Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Round 7 WORLD SUPERBIKE McCoy had crashed out on lap five, and on lap seven, Haga had passed Muggeridge, as the other Ten Kate Aussie slowed when his front tire went off. Toseland, now as fast as just about anyone except Corser, was to pass Vermeulen at the very end of lap eight, with Vermeulen half a second slower than the Englishman. Laconi, desperate to pass Walker, did so early on lap nine, but he was immediately repassed, as Walker proved pugilistic. Toseland could not escape the pull of the first blue Honda, as Vermeulen and he settled into a private war, with Vermeulen not wanting to lose another place permanently. Toseland made a decisive pass on lap I0 and went back into the mid-2:05s immediately, then setting a 2:04.8 on lap II. Walker and Laconi were having their own war of the two- and four-cylinders, with neither rider looking set to make up any ground on Corser. Laconi's tires seemed a little less stressed at half race distance than Walker's, and imperceptibly he made a few bikelengths on the English rider, who then came under the pressure of Toseland, setting faster laps than almost anyone else - even Corser. The exception was Chili, lapping into the 2:04s as he turned back the hands of time and conventional wisdom all at once. Chili went past Haga on lap 14 for seventh, with Lanzi in his sights. Lanzi, Chili and Haga all had a good close view of Vermeulen by that stage (lap I5) as they set mid and low 2:05s, compared to Vermeulen's high 2:05s. On lap 16, the 2004 World champ had passed Walker. On I7, Lanzi slapped past Vermeulen at the first chicane, with Chili and Haga lining up behind. Chili went past on 18. Up front Toseland made a hard pass on his teammate midlap on 18, making an immediate advantage on him, albeit some seven seconds behind Corser. As the last lap wore on, and with Lanzi and Haga now both past Vermeulen, Corser smoked up the rear to draw cheers from the crowd, as he extended his championship advantage with a 6.5second win. ''I'm pretty happy with how the day worked out - especially after the problems we had in the first day and a half," Corser said. "Once we found a good setup, I knew a win or two was possible. I made a good start and had clear track ahead of me, and that's what you need at Brno if you are to have a good race. Although no race is ever easy, that was one of the more comfortable races I've had this year, and it was good to get back to winning ways. My bike's engine felt a bit slow at the start of the second race, so I guess I was fortunate that it was red- July 17, 2005 ~ World Superblke Championship nagged, and I was able to jump on my spare for the restart. The setup was very close - and I have to thank the team for doing such a good job - but there was a bit of an electronic problem, and I feel that stopped me from catching and passing Nori [Haga]. But we came here to increase our points, and that's what we did, so I'm pretty rapped." Toseland scored another second from a seemingly impossible first-lap placing, as Laconi took third. "It was a hard race. I had a problem with the clutch at the start and that spoiled my whole race. But when I was catching everyone, I could see that their tires were going off, so I had to catch them before mine did as well, and so I rode really aggressively," Toseland said. "I enjoyed the race, but I'm a bit disappointed Troy [Corser] won again, because we just can't afford to finish second. In the first start, the tires were unbelievably good, and after all the effort we'd made, I would have won that race for sure. But there's nothing good I can say about the second race. After lap three, the tires were just not performing as well, and there was nothing I could do. It's a pity because with Corser's results today, it looks as if we're not going to be able to win this championship now." Walker was saved from being pounced on by Chili again by only 0.1 seconds as he took fourth, with Lanzi sixth, Haga seventh, Vermeulen eighth, Abe ninth and the top 10 rounded out by Pitt's lonely Yamaha. In marked contrast to his teammate, Yukio Kagayama was a disappointing I I th, blaming a lack of grip, something his teammate only had when he switched off the traction control. RACE TWO After the red-nagged first attempt at a start, with Corser launching like the space shuttle (or maybe a bit better) yet again, Abe shot through from I Ith to second place, with Muggeridge and then an originally swamped Toseland in fourth after only half a lap. Haga and Vermeulen clashed, bending up Haga's brake level, a disadvantage that lost him a second or two as he hit it back into place, but it was not to stop his progress. Laconi slotted in behind, with Pitt taken roughly by the side by Walker on the last chicane of the first lap. Vermeulen completed his first lap in only I Ith place, just as Muggeridge new past Abe for second. Brno is a well-known venue for Abe, who now held third from the Ducati duo of Laconi and Toseland, with Walker behind. A mistake from Laconi put him sixth just as Abe went past Walker at everyone's favorite passing place, a righthand chicane. Haga smashed past Abe on lap four, 24 JULY 27,2005 • CYCLE NEWS bashing his way through by the simple expedient of block-passing him at the second-last chicane, then Toseland also swept past Abe in turn one of lap five. The top six at this time was completed by Walker, with Laconi directly behind and Neukirchner a lone seventh. Behind, Pitt, Vermeulen and Lanzi were all on the same bracket, looking lost, but two were soon to be saved. Haga, having easily disposed of Toseland earlier (as Abe was to do shortly afterwards), went after Corser in a determined fashion, his frustration at his season's fortunes so far being taken out on the throttle. Lanzi and Neukirchner had passed Vermeulen after only six laps, with Chili once more making rapid progress forward - I Ith after six laps. With Haga only .6 seconds behind Corser with half a circuit of the seventh lap to complete, he simply sailed past Corser on the entry to the final chicane, taking an unexpected lead on his unfancied Yamaha. It was a good race for the tuning fork feeders all round, as Abe was in third, ahead of Toseland and the blown-away Muggeridge. Abe eked out a small advantage on Toseland, with the race order after eight laps being Haga, Corser, Abe, Toseland, Laconi, Muggeridge, Walker, Lanzi Vermeulen and Neukirchner. Chili reversed the order on his teammate one lap later, as he took over eighth. The battle from third to ninth was not quite a single body of men and machines, but it was nonetheless an unpredictable, hydra-headed beast, with every mistake punished and every pass reversible. Haga took .3 seconds out of Corser on lap 10 of 20, just as many expected his tires to go off in a terminal way. He took another .3 out of Corser on the next lap, but behind the follOWing caravan, Neukirchner's CBRIOOORR was melting down, with smoke from his engine the precursor to a high-speed off-track adventure for man and machine, as they toured off the track back to safety. Fighting for grip from the front all day, he was a disgruntled chap. "I had the same problem in both races, a lack of front grip only on right-hand corners," Neukirchner said. "The bike also went wrong in race two, I don't know why yet. The thing that I don't understand is that we chose the same front tires in practice, and I did 17 to 18 laps on one of them with no problems. In the race, after five laps, I could push no more." Laconi was in front of Toseland after 12 laps, with Vermeulen getting mugged by Lanzi, then running wide

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