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/128396
ter Ducati Xerox replacement rider Lorenzo Lanzi (riding in place of the injured Regis Laconi) showed so well 'n all of the qualifying sessions, he looked like he would fail his first major test in gathering points for a factory team: starting the first lap and finishing it. His comedic first lap in race one got serious after he was penalized for going up the slip road the wrong way, then entering the track again, only to be penalized with a ride-thr~ugh penalty. But the small man with the big instant reputation took it all in stride, and he returned to conquer in race two. On the other extreme, the championship A leader in Superbike fell at a critical point for no reason, and he opened his armor of near invincibility, bringing a foregone conclusion (the championship) to the point of only a maybe again. Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki's Troy Corser could have won the second race after a dodgy tire choice in race one left him third, but his third off-the-podium finish this year, a mere week after his first two, showed him as fallible and human as the rest. As one star (Corser) faded and eventually fell, another (Lanzi) burst into the scene like a solar flare, shiny and red and with a scorching hot pace. An outstandingly unpredictable day of race action at the very grand EuroSpeedway Lausitz saw wins for championship challenger Winston Ten Kate Honda's Chris Vermeulen and factory debutant Lanzi. Two of the youngest riders in the top echelons of Superbike, Vermeulen and Lanzi, both 23, were fast in practice and fast off the line, with Lanzi too quick into the first corner in race one. "Vermeulen went a bit wide, and as I was trying to take the turn, I missed a gear and selected first instead of second, got the bike a bit crossed and went straight on," Lanzi said. "But I did what the regulations say for this track - I came back into the race in third place. The chicane should be made suitable for bikes, and it was impossible to get through due to its tight layout. I was also given the drive-through quite late after five or six laps; I wasn't expecting it anymore. I'm disappointed because my race pace was capable of taking me to the win. I clearly tried to go at maximum pace throughout the second race but also to have a race pace sufficient not to make any mistakes and keep the others behind. I saved my tires until four laps from the end, and then I pushed as hard as possible in the final laps to keep Vermeulen behind me. We showed in race two that we could win and that we could even have won race one as well. I am so happy. It's been a fantastic weekend. It's the dream of every Italian rider to win a race on a Ducati, and this weekend I was able to express all of my potential." Vermeulen took that win from Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga and Corser. In the second race, Lanzi earned his first-ever SBK race win, over Vermeulen and Haga, in his first-ever weekend with a factory team. Championship leader Corser crashed out but restarted to finish 13th, then just Chris Vermeulen (77) won his third race in 0 row in race one after Lanzi (57) had to serve a stop-andgo penalty.