(Abovel Chili (71 tried to break away
fro m the pack in the second race at
Donington. The Italian makes an early
break on Nell Hodgson (481, Ch ris
Walker (49) and Edw a rd s (21. Edwards
crashed while trying to catch Ch ili the two Brits succeeded in reeling in
the factory Suzuki man.
(Ri ghtl Hodgson (481. Walker (491 and
Noriyukl Haga (hidden) waged a
th ri lling war behind Chili in race two.
Their quick pace eventually brought
th em to Chili, who succumbed on the
fi nal lap when he had a mechanical
problem.
wh ic h to o k th em to th e fa d ing coat
t a ils of Chili , wi th t he heartb ro ken
Italian stopping on the slow down lap
due to an undisclo sed pro blem which had many of the symptoms of
run ning out of fuel.
"I a m so disappo inted no t to win,"
C hili said . " I ca n not say what ha p pened to the bike , but it ca used me to
s low down a t a vita l poi nt. It is good
fo r Nei l [Ho d g s o n ] t o get his fi rst
Supe rbi ke win - b ut n ot in front o f
m e ."
Wa lker, a rejuvenated m an after
dis ta nt fifth in ra ce one - holding off
anot her fa st lo c al , J am e s Haydon spent seemi ng ly e ve ry m om ent of his
tim e si d e ways in th e braki n g zones
du ring both ra c es , le a ving m ore black
line s on th e wa y into the co rne rs than
a
he d id on th e way ou t. It was m o re
a kin to Super s po rt racing tha n S uperb ike ra cing with a ll the s lid ing th a t
went o n , a nd e ve n with out th e fac t
that th e main two protagonists in race
two wer e loca ls, cheere d at (lite rally)
in e ve ry turn . The s ight of Hod gs on
a nd Walk er goin g a t it will live long in
th e memory.
If two riders ha ve s pe nt m or e tim e ,
riding a t th e limit than the se two , no
o ne ca n remember s e eing it. It was a
genuinely clas s ic ra ce.
"I'm peaking to finish s e cond in a
Wo rld Superbike event," said Wa lker.
"I was a bit of a handba g in th e first
ra c e , but th e changes we m ad e fo r
ra ce two ga ve m e th e c onfidenc e to
go fas t from the sta rt."
In add ition to Hod gson, th er e was
a no the r V-tw in rider making an e mot iona l a nd unexpected ly com petitive
cue
I
e
com e back. Aar on S light, o nly clea red
fit to ride on Frid a y afternoon (thr ee
m onth s to the d a y he had his br ain
o pe rat ion ), he finish ed a n impre ss ive
n inth in race one , a nd a mind -bogg ling seve nth in ra c e two. a hea d of
Ben Bostrom (with whom he ha d a
sho rt fight ) , A n d y Mekl au a n d
Haruch ika Aok i.
"It wa s ju st g rea t to sta rt a race
agai n a n d t o fini s h was b rill iant ,"
n
e
vv
S
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