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/128612
Ba c k on t ra c k , Yos hikawa wa s a ll over th e re ar t ire of Haqa 's similar R7 mac hine , and o ne lap later Chili was o ut with an electrical p roblem . By now there was a four -r id er battle for the lead , with th e afore mentioned Yamaha boys ahead of the c h a rg ing lzutsu and Edwards. A o n e - s e c o n d gap s e p a r a t e d these groups of two . until the trailing men started bashing Yamaha 's ego a litt le . Edwards was determined and went into seco nd on la p ] 2 , with Izuts u a lso ove r h a uling Ha g a . Hav in g disposed of Haga , Yo sh ik aw a m a y h a ve b e en e n te rtai n ing t ho ug h ts of wi n ni ng th e race its elf , b ut Izutsu wa s to p rove his u ndo ing . As Aok i wa s c ras hi ng o ut of t h e ra c e furt he r bac k , t h e sc heme was now set fo r the fina le. Yosh ikaw a le d lzu t s u from Edw a rds with Haga some dista nce back a nd Corse r fur ther back s till. By la p ] 8 , Izutsu wa s throug h to t he lead with himse lf and Yoshikawa enjoy ing a 3. ]4 -seco nd gap o ve r Ed wards at th e ] 9- la p ma rk . but the distan ce bet we e n t h e m s e lv e s could be measured in lzutsu, who wo uld pa ir up with him as the y hunte d dow n t he other duo of Ha ga a nd Chili - both of who m were trying ha rd to m a ke a n esca pe. By lap fou r, the fro nt six - Ha ga , Ch ili, lzutsu , Edwards, Ryo a nd Kita gawa - wer e off into the m idd le dis ta nce , leavi ng a fru str at ed Co rs e r to figh t a s uccessful ba ttle aga inst th e c h a s in g pac k of Yan agawa (who wo u ld pass h im a nd th e n ret ire with gea rbox problems on lap] 9) , Lav illa a nd Me klau . By la p seven lzutsu was ha ss ling Ha ga , a nd th en he passed him at his favo rite spot a t the end of the back strai ght on th e brakes. Instan tl y , Iz ut s u started put t ing c lea r air be tween himse lf and the res t, all of wh om , with the exception of Edwa rds . wer e on Dun lops . Akira Ryo, t ryi n g to em ulate h is win fro m th e p revious year. a tta cked Chili on la p seven de moting him and the n Ha ga in his va in a ttem pt to reel in lzu ts u. With a ] .9 -s e c o nd gap at the ] 3 -lap mark , Izu ts u was not fo r han g ing a bo ut to be c a ug ht. Chil i was the man to upset th e ra ce or der the re a fter taki ng Haga o n la p ] 7 , but th e Yamaha ride r wa s dete rmined in front of his home c rowd a nd h e imm ed iatel y p a s sed C h ili b a c k . Th en h e got th e hin t and s t a rte d attacking Ryo on c e m ore . Right up Ryo 's tailsection going in to the c hicane, the Yamaha made his move on lap] 8, with Ch ili following suit on lap 22 to rustle up a podium finis h from what could have been noth ing. (A b ov e) Izutsu (64) chases Haga (4 1) and Chili (7 ) i n the race one. Izutsu passed for the lead on la p seven and quickly began distancing h imself from the series points leader. (Right) Phillip Isl a n d winner Troy Corser 13) rebounded from a disappointing n inth In race one to finish fifth in race two aboard the factory Aprilia. Corser was one of the the last non-Japanese riders to w in a Japanese round of t he series, splitting w ins w ith Carl Fogarty at Sugo while rid ing for Ducati in 19 9 5 Aro und this tim e Ed wards wa s on th e m o v e again . h a vi n g as h e de scribed it . "reme mbe red ho w to ride the bike aga in ." His charge was to ultim ately ga in him noth ing but time. a s fifth he was a nd fif th he stayed . Ahead of the Am e rica n . Chili was polishing off the t hreat of Ke iich i Kit agawa on t h e ot he r Jap a ne s e s erie s S uzuk i, who had be en a thorn in the leaders' s ides fo r some tim e. Ke ep ing h im beh ind o n th e straight. Ch ili set after Haga but to no a va il. With a 3.] 8 -s eco nd a d va nt a g e at the flag , lzuts u was th e unlikel y con qu e ro r of the foreig n inva de rs With Kitagawa, Tarn ada , Yos hikaw a , Corse r and Lavilla rounding out the top ] 0 p la c e s , the e m p h a sis wa s o n c e more on loc al knowledge at Su go. But, as we were a bout to find out, one rider more than any other had been study ing Sugo pretty hard . RACE TWO The Ya m a ha du o o f Haga and Yoshikawa we re first o ut of the treps in ra c e tw o , sc o rch in g t o a s mall bu t s ig n ific a n t lea d ove r E d wa rds, wh o was de te rm in e d not to let h im se lf ov e r rid e th e m a ch in e like he ha d in ra c e one. Ta m a d a app eared to be o ve r rid in g so me t h ing a s h e ra m m e d into Ba yli s s , s end ing th e Auss ie off into the g ra ve l trap to join him . Gobert took until lap three for h is of f, a nasty c ra s h that hospitalized him a nd almost ha lted th e ra c e . c ue I e t e n t hs - n ot e ve n s e c o nd s th ems elves . T he fin a l d istan c e b e twee n th em turned o ut to be a pa ltry .22 3 of a s econd with Yo s h ika wa j us t to o far beh ind to m ount a s e rio us c ha lle nge . Edwards was a furth er four sec o nds a drift in th e s a fet y a nd reward o f third pl a c e . with Hag a c lingi ng o n to fourth so me s ev en s ec ond s ahead of Co rs e r , Yana g a w a , S e ri zawa, Kitagawa, Ryo and Lavilla . eN n e _ s • MAY 10. 2000 21