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/128376
FIM World Superblke Championship Series down the straights. I just had to brake as heavy as I dared into the corners. The track was pretty slippery, and it was very hard to turn on the brakes, especially in the early part of the lap. But I'm happy to be on the podium again and to have collected a good load of points." Yamaha Motor France/IPONE's Norick Abe cost himself a terribly important third-place finish in race one when he got greedy for Vermeulen's second and fell with only a iap and a half remaining. Gifting third to Kagayama was not in the script. "It was unlucky to crash in race one as I had a good feeling on the bike," Abe said. "I knew 100 percent that I could get third, but there was a rider immediately in front of me, and I wanted second; it's better than third. Maybe I pushed the front too hard, so I crashed. Race two was held in very different conditions, a warmer track for example, and the rear tire had no grip from the beginning. That was more of a disappointment than race one." In race two, the popular Walker ran to a clear third place, having harried Vermeulen for most of the 23 laps. It was an improvement over race one, where he raced to a safe fourth place, having run in the podium mix for long periods of time. The local crowd had a top-10 finisher to applaud, as Sergio Fuertes secured ninth place on his Reynolds Motorrad Suzuki. For a time in race one, Toseland was a prince once more, 12th from 23rd in one single lap. Corser had pulled a lead already, but before a lap was out, Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) had the biggest of big crashes on the left kink approaching last corner. He flew for miles, smacked down like pancake and slid to a worryingly still halt as mayhem kicked off all around him. "It came round so quickly, and then I think I went up about five meters!" Neukirchner said. "I am not happy, but I am not too badly injured. I have hurt my throttle and braking hand, and that did not help me in race two." 30 MAY 4,2005 • CYCLE NEWS SC Ducat!'s Lorenzo Lanzi was taken out as he tried to avoid the spiralling bike. The Italian rider broke his collarbone as a result, missing race two, and Karl Muggeridge was hit by Neukirchner's flailing tire - the second Ten Kate rider in as many weeks to feel Neukirchner's tire rubbing on his leathers, leaving its malevolent black mark. In race two, fast qualifying Neukirchner recovered sufficiently to record a 12th-place finish, with only a bashed right hand and some stiffness to show for his troubles. His teammate, Pier-Francesco Chili, struggled with pain and fatigue in his broken collarbone area to take a seventhand a 10th-place finish. Muggeridge was pushed onto the gravel and then went down at slow speed, remounted, then finally retired some time later. As Corser was I.653 seconds clear at lap two, with Pitt second and yet another Aussie (Vermeulen) third, it was Abe fourth, Haga fifth, Kagayama sixth and then Walker. Amazingly, Toseland was ninth overall at that time and would finish eighth. "I was riding round with people I shouldn't be riding round with, given the qualifying position," Toseland said. "I got a decent start again, but going into turn four, a Yamaha came steaming underneath me and pushed me really wide. I was lucky to stay on and then had to change the front tire because the brakes were locking up. Monza is the next race. We just need to find some traction because there's not much wrong with the top speed of the bike. We're struggling and we need to find the form again, but there's nothing wrong with the bike and nothing wrong with me." As Lucio Pedercini went into pits to retire, Corser's gap was 3.340 after four laps, with Corser away and clear in his own bubble of foaming speed. Andrew Pitt, suffering somewhat already with tire slippage, was mugged by three riders, with Abe third and Vermeulen second in short order. A good fight between four riders - Pitt, Kagayama, Haga and Walker - got some TV airtime, after everyone grew bored with Corser's immaculate progression. It didn't last as Pitt fell on lap six. Walker was all over Kagayama after six laps, with Chili riding alone seventh. Haga was in less of a promising position, not happy with his machine setup and suspension options. Sebastien Gimbert was another upward mover, on his Yamaha Motor