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
World Superbike Championship RAce TWO In race two, Corser, Haga, Lanzi then Muggeridge all battered on their merry way on lap one, then Corser crashed at the first corner of lap two. No one could quite believe it, but there he was, an unseated knight in armor, his kingdom looking vulnerable, if not exactly under immediate threat. "Pretty much had two to choose from, one more consistent than the other," Corser said. "We had a different rear tire from everyone else on the grid. Nearly crashed on the start/finish straight a couple of times and didn't feel comfortable with it all through the race. So I just hung in there to get a few points. The tires we used were finished by six laps form the end and the front was pretty well worn. It's difficult to know what to use when the track temperature is so much lower than it was in practice. I really believed another podium [or a win] was on the cards for race two, because I had been enjoying the bike again this weekend. '1\t Assen we had some problems, which were never fully resolved," he continued. "But here at Lausitz, I just felt more comfortable. The crash in race two came as a big surprise as I felt I had not done anything different at that turn before. I lost the front and rear together and went down without warning. I cradled the bike as I went down and then picked it up again as soon as I could. The bike fired up first time, but the gear lever was a bit bent, so I spent some time finding a gear. I couldn't use the clutch [the lever was bent upward], and one of the bars was crooked. All in all, it handled pretty well, really. I know I could've pulled in when I crashed, but I just wanted to get back on the track and try and grab some points, and that's what I did." Lanzi was proving not just fast but hard as well. Lanzi held his line against hard man Muggeridge, pushing him off line, then half a lap later, he passed Haga to take the lead. Corser rejoined the race in 27th, 36 seconds down on the lead, with the order now Lanzi, Haga, Muggeridge, Pitt, Toseland, Vermeulen, Kagayama, Neukirchner, Abe, Chili and Martin. Pitt slid back on pace on lap five, being overhauled by first Toseland and then Vermeulen, with Vermeulen taking Toseland in the final complex of lap six to go fourth. Vermeulen, doing a I:40 nat, lined up his teammate just as Cruciani went out of the race on lap seven. Despite cutting I:40-second laps, Corser was still some 37 seconds from the lead at half distance. Vermeulen, with a clear track ahead, set about the leading duo of Lanzi and Haga. Haga himself went into the lead on lap nine, while at that same point in time Corser had to bridge 20 seconds to get into a points-scoring position, still setting laps in the I:40s. "I tried so many different setting this weekend, but I couldn't find one for the race:' Haga said. "Even in warmup, I was trying to get one that worked. Considering that, the race-one result was good, and I am very happy with it. On the last five laps, the tires was already finished. and it was difficult to turn the bike. I had a plan to catch up and pass Chris [Vermeulen] anyway, but then it started raining. The tire went off even earlier in race two because we made the full race distance, so that made life harder. Always I want to win, but we really cannot complain with two podium finishes this weekend." Cardoso and [Ivan] Clementi crashed together on lap 12, Cardoso lying trackside in obvious pain from a broken 11th rib until he got stretchered off, just as Lanzi made a big effort exiting the last corner sliding the rear right around but saving it. Haga tried to take advantage at the first turn of the next lap, but he ran wide and gave Lanzi some breathing room. Toseland went into the gravel on lap 13, dropping back to head up Bussei and finding himself down in 14th position. Far from losing his cool under pressure up front, Lanzi just gained pace, distancing himself from the chasing duo of Haga and Vermeulen by 1.3 seconds on lap 14. Vermeulen, desperate to pass, shot past Haga on the inside and set after Lanzi. It was Lanzi who would strike out for the win, though, as he pulled a tenth a lap for the next two in succession. His teammate for the weekend, Toseland, used his bike as a battering ram in the midorder, passing Bostrom and McCoy in rapid fashion, doing I:41 laps. "I expected to have a good weekend, hoping to finish in fifth, and had a terrible weekend:' Bostrom said. "The first race, when the tire went bad, it really went south. In the second race, when I went to the starting line, we had pretty much no clutch. So I had to ride the race with no clutch, which was quite upsetting. We changed the clutch between races as normal, too. I almost jumpstarted because of it, and when the tire went, it really went." Lanzi had an almost two-second gap on lap 18, but the next time around, the gap had reduced, with Vermeulen seeming to have more in his gas tank, cutting 1:40.8 laps all the way through the final laps. Right on Lanzi's tail he was to make no impact, as Lanzi wicked it up to leave a gap of .840 at the nag, taking an outstanding win. So Ducati has a conundrum now. With an already proven winner, at 23, and an Italian to boot, what does it do about its riding lineup next year? Seems obvious to take three factory Xerox bikes to Imola for the next round, show off Lanzi to his newly adoring public, give the sponsor more exposure, use up a load of seasonend spares, run Laconi (he should be fit) and Toseland back to back, with all three on the same bikes. After all, none of them can win the title, but in the pressure cooker of competition, they will see