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Borja (Due): 11. Andreas Meklau (Due); 12. Giovanni Bussei (Kaw); 13. Lance Isaacs (Due): 14. Simon Crafar (Hon); 15. Vitorriano Guaresehi (Yam); 16. Robert Ulm (Due); 17. Alessandro Gramigni (Yam); 18. Alessandro AntoneUo (Apr); 19. Mauro Sanchini (Due); 20. Marco Bordani (Due). Time: 43 mins., 21.141 sees Distance: 66 miles Average speed: 91.34 mph Margin or'victory: 0.133 sec. RACE TWO: 1. Noriyuki Haga (Vam); 2. Colin Edwards (Hon); 3. Pier-Francesco Chili (Suz); 4. Troy Corser (Apr); 5. Haruehika Aoki (Due); 6. Gregorio Lavilla (Kaw); 7. Juan Borja (Due); 8. Ben Bostrom (Due); 9. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Suz); 10. Alessandro Antonello (Apr); 11. Giovanni Bussei (Kaw); 12. Embarrassingly for him, the end of the flag caught in his spinning rear wheel, leaving him stranded for a few minutes as the offending item was removed. A comical end to a day of the highest peaks of drama and competitiveness. GN Kyalami Circuit Kyalami, South Africa Resuhs:ApriI2,2000 Anthony Gobert (Bim): 13. Andy Meklau (Due): 14. QUALIFYING: I. Troy Corser (1:42.471); 2. Colin Edwards (1 :42.652); 3. Carl Fogarty (1 :42.746); 4. Pier-Francesco Chili (I :43.040); 5. Noriyuki Haga (I :43.060); 6. Gregorio Lavilla Simon Crafar (Hon); 15. Alessandro Gramigni (Vam): 16. Mauro Sanehini (Due); 17. Marco Bordani (Due); 18. Alex Antonelli (Kaw); 19. Jonnie Ekerold (Hon). Time: 43 mins., 22.756 Distan<:e: 66 miles Average speed: 91.28 mph Margin of vktory: 6.482 sec. fL'I WORLD SUPERBIKE C'SHIP SERIES POINTS (I :43.756): 7. Haruchika Aoki (1 :44.113): 8. Katsuaki Fujiwara (I :44.272): 9. Juan Borja (1:44.446): 10. Robert arm (1:44.711): 11. Giovanni Bussei (1,44.849); 12. Andreas Meklau (1:45.271): 13. Ben Bostrom (1 :45.491); 14. Alessandro Antonello (1:45.616); 15. Vittoriano Guareschi (1 :45,818): 16. Anthony Gobert (1 ,45.977): 17. Akira Yanagawa (I :45.312); 18. Marco Borciani (1:46.110); 19. Simon Crarar (1:46.187); 20. Mauro Sanehini (I :46.250); 21. Alessandro Gramigni STANDINGS (After 1 of 13 rounds) 1. (TIE) Colin Edwards II (45/1 win)/Noriyuki Haga (45/1 win); 3. Pier-Francesco Chili (27); 3. Troy Corser (26); 5. (TIE) Haruehika Aoki (20)/Gregorio Lavilla (20); 7. Carl Fogarty (16); 8. (TIE) Juan Borja (15)/Ben (1 :46.467): 22. Lance Isaacs (I :46.567): 23. Alex Antonelli (1 A6.752); 24. Jonnie Ekerold (L48.605): Bostrom (15);/Katsuaki Fujiwara (15); 11. Giovanni Bussei (9); 12. Andreas Meklau (8); 13. Alessandro Antonello (6); 14. (TIE) Anthony Gobert (4)/Simon Crafar (4). 25. Jiri Mrkyvka (I :50.038): 26. Vladimir Karban (1 :51.478); 27. Massimo de Silvestro (I :53.072). RACE ONE: 1. Colin Edwards (Hon): 2. Noriyuki Haga (Yam); 3. Carl Fogarty (Due); 4. Troy Corser (Apr); 5. Pier-Francesco Chili (Suz): 6. Gregorio Laville (Kaw); 7. Haruehika Aoki (Due): 8. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Suz); 9. Ben Bostrom (Due); 10. Juan Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Phillip Island, Australia, April 23 Round 3 - Sugo, Japan, April 30 (Above) Ben Bostrom fought hard to score a ninth in the first leg and an eighth in the second. (Right) Haga got revenge on Edwards by winning the second race. The two are tied in the championship point standings after the first round. before yielding to what would be degrading tires and a far-from-ideal setup. Lap nine saw Fogarty exit at the very apex of Clubhouse corner, laying the blame at a possible spillage of some kind, although maybe it was his switch to a 16.5-inch front tire which contributed to his second-race frontgrip problems. With Chili struggling, Fogarty out, and most of the real battles going on behind, Haga made use of the lack of pressure from Edwards, who realized that he could not pass Haga without risking his second place points, and started to clear off at the front. Aoki was another man on a mission in race two, having recovered his composure to fight his way past Lavilia, be re-overtaken a couple of times then make his fifth place permanent onlap17. From then on, it was a case of most riders settling for their positions, until Borja stuck Corser's old Ducati machine ahead of Bostrom's new machine, to rob him of a seventh place, With the final positions of the top men set from the second-to-Iast lap, the final drama was to unfold as Haga celebrated his victory with a huge static burnout, complete with flag, [fjJf?o [J)G!J[f)@[?[f)@D@ Og) &JU OU 5JrIJ@ ODD Love it or loath it (and the riders definitely aren't lovers of it), Superpole was a spectacle well worth watching once more at Kyalami. The highlight was undoubtedly Aprilia's first-ever pole position, and in fact its first-ever front row start at a World Superbike event. Troy Corser, fifth-last away after fine qualifying sessions on both days, looked to be on a blinder from the first turn of the wheel. When he crossed the line with a time of 1 :42.471, fully 1.2 seconds faster than previous best man, there were gasps of astonishment around the circuit, but as the last four riders, Noriyuki Haga, Pier-Francesco Chili, Carl Fogarty and even Colin Edwards, failed to beat his time in their turns, the Aprilia pit exploded with cheers and hugs of delight all around. Corser knew he had a done a good lap, but his time, half a second faster than he managed in Superpole on his Ducati last year, was a surprise to even him. "It was a perfect lap," said the delighted Australian, "I knew it was going to be quick, but it was surprise to be fastest at this stage of the year, The Dunlop qualifying tires were really good and we did a bit of an endurance race on our chosen race rubber for 16 laps, all in the 1 :44 bracket. I don't know if that will be good enough to let us win the races, but it should be good enough for us to be up there at least. I'm really happy for everybody in the team because they have worked so hard to give me the bike the way I want it. It's got better every time I've ridden it. I had to ride the front really hard to do those times and I don't know if I can keep doing that for over 20 laps, The chassis needs a little work, but is otherwise really good, but the engine here is was really slow before Saturday. Coming out of corners it was no faster than even that privateer Honda twin. They boys did a lot of work on it, so I'm much happier today," Fabrizio Guidotti, Aprilia's new team manager for the 2000 season, summed up the incredulity with which most of the paddock viewed a performance of this magnitude for a new team, rider and tire combination. "If anyone had said to me a month ago that we would take Superpole at Kyalami, I would have said that it was a dream," Edwards, fastest man in official regular qualifying, claimed not to be too disappointed with second. "I don't care about that, I saw Troy's time before I put my helmet on to go out, but I wasn't going to chase Troy and risk making a mistake. Anywhere on the front row will do me. You get no points for Superpole." Fogarty was less circumspect in his view of Corser's performance in Superpole. "I wouldn't be surprised if Troy set pole at every race this year, especially on Duplops," Fogarty said. "We don't have a real qualifying tire from Michelin, just a soft tire that you could conceivably use in a race. Dunlop, on the other hand, make special qualifiers that are good for only one lap, Troy can always put in really fast single laps - but I can put in 25 of them, and that's why they call me World Champion." Haruchika Aoki proved to be the fastest privateer Superpole man, putting in an aggressive lap of 1 :44.133 to go seventh. Both he and Fujiwara fell foul of the new rule on turning up late for Superpole, and have been called to see the stewards. cue I e n eVIl's APRIL 12, 2000 9