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/128400
World Superbike Championship Troy Corser (11) had his work cut out for him after a bad Pirelli tire in Superpole sent him to the back of the fourth row for the start of bath races. Corser went 5-4 in the two races. They shuffled toward the first corner at full pace, jostling and pushing their way into the first left-hander, Grande Courbe. Vermeulen had the best of the early exchanges, and as the first lap ticked by, it was his name at the top of the classification, as it would be for all 23 laps. A big slide from Haga on lap two almost took out a dozen of his peers. And his exuberance would have an ultimate consequence, aided by his teammate Pitt. Toseland, desperate to pass fast-starting and pugilistic Walker, had a few close calls at overtaking him, stuffing it up inside at the final corner before Walker promptly went past him again. Toseland then steamed by at the first corner. And their kick-off defined the shape of things to come in race two. The new World Champ, Corser, had come from 16th up to seventh in one lap; he was up to sixth a lap later, in the pack of hounds chasing the disappearing Vermeulen and Kagayama. On lap three, Haga fell after touching with Pitt, with most observers blaming Pitt's slightly-too-fast approach. Giuseppe Zannini fell on lap two, the second rider to crash, after Gianluca Vizziello had retired and just before Haga tumbled to the earth. Up front, Vermeulen and Kagayama led the charge, with Vermeulen setting a new lap record on the third circuit, at 1:40.993. Walker was riding demonically in third, after Toseland had slipped back behind both he and Muggeridge, and a eight-rider battle was developing for third. None of the midpack group could get away, and only two seconds covered second to 10th at this time. Walker continued to head up the pack contesting third place, as Vermeulen once more set the fastest lap and a lap record of 1:40.985, making a three-second gap to Kagayama, and an eight-second lead over Walker. The order stayed static for most of the first 10 laps, but Pitt was aggressive enough to pass Corser, and finally, just before the end of lap 10, Muggeridge went past Walker, with Toseland quickly following suit. Chili pulled into the pits on lap 10, having slowed from the back of the pack on the previous lap. He felt a vibration throughout the bike and decided to pull out of a points-scoring position rather than go on. Lap 10 saw Steve Martin and Julien Da Costa also pull in, and Laurent Brian's Kawasaki stopped out on the track. Pitt went into fifth after passing Walker on lap 12. A mistake by Walker on the final chicane on lap 12 dumped him to eighth, as first Corser and then Neukirchner steamed past. The British rider, having recently returned from injury, made a mistake changing gear and was fatigued by haVing to concentrate so hard to race at this level, and hampered by weakness from his broken elbow. Out front, Vermeulen was making them all look pedestrian, as he took a nearly seven-second lead on lap 14 of 23, no less than I3 seconds ahead of his teammate Muggeridge. Notman's baptism by fire in World Superbike continued as he crashed mid race, with another Petronas going bent or broken. Toseland capitalized on a wide line by Muggeridge to make a pass on lap 16, while Corser, was ripping through the middle of the pack, including Pitt. Soon after that, he made an error going into Adelaide and dropped two places, diving back into the racing line just behind Neukirchner. An exchange of passes between the two ensued, with Neukirchner getting the best of it for a time. The pace slowed due to worn tires; even Vermeulen was cutting I:42 laps at this stage, after his impressive I:40s earlier. Corser made his pass on Max stick on lap 19, with Pitt up ahead, tailing the close fight headed by Toseland, a secondfront skirmish between Ducati and Honda's top teams. Lanzi was strangely subdued in ninth place, a second behind Walker; he later explained that he had experienced serious vibrations from his chassis and could not pick up the pace. A slipstreaming pass and subsequent close contact between Muggeridge and Toseland gave the Honda rider the advantage under braking going into Adelaide, as he regained third. With two full laps to go, In race one, the battle for the final podium position was a crazy one, with Chris Walker (9), Muggeridge (31), Toseland (1) and Pitt (88) all going at it. Toseland was the guy who finally made it on the box. 26 OOOBER 19, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS Muggeridge and Toseland were gIVing each other a hard time with hard passes, with "Muggas" in front but Toseland going past after Muggas' inside line to Adelaide put him wide, and Toseland nipped past to take an eventual unchallenged third. The true main players up front were untouchable in their own orbits, with Vermeulen eight seconds up on an impressively fast and safe Kagayama, but with Toseland 13 seconds down. RACE TWO Race two had a horrid start, a sickening one for all watching, as a huge first-corner crash involving five riders - Martin, Pitt, Bussei, Muggeridge and eventually Da Costa - brought out the red flag, as Bussei bounced along the ground end over end and limb by limb, and was then hit by Da Costa's machine just after he had stopped moving. He was worryingly still, and had suffered (it was discovered in hospital) a heavy concussion, a blackened and bruised face, a broken wrist, and a suspected broken shoulder. Muggeridge had escaped lightly but, by comparison, luckily: His footpeg had gouged a hole in the bottom rim of his crash helmet, and then dug into his scalp as he slid to a halt. His injury was ugly, "like a third ear, covered in hair, flapping around on the side of his head," according to one team insider. It required four internal stitches and 10 external ones. The replay showed that Muggeridge and Pitt came together, starting a chain reaction, with Bussei going into them as he was pushed wide, and Martin could not avoid the mix. Da Costa ran off and could not avoid falling just in front of the prone Bussei. "It was a big crash at the start of race two, and I can say that we don't think any bones are broken, but that's about it," Pitt said. "Muggeridge and I clashed; I got a good start, and he got a bad start, and we both drifted over to the right to get a better line for the first corner. The bikes were wheeleying, and then I felt him touch the back of my bike, and then it felt like something touched my brake lever. For the first couple of laps, I was in a bit of a daze and going backwards. My head was pounding and my hands were hurting, but after a few laps I was able to focus and work my way through to seventh. I thought I could have got on the podium in the first one, but we just didn't get there." Most of the 56,OOO-strong weekend crowd had recovered sufficiently to watch the 23-lap restart in some semblance of normality. On the restart, Vermeulen made his first pass early and got to the front, and things looked set for a repeat of race one. It was not to be, as he was quickly caught by Lanzi, with the aid of a new and final lap record, a I:40.60 I.