon Haslam, equaled his best 2004 finish of fifth. " C o uld have been a lot better," Has lam muttered as he went back to see his team . Ducati Fila's James Toseland , a drowning man in qualifying, sho w e d steel in race one to go bac k to 10th, and more liberal doses o f it to come fro m row five to 10th in race two - especially as all the bigge r names made it to the end. The Petronas team was simply gutted