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/128614
Ch i li : M ichelin m an ag ainst Dunl op ma n , tw in ve rsus four, rela t ive yo ut h ve rsus vast experience. If y ou hadn't guessed alread y , t he first ra ce wa s a r egu lar man o -a -mano affa i r, es pe c i ally o nce the l ea ding p a i r h a d d r opped off an y th reat to t he ir j oi n t rul e , w hi c h first a pp e ar ed i n t h e sh ape of Yanagawa and W al ker, wh o w ere g iv ing Ch ili so m e close atten- . tion, whi le Frank ie 's te am m at e, K atsu a k i Fuj i w ar a , was strugg li ng h i s w ay back to th e pi ts to ret ire. A .274 of a s e c on d ga p fr o m le a d e r Ed w a r d s to se cond -p l a c ed Chili was not m uc h of a mounta in for t he It alia n to sca le , and he team ed up w it h h i s race -lo ng co m p anio n af te r ano t her lap . B y th at ~age t he bat tles beh ind had sta rte d in ea rnes t, w it h Hodg son ' s se co nd l ap ove r t ak e o n Haga , w ith th e J ap an ese inst an tly rep aying t he co m p liment. (Left) The top three f ro m race one stand on the rostrum. (From left to right) Ch ili, Edwards and Hodgson. (Below) Hodgson celebrates his second race victory In front of his home fans. Slight said . " I st ill fee l a b it o u t o f t ouch with m y rac e craft but I' m sur e I' ll keep imp rov in g as I spe nd m ore time on th e new VTR. " Ak ira Yan agaw a w as ano ther old Wo rld Sup erb i k e ra c er r ec o v er i n g w ell fr om i nj ur y , fo llo w ing u p h i s impressiv e practice perfo rm an c e with a great sev en th and fifth. J am es H a y d o n , ah ead o f Ya n a g aw a i n ra c e o ne , was a wh o le 12 seco nds beh ind in rac e tw o , altho ug h st ill provin g himself worthy of another go o n t h e w o r ld st a ge late r in the y ea r, if n ot a fu l l W orld Superbik e ride. D uc at i In f o st r ad a and Bo st rom ' s e ig hth i n th e seco nd ra c e w as a wh op p er of an impro ve men t on h is poor fi rst rac e 15t h , but th e te nth of a m illi on dollar man , Lu ca Cada lo ra , had o ne o f his o ff d ay s. He reti red in race one aft er c hoosi ng a t ire t hat w as way t oo so ft, an d then ru n n in g o ut a very p o o r 17 t h and d o wn among the p rivateers in ra c e two . T ro y Corser had his worst A p rilia weekend by f a r , finishi ng a lowly eig hth in race one , an d crashing on t he seco nd lap of race tw o . Restart ing a nd roar ing b ac k into t he p its , o n ly t o le t the mac h i ne fa ll over befor e th e m ech an ic s co ul d g et to it, were un fortunate actio ns in front of v is i ti ng di g nitar i e s - J an W it t ev een a nd Iv an o Begg io, t h e r ac e mana g er a nd m an agin g directo r o f April i a , res pecti vel y . Bl am in g t ir es an d set u p , Co rse r w as not a ha ppy ma n, e s pe c i a l l y as h e c a me n owh ere c l o se t o eq ua l i n g the l ap rec ord he set way ba c k in 19 9 6 on a Du c at i. The Red Bu ll Ger in D u c ati pa ir in g of And y M ek lau and Rober t U lm ha d a r ig h t old fi ght in r ac e o ne , w ith Ul m h o l d i ng off hi s m ore experien c ed te am m a t e , but Ulm 's m ech anic a l r et irem en t i n r a c e t w o le ft t he way clea r f o r M ekl au , a fas t sta rte r, t o win a slugg i ng m at ch wi th Haru chi k a A o k i , a ma t ch whic h had incl ude d Bo st rom , th e doub le retiree J uan Bo rja a nd U lm . In term s of th e cham pio nshi p, the stor y of t he d ay we nt to Edw ards an d hi s unfo rced and mystify ing crash in race t wo afte r suc h an assur ed and ag gressive wi n in r ac e o ne. F u rt he r behind Hag a th an he was at the start of pl ay , Edw ard s has left himself wit h more work to do tha n he would have ex pected in a Carl Fogarty -less Wo rld Champ io ns hip - but m aybe Fogarty won't be t he t hreat from the north of Br it a in he ha s to deal with in the next few sea sons anyway . As severa l t op ri de rs have quoted du ring this weekend, this is the first yea r that the co m pe titiveness of the regul ar Wo rld Superbike riders in the Brit ish series has m at ched that of the Japan ese and America n rou nds. The main reaso n for t hat is not j us t the f u l l-o n wo rks s pec of t h e l o c a l m ach in er y , but an o bvious change of attitude fro m th e fa stest o f t he loc al m en . A nd yo u th ou ght th at the En g li sh we re ren owned f or th eir reserv e. Well tr y tell ing that to Haga and Ch ili. RACE ONE A ft er 2 5 la ps, it was st ill all abo ut on e t h in g a n d o ne th ing o n ly : T h e b attl e b e tw e en e ve n t u a l vi c to r Ed w a r d s a nd th e eve r - co mpetiti v e cue I e n e .,.,. S • MAY 24,2000 15