total of 14 riders picking up points, same
as race one .
The race -two battle between Laconi
and Haga was having the net effect of
drawing Chili closer to them, although the
Italian was to finish seven second behind ,
21 seconds from the win.
"Race two was very hard," Laconi said.
"We did a good job between the races,
and the rear setting was much better. I
made a few mistakes behind Chris and
James, and after that it was difficult to
come back, so third is good for the championship . I had a very big fight with Haga
until the last lap, which was good for the
show. It got me the points , and that was
the main thing."
Push as he might, Toseland could not
get to the lead, and Vermeulen ran away
as the winner of an historic double in his
Laguna debut, sending the Honda crew
into paroxysms of joy for the third race in
a row. We can only imagine the twitchings
going on in the boardrooms of some of
the Japanese manufacturers as the official
boycott of SBKcontinues in such a fashion.
"The battle was a bit frustrating behind
Chris , but all credit to him," Toseland
said. "Whe n he came under me at turn
two, I thought it was game over, but I got
18 JULY 21 , 2004 • CYCLE NEWS
Noriyuki Haga (41) and
Regis Laconi (55) had a
ferocious battle in the
second leg with Laconi
getting the best of it and
finishing t\1ird.
40th Anniversary
