Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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how horrific the crash loo ked. " I d idn't th ink I was go ing to w in that race," Muggeridge said . " I was sort of struggling through t he firs t leg , and I just couldn't quite get by Sebastien. It was the same in race two, bu t I re a lize d that I had to give it a go if I had the opportunity. I just hung it out there on the last lap , and it paid off. I was n't quit e sure if I had wo n because of the aggregate tim e , and I only realized I had when I came into pit lane and my team guys w ere standing at the number-one spot unde r the podium! " In third plac e at Bra nds, jurge n van den Goorbergh lo st some ground in th e c ha m p io nship ra ce, as Mugge ridge no w leads by 24 po ints aft e r his fourth w in of the year. "We can take a lot o f po sitives from today," van de n Goo rbe rgh sa id. "O f course, Mugge ridge has beaten us , and that is not good, but we have tak e n an othe r podium , an d I fe el that we have made big progress. I was not ha ppy with my riding in th e last two ra ces o r in Frid ay 's qualifying , b ut o n Saturday we made some big c ha nges to t he se tup of the bike , a nd I feel that today I rode as well as I was at t he st art of the se ason. In both parts of t he race, I was a ble to ru n with Muggeridge, but it was not possible to make a pass w it hout taki ng too b ig a risk." Broc Parkes was on ly .OOS seconds away from a podium finish behind van den Goorbergh, but he finished his day th ird in the championship. " Fa bie n crashed and Kevin was right in front of me, " Parkes said . " Ke vin unavoidably ran into Fab ien , and then there were bike s and so on e ve rywhe re, and maybe I also ran into Fabien . They tell me I maybe went over his foot . I don't like this racetrac k mu ch, so I'm ha p py to finish t he ra ce . I'm gutted big-time to miss out o n t he podium finish. I a lso m issed out o n the fast e st lap by a bo ut the sa me small m ar gin of t ime . Afte r all t hat, I'm happy go ing into t he last fe w tracks now, as t he y ar e a ll o nes I like ." T hat's the skinny, but there was mu ch more than that involved in a bizar re day o f Sup e rspo rt carnage . Let's just say that o ne more benign e xample w as that t he nag be ing u nfurl ed fo r va n den Goorbe rgh's t hird place was not t hat of t he N e the rland s but t hat of Australia, as someone forgot that Par kes w as fou rth, not third . Eve n the o rganizers were confused. The fact t hat Muggeridge did w in was something of a mi nor m ira cle , and t he fact that he felt he had to was a re mar kable state of mind when second would still have put him 20 po ints ahead . He looked sim p ly incapable o f passing th e wellfocus ed Charpentier, looking fo r win number one since the Supers port class went to full Wo rld st atus in 1999 . Despe rate to ge t into contention, he hit the front right away, with Curtain and Mugge ridge headin g a followi ng freight t ra in. Having a bad sta rt in e ighth from a pole runner-up spot , Par ke s made th e fastest lap of the ra ce to th at po int , on lap t hree, a 1:29 .6 78 . W ith Par kes up to sixth , as the leading b u nc h of C ha rpentie r, Mugge r idge, Curtain, van den Goorbergh and Fo re t had sw ept all before them, Cor radi w as holding o n t he bac k, an d t he you ng wonder enfant Yoann Tiberio right behind . This was a talent worth w atching, even if he was to fail to make the finish. A little scrap between van d en Goorbergh and Curtain at Westfield saw t he Dutchman pass , only to be relegated back right after the awesomely fast corner had been successfully negotiated. Foret made the best lap of I :29.638, still I I Briefly... Continuecllrom page 2' Now we have good knowledge of the race tires, so now we have to start makingour qualif""" more to the performance side of things, as our race tires are now getting too close to our qualif"",,' performance." Troy Corser c.on/inned that there had been more progress on the mapping and engine spec of the Petronassince laguna "Rob [the Foggy Petronas powertrain engineer) has had some time to wori< on the injection and mapping of the newer engine spec," said Corser; who wouldqualify fifthin Superpole, seventh in regulation. Eric Bostrom was in town , awaiting a Mi hec lintire test at Mugello with some MotoGP types . Dressed in civilian clothes, as opposed to any Ducati colors, Ericcut a swathe of previous memories across the SBK paddock. He may even be back in SBKnext season, for the works team. Kart Muggerl dge made a new record in Supersport as he qualified on pole for the 13th time in his career and took an unheard-of sixth pole of the year. HisTen Kate team tested at Oschersleben, wherethey tried out a whole new front-fork intemal and top adjusters from White Power 's Italian importer. Team boss Ronald Ten Kate, explained: "We have new front-fork intemals from the Italian White Power importer Andreani, including new fork top adjusters. This development is to give the rider more precise control of the front tire." Grand Prix 250 rider Anthony West was in town at Brands Hatch, hisfirst-ever visit to a Superbike paddock. He had to singfor his supper, riding one of the Team ltalia Megabike Honda-supported CBRsCNel' the weekend, as he is the regular rider for the Abruzzi-supported team in MotoGp, and Team ltalia Megabike is its sister company. West started slowly, getting used to the new chal1enge and a combative and doseIy matched grid of what the English quaintlycall':A.xe Murderer>." "The first main thingis that the bike feels heavy and it moves around quite a bit," saidWest. ';I>. few times, I thought the bike would run on entering corners. On a 250, it's really precise and turns in quick.The Supersport bike turns in slower, but once Igot used to that. I'vebeen surprised how well it goes around the track. The engine brakingisanother thing to get used to, and the treaded tires move around a lot more than on a 250: ' Hisappearance put the regular team riders, Alessio Corradi and DenisSacchetti, in a glum mood, especially after the strained recent relationship between Corrad i and his team . Always a force on Yarnahas lastyear, Corradi has seldom shone in 2004. West's appearance also relegated Corradi and Sacchetti to one bike each, with West on one of the spares, and a floating machine was available to share . When asked if World Supersport was a realistic option for West in 2OOS, or whether he would consider a changeif no good MotoGP ride, in anyclass, became available,he said, " N ot really; I'd rather try to get a good ride in GPs: ' West qualifoed 13th, I.S seconds from pole. With Norlyuki Haga and Leon Haslam having already raced at the Brands Hatch full drcuit in 2004, they were somewhat perturbed as were Pirelli, single-make tire supplien in SBK - that they could not replicate the times from their earlier BSB outing at Brands in SBK. The tale of the tire tape was that the tra ck was Continued on poge 24 www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 1 1,2004 23