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
F IM Wor ld Cha mpions hip Supe r b ik e S e r ie s R o u n d 3 : Sugo, ..J.a p a n race and it worked j u st as well in the second. We left the bike alone comp l et e l y and the setup was p e r f ec t again . On the last f ive la p s of r ace t wo, I decided to gamble and go for the w in. I certainl y didn 't a ntic ipate w inning both races , but it has dou b l e d my b a n k b a l a n c e . T h e m a i n thing is that it is so much more diffi c ult to w in two races rath er th an one . I wi ll have m ad e a bigger im pression by tak in g t w o w in s. " B ut possibly the most satisfied man t o leave Su g o on Sund ay n ig h t w a s Hag a . T otally us urpe d by the ex peri enced u p start W a t a ru Yoshikawa in rac e t wo , Hag a dem onstra t ed a level of maturi ty and near - restraint we have never seen before in the second outing . A pair of strong and al most con troll ed performan c e s d eliv ered th e J apan ese rid er a second and fou rth , eno ug h to k eep a 1 a -p oint g ap b e t w e en him s elf a nd the c hasi ng Edwar ds. " Yest erd ay th e b ike and tires were good - today n o t so good, " H a g a sa id . " I sta rted t he first ra c e at m y own pace and I wanted to finish the race. I am pl eased enough with sec ond. I was thinking about the ch am pi o nshi p lea d in race two , so I made sure I fi nished ." Sti ll , E d w ard s was n ' t n ec es sa r i l y d ispleased wi th t h e result. " I j u st sc re w ed up in t he first race and fixed it in th e seco nd ," th e T ex an said . " I w as riding th e throttle far too hard in th e o pener and spi n n ing up Four-cyl inder v ersus t w in ; Dunl op v ersus Michelin; and seem ingl y an y rider in w ith a chanc e on any g iv en day . Unpredictability seems to b e this year' s key word. RACE O NE It was a long way for a game o f skittles , but that's ju st how Bayliss' first taste of Ducati World Superb ik e action at Sugo ended up. C la im in g th at he had been hit from beh in d , Bayliss was h eartbroken th at his pro m ising factory debut ended so badl y . " I cou ldn't do m uch about t he fall in race o ne," h e sa id. " I was leaning over into the corner wh en a r ider came in from the o ut sid e and h it m e. When I was o n the g round I also fe lt a bi k e go over m y b ack . And in rac e t wo , the sa me ' ride r h it me a t h igh speed and I b an g ed m y head aga inst th e bike ' s h andl ebar. I feel sorry fo r all th e guys in the team who worked hard to m ak e me fe el at home. " B o s t r om was a nother who was involved in the first -lap p inba ll , al ong with the perennially b o u nc in g Katsua ki F uj iwara , Igor An tonell i , and th e hapless Vitto Guareschi. " I just don 't un derstand a ll th is madness going into th e first c orner , a posit io n gained is no t h in g in su ch a lo ng ra c e ," said B o st r o m . '" found myse lf in t h e m idd le of th e gr oup wh ic h was sl id ing around on the track and I could n't d o a ny t h in g about it. " Clear of a ll t he c a r na ge , Haga c o asted over the hill to t he st a rt finis h th e ti re every w he re. I guess I just so rt of fo rgot ho w to ri d e th e t hing. W ith H a g a behind m e in r a ce two , I j ust br o ught it ho m e . The bike wa s great, T h e m e n a c in g s ight of the l ocal r ide rs was still a close b ut c o nt ain ed no problems, b ut I j ust could n 't h ol d th e pace. " issue a t th a t stage , bu t after t h r e e la ps E d w ard s had been engulfed by 20 n MAY 1 0 , 200 0 e ye I e l i n e fo r th e fi r st t i me i n th e l e a d , a head o f Ch il i and Edw ar d s. e vv s The World Supersport race was. if not quite a Dunlop whitewash, then at least it was a fairly good pasting for the Miche lin Men. all of whom struggled with varying degrees of a lack of drive grip from their rear tires, and then had the ignomi ny of seeing them going off - even before half distance . Hence the only Miche lin ma n to threaten for victory was the winner at Phillip Island James Whitha m on his Belgarda Yamaha. In the end, though . it was neither he, nor early front runner Stephane Cham bon who would waltz thei r way around the final corners at Sugo with their lead intact and 25 points to collect. , Th at man was to be Jorg Teuchert, who fully deserved his win after fighti ng through the field from seventh on lap one. "I don't know what to say!" Teuchert said. "I had a few small slides in the early laps of the race , but from then on my tires were very consistent. When I overtoo k [Fabrizio] Pirovano and the rest, all I had to do was sit behind the leading group for a littl e tim e and then decide which line to tak e to pass them . Supersport racing is always very hard, but today overtak ing other riders was easy. I am so happy to win - for the team as well as myself." In the early stages. it seemed as if it was going to be a four -way battle for the victory, with Chambon and Paolo Casoli shooting themselves into an early lead from the chasing Karl Muggeridge and Whitham . Having disposed of Muggeridge and closed up to the front men, Whitham almost made a termin al move on Casoli on lap eight. only to run wide and allo w the Italian former World Supersport Series winn er past up the inside again. Whitham ma de his pass a perman ent state of affairs on lap five. Casoli's bid to get back on terms again took him to a place he got very familiar with last season - the gravel trap. '" didn't mak e the right choice of tires" said Casoli after the race. "I went for a solutio n based on the mom ing temp erature. which was very different from the past couple of days. During the race ' lost the grip required to stay at the front and ' had to slow. Shortly after the front end lost grip and I slid off. It was a pity to waste such a good opportunity." Casoli's crash, on lap eight, cut the leading bunch to a trio, but for a mom ent only as the fl ying Teuch ert blast ed his way past the leade rs with ease and a good deal of patience. Whitham was havi ng a less easy time after finding that his rear Michelin was shot after five lap s. Riding in his usual dynami c fashion , with both tires skip ping and shimmying along independentl y of each othe r. sheer determi nation kept him in second place until lap 16. That's when Teuchert finally pounc ed on him and lined up Chambo n in his R6's gunsight s. Teuchert 's teammate , Christ ian Kellner. had lost a load of places on the first lap, going from pole to eighth but - in a mov e similar to his taller teammate - he battled his way up to near the front in no time. With the leader for 20 laps - Cham bon - over hauled easily by Teuch ert, Kellner repeated the same tri ck one lap lat er to give Alpha Technik thei r first podium s and first win of the year. Chambon 's third place, aga in on Dunlops, ma kes him the closest challenger to Whitham 's 38 point to tal in the championship chase. But even in th e di sappoint ment of fourth pl ace, Whitham has managed to extend his lead to six over Teuchert and Kellner, with Casoli and Pirovano close behind.