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/128378
Vermeulen and Honda get their first after Corser adds another e've been used to double Aussie race wins in World Superbike this year, but this time around there was a twist. After Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra's Troy Corser had won five of the previous six races, including two recent doubles in Australia and Valencia, it looked like we would be in for another double serving of Corona at Monza. We were given one (but only one), as Corser outpaced his teammate Kagayama in race one, making it look possible for another pair of Suzukis atop both podiums. With the luckless japanese rider flying into the gravel in race two, and with Corser then toiling with brake worries and a couple of serious threats in the shape of Ducati Xerox's RegiS Laconi and Winston Ten Kate Honda's Chris Vermeulen - and for a long time maybe even Superbike rookie Ten Kate Honda's Karl Muggeridge - there was clearly going to be a new name on the list of this year's winners. In fact, there were two very different World Superbike races delivering two quite different results at Monza, all in front of a claimed weekend crowd of 93,000 sun-kissed and boisterous fans. In the opener, championship leader Corser scored the win in his accustomed strong front-running form, but he had to make do with third in race two, as his fellow Aussie countryman Vermeulen took his first win of the year. It was also the first non-Suzuki success, and had Laconi been able to hold on to his long-term race-two lead, there may have been a hometown win for the Italian manufacturer and its fastest man of 2005. "Race one was good, and I had no problems at all, really," Corser said. "I got off the line well and then made a bit of a break after a couple of laps. But it is always close here, and as the race wore on, the pack closed in on me. Yukio [Kagayama) passed me on the last lap, but I went under him and overtook him. We touched briefly, but it was only a minor touch, and there was no danger at all. After that, I just put my head down and ran to the flag to win by nearly a second. In a pressurized race in windy but oth- W 24 erwise perfect conditions, eventual winner Corser had a real fight after first Kagayama and then Laconi ate into his early 1.2-second lead, although Corser led from the first crossing of the finish line to the last. The following World Champion james Toseland, having a resurgent ride, made up a 4-second deficit to overhaul first Laconi, then Kagayama, before dropping back to finish a close third, behind Kagayama's flying GSX-R. It was stirring stuff from Toseland, a rider many had written off long before this race, and he even kept Laconi down in fourth from riding to a possible win. Yamaha Motor ltalia rider Andrew Pitt dropped back to finish a lonely fifth. Early in the contest, DFX Extreme Yamaha's Lorenzo A1fonsi had retired and was to be joined by a total of five more, with some big names. On lap two, Vermeulen dropped out, grinding to a halt astride a very blown up and smoking Ten Kate Honda - not a common sight. He had opted to run a lower spec of engine tune in race one ~ not the new Monza spec Norick Abe on lap three, just as Kagayama and the doggedly determined Laconi caught Corser. ''An incredible day, great fans - and all thanks to my team," Nannelli said. Laconi went to second on lap six but lost it after a mistake at the Prima Variante - the first chicane. With the top positions relatively static until lap 12, when Laconi led Kagayama again to go second for a single lap, Corser was still in a strong, if seriously threatened, lead. Kagayama was hungry and right there, and with Laconi coming back to within 1.5 seconds of Corser, Laconi repassed Kagayama at the Variante della Roggia, spinning past on the inside at the entry. Kagayama continued to challenge, passing Laconi on lap 13. Toseland's dogged creep to the front made four riders eventually battle it out over the last few laps. Kagayama took Corser at Roggia, but here the japanese rider ran wide and Corser took back the lead, which would not be threatened thereafter. The action behind was furious. Toseland passed Laconi when the Frenchman made a small error of judgment on the brakes, and when Kagayama ran wide at the final corner, the engine he was to take the win with in race two - and that was the one that failed. Kagayama was first to catch Corser, but one possible race-winning threat, Muggeridge, had a bizarre race with no clutch lever - knocked off by Chris Walker according to Muggeridge. Up front, Laconi had a go at Kagayama In the early stages but ~'l could not make it stick and ran wide r f ~ on the exit of the first chicane. "I enjoyed the first race very much - it was good fun," Kagayama said. "My team gave me a good bike, and I was able to keep with Troy-san without any problems. I went past him going into a chicane, but then I ran a little wide, and he came past under me, and maybe we touched - I don't know. Then I tried to catch and pass him, but he was too strong for me. But I am happy because this was my first race at Monza, and I was second. After Superpole yesterday, it was a good birthday present for me." The advancing Gianluca Nannelli - riding in his fim of three races (riding in both Superbike and Supersport) - passed~ MAY 18, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS a ,.~ ~ -~ Parabolica, Toseland attempted a pass. It was only just rebuffed by the hard riding of Kagayama, who ran Toseland wider than his already broad trajectory was planning to take him. Over the line it proved to be Corser by 0.985 seconds from Kagayama, with Toseland third, 1.055 seconds back from the winner. Laconi, broken by Toseland's fast pass, was fourth, 1.757 seconds down. Pitt was a lonely fifth, eight seconds behind, while Muggeridge won a personal battle with Pier-Francesco Chili, coming back from a near disastrous start to finish only 0.2 seconds ahead of the local rider. Walker, who was with Muggeridge at one stage, slipped back to finish 16 seconds behind Corser for 10th place. No appeal was lodged against Toseland cutting the chicane to pass Pitt, with Yamaha secure in the knowledge that no matter how hard he tried, Pitt was not going to repass him in any case. In race two, the story was one of multiple warheads, all converging on a possible lead. With Corser unable to get a jump on the pack in his usual way, the 17-lap race (docked a lap because of a delayed start and a second sighting lap) eventually reduced from an eight-rider battle for