Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Briefly... Continued from poge 00 agile beast in the slow bits and a powerful drag bike o n Magny Co urs' bizarre long straights and dead- stop comer exits . Gimbe rt missed the final round of the Wo rld Endurance Ch ampio nship, go ing on at the Vallelunga circuit in Italy the same weekend as the Magny Cours race . He would have been Fre nch Super bike Champion (most likely) but he had to miss o ne ro und to be at the Suzuka 8 Hour-race . The Foggy Petronas team was using a new-specification engine at Magny Cours, desig ned to provide mo re to rque at low rp m "by reducing the inertia of the engine ." T he team had a reported two engine failures in qualifying. his championship hopes. Corser, falling through t he ether o f t he mid pack order, retired fo r technical reaso ns at the end o f the ra ce. Laconi, desperate to get back in front to mai ntai n his cham pionship advantage, put in a pe rsonal-best lap o n lap IS, but it was to no avail, as he lost gr ip and had to settle fo r th ird . In race two, t he hol eshot w e nt to C o rs e r again, but it was To seland w it h an aggressive pass at Adelaide who to o k the le ad , and immediately afterward Vermeu len got him on the e xit and left a big black line on his tighter t ra je cto ry. It was a peculiar start. Tos e land kicke d out an e lbow to stop Vermeule n and they cam e toge t he r in an ungainly fashion , as they dumped t heir clutches and got a little over ba lanced on t he launch. Haga, running specially cre ated spraypa inted graffiti bodywork courtesy of sponso r Koji, was past Ve r m e ule n at the first chance an d right w ith Tos e land after t hre e laps , w ith Laco ni so m e .993 seconds down . H aga passed To s el an d on the insid e at Adelai de on lap five and was it a noth- er close one, a little too e x c iting fo r some viewers . A tense battl e for the to p four places saw t he o ccas ion al flurry of passing attempts, bu t with so much at stake t here was a return to some degree of order and pro cessio n, and the follow ing riders were well off t he pace, some 4.3 seconds d o w n at t he six-lap mark. Wi th Haga in the real le ad , C hili was the lead ing bike o f the seco nd group despite having lost places at the start. H is new rear-tire c hoice was no t matc hed to a suitable setu p, and he toiled o n in close proximity to G im bert. Corser pas se d by Gimbert on lap six, and w ith Has lam ta king Corser t hereafter, it was not to be a fairly-tale last day for Corser in the Pe t ron as camp, as he was e xpected to sign w ith Suzu ki right afte r Magny C o urs . "T he season has be e n a bit up and down," C o rs er said . "I ha ve be en riding well, although small problems have meant to o much time in the pit bo x. But Petro nas and the w ho le team have do ne a great jo b, and it sho uld be good fo r ne xt se as o n. Eve ryt h ing came together for Supe rpole yeste rday, a nd it was fantastic to be finishing t he se aso n on such a high. But w e were W ith two factory Du ca tis up for grabs in 2005, one most likely will be ea rmarked fo r Toseland. The second bike cou ld go to any number of riders , and t he possibility of Haga be ing one of them has not diminished, tho ugh the like lihood of Ne il Hodgso n returning to the superbike team isnot out of the question. As he is havinga shocking time in the generally uncompetitive D'Antin Ducati team and being strapped for cash to boo t, Superbike may prove to be a good alternative fo r Hodgson. GP politics, nation ality issues and Hodgson's not having co mpe titive equipment on which to make a name for himself in Moto GP are all conspiring theories to hasten a possible return for Hodgson. Ducati Superbike chief Paolo Ciabatti did not rule o ut a return for Hodgson. He confirmed also tha t, as Lacon i was off to the AMA se ries for the final round at Virginia Intem atio nal Raceway in Alton, Virginia, Toseland would be testing the 2005 999 machine at Mugello on October 10-1 1, shortly before Tose land heads to the USA for a holiday. The AMA plans for Ducati have firmed up to include a two -rider team on the special AMA spec 999 R-derived machines , des igned to allow Ducati to use more race -ready equipment in the stricter AMA series and yet maintain the competitiveness of the 999 . Th e second rider is most likely not going to be an American for a number of reasons. Eric Bostrom stays in, but any number of riders have been linked w it h the ride. Money is a factor in America, as to p riders command larger salaries than the ir Euro pean equivalents. With t his, the Euro pean rider co uld earn more in the USA than he wo uld in Europe or Wor ld Supe rbike , but Ducati and sponsors would have to find a less expensive ride r than if they poached another rider fro m an existing U.S. te am . A special award was presented to Giovanni Busse ; after Superpole. The Italian rider, who stopped to pick up Chris Vermeulen at Imola, and give him a lift back to the pits to allow him to keep his championship alive, much to the Ducati facto ry's chagrin, was penalized with a ride-through penalty for his efforts, but received the 2004 Superbike Gentleman Rider Trophy Aw ard. No one could remembe r a 2003-or-earli er award, so we assume this was a one-off, or the first of a new annual tradition. The cancellation of the a n n ua l FIM awa rd s ce remony meant that Sunday night at Magny Cours was reserved for the award of the Superbike trophies and medals. Another new initiative, the 2004 Superbike Coo k of the Year Competition, took place on Fridayeveningat Magny Cours. A somewhat bizarre concept, it was nonetheless welcomed by one and all, aseach permanent pass holder, from media to teams, from organizersto sponso rs, was able to taste the delicacies offered from eac h team's hospit ality staff. From the exotic snake sou p of the Zo ngshen tearn to good old classic pasta from some of the Italians, the VIP area abo ve pit lane was crammed to the doors with hungry padd ock regulars . W inners were the Foggy Petro nas tea m in the public taste sess ion category, and Yamaha Belgarda secured the w in in the dishes made especiallyfor the judges. Whether or not Troy Co rser 's second po le of the year will make him rethink his frequently he ld idea of leaving after his three-year contract is up or not, t he main stum bling block is just who wou ld be ab le to afford the luxurious (by superbike standards) salary th at the 1996 champion wou ld com mand . His salary is reputed to be close to the thick e nd of $1 million per year, making him easilythe bes t-paid rider on the grid at present . Th e new s from the GP world that Paul Denning from the RizlaSuzuki British Supe rb ike team wou ld be taking over t he lead ro le in Suzuki's Moto GP effort apparently hasten ed a press release from the Alstare team that it wou ld be back in Superbike in 2005 and 2006 with a strengthened infrastructure . The team is also likely to run a younger rider in the Supers po rt championship, but not with the same full-o n effort as its current t hree riders enjoy. The names of riders are expected to be announced w ithin two weeks , but there is a bewildering degree of possible riders in the frame. Co rser appears to be t he mos t favored rider (confirmed on Sunday night) as it appears t hat No riyuki Haga is o ut of the planning now, having offered up misgivings about the competitiveness of the all-new GSX-RI000 just launched at the Intermot show. He isalso somewhat reticent, even if given the chance of the ride, to pos- sibly rob a seat from his o ld mate Yukio Kagayama, w ho is o ne possibility to run in Alstare colors - if SuzukiJapan insists. A to p teams meeting at Magny Cours discussed the calendar and the expected initiative of a new Su perstoc k category. The existing IOOOcc Superstock series wiil continue fo r riders up to 24 years of age, and a new Junio r Superstock category has been approved and w illhave 15to 20-year-old riders . There will be two qualifying session s on Friday, one on Saturday and Continued on page 00 28 OOOBER 13, 2004 • CYCL E NEWS 40th Anniversary

• Cover