Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2005 09 14

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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Toseland was the lane Xerox Ducati in the pair of Assen roces, pulling oH a pair of padiums with a second and a third. expected either problem prior to the race. SC Caracchi Ducati's Lorenzo Lanzi proved adept once more in his rookie World Superbike season, taking seventh in race one and an impressive sixth in the second race, holding off some much more experienced riders. Max Neukirchner's eighth in race one also improved to seventh in the second running, bringing some cheer to the Klaffi Honda squad - until they received news from back home in Austria that someone had burgled their race workshop while they were away... But not his teammate. Pier-Francesco Chili, struggling with machine setup, was once more in comparatively lowly positions on his Klaffi machine, placing 10th in race one and only just in the points with a 14th in race two. Yamaha Motor France's Norick Abe suffered an engine meltdown after his radiator was holed in race one (according to his team, he did not notice the temperature increase), but he improved to ninth in race two. Abe was one place ahead of the still delicate Ben Bostrom, who was still suffering the after-effects of a crash during testing. His second-race 10th came after an 18th place in the opener, and it was a miracle, given the fact that he was throwing up all through race two. He denied any links with a Yamaha AMA team with his brother in America next year, saying that he came back to World Superbike to do a job and wasn't going home until he did it - bullish talk from a man who looked ready to go to the hospital half the time. "Things got worse all weekend, as I rode the bike more," Bostrom said. "By the time I got on the bike in the second race, I had never felt so sick in my life. I kept throwing up during the race, and that was burning my throat and making my eyes water. That made vision a prob- lem, but at least I had someone in front to follow. We got points in one of the races, and that's why we stayed out. The bike is good now; it was just the condition of the rider that was the problem." For the gang of threes, the Petronas team, Garry McCoy overcame a lowly qualifying weekend to score points in both races, thanks to a 13th in the opener and a 12th in race two. His teammate Steve Martin was 14th in the first 16-lap event but dropped back to 16th in the later race. RACE ONE With Haga getting the holeshot in race one, it took some time for Vermeulen to hit the lead, but as soon as he did, he was away and gone, winning by 3.3 seconds, and easing up on the final lap. Toseland and Haga had a classic scrap for the vast majority of the race, with constant overtakes from Haga on the usually dominant Toseland. Having gotten just enough of a lead to make his second place safe, Toseland took his first podium since the first leg of the Brno meeting on July I7. A bold move from van den Goorbergh, moving up to 10th place early on lap one, saw him take out Walker's Kawasaki after hitting him up the inside on a Northloop right-hander. Van den Goorbergh also ran off but did not crash out. He had a miserable weekend anyway, finishing 20th and 17th. A beautiful first race unfolded up front, with Toseland first passing Pitt and then Haga, and after Vermeulen had a short spell in the lead (after a stunning pass into the final right-hander - around the outside), Toseland went to second on the first corner of lap four. Corser's Suzuki seemed to have the legs on all the others, and that left him in front for the majority of the early laps. Vermeulen's love of overtaking on the final-corner entry put him into the lead at the start of the sixth lap, shortly after Toseland had run wide and lost two places, to Haga and Vermeulen. Vermeulen set about losing the rest, taking a lead of 0.623 on lap five. Toseland had gotten back up to second, after Corser suddenly dropped to fourth, and with a sweep inside a running-wide Haga on the entry to the final chicane, Toseland pushed his way into second. Muggeridge's progress through the field was awesome to watch during the first few laps, setting the fastest laps of these early circuits, until Vermeulen's lap five and six pulled Vermeulen clear of trouble. His sixth lap was into the 2:04.8s - not bad, when his Superpole lap on a qualifier was just 2:04.179. With Vermeulen setting another fastest lap of 2:04.685, the battle behind (1.8 seconds behind) was going the way of Toseland, who had Haga for company, while Corser was a close but separated fourth, while Pitt was well ahead of a fading Muggeridge. Toseland and Haga disputed second on occasion, with Toseland so keen to stay ahead that he repulsed every one of Haga's attacks almost as soon as it was made. They almost touched on the exit of the final corner on lap 10 of 16, but still Toseland was in charge. "Race one was hard work - it was a great battle, and I'm sure it was exciting to watch," Toseland said. "I always enjoy racing with Nori; we did the same here last year. I knew I could do a good race after Friday and Saturday, and I'm just happy to be back on the podium after the disappointment of the last few weeks." Pitt was the second-fastest man on track at two-thirds distance, and with all the shenanigans between Toseland and Haga, with continual attempts from Haga to get past and stay past, Corser and Pitt were draWing toward the podium places at a rate of knots. Haga went to second once more at the corner before De Strubben, with Toseland back through after Veenslang. It was fabulous to watch, with Toseland fighting for his desmo soul, and without his injured teammate for company. Local man Bob Whithag suffered a huge crash on a fast section, which was caught on television. He was lucky to wander off. Abe went out on lap 14, just as news came through from the C1inica Mobile that Walker had broken his right elbow. First Pitt and then, slowly, Corser dropped off the tail of the fight for a podium finish, and Toseland was just able to hold off Haga, who could not quite get by and dropped back. Vermeulen slowed somewhat on the final lap to take his second win of the season by more than three seconds, with Toseland second and Haga third. Corser's fourth was his first non-podium finish of the 2005 season, but Pitt's sixth place was one of his best finishes of the year, behind only his fifth at Qatar. Kagayama's Suzuki came in next, with Lanzi cheering his SC Ducati team's seventh. Though down to one, it seemed it was the right one, anyway. Neukirchner overcame his disappointing Superpole crash to finish eighth, winning a fight with the rapidly fading Muggeridge and his own teammate Chili, who was 10th. Ivan Clementi and Sebastian Gimbert placed I Ith and 12th, respectively, but despite his terrible start position, McCoy scored 13th place - one up on his teammate Martin, who had cracked off from the second row. Bostrom finished a fighting 18th in a race which 23 riders finished. RACE TWO A difficult start to the second race nonetheless ended in Vermeulen's second victory in a few hours, as he swept through to the lead on lap eight, and then had to give the lead to Haga for a time before storming through in the final two laps and holding off Haga by a final .085 seconds, again after some outstandingly hard passes between the two. Toseland could not quite stick with the final pace on his big V-twin, finishing three seconds down. "In race two, I rode one of the best races I've ever ridden to finish third - but fair play to Chris and Nori; they didn't put a foot wrong," Toseland said. "I know that because I didn't make a mistake, either! I was pushing right to the end, losing the front, losing the rear, skipping about, but I'm happy, and that's the first time I've been happy with third for a while, because I know I rode hard and stuck my neck out. I'm just happy to have two podiums, which I'd like to dedicate to my CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 14, 2005 35

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