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/128615
World Superbike C h a m p io n s h ip R ound 5 : M o n z a . Italy B Y G O RD ON R IT CHIE P HOTO S BY G O LD [, G OOSE MONZA, ITALY, MAY 21 i t h h ist or y , tradit i on , sp e ed and m ost o f all th e Ita li an w ay of go in g racing fo rem o st in ev er y on e's m in ds, it wa s fittin g tha t PierFran c e sco Ch i li ch o se Mo nza ( o r ma yb e it cho se hi m ) t o win t he first ra ce of the d ay. It was , amazingly, hi s and Su zuki 's fi rst race win of the year, in the season when every man and his dog have already gone abo u t the b us iness of standing on th e top step of the po d ium . Sev en different m anu f ac tu rer s h av e n o w had th ei r ride rs ato p th e po diu ms , and th at was onl y afte r nin e in divi dual races . Ebulli ent as eve r, Chil i was at his tu ck ed- in , ultra -fas t a n d ins p ire d best , hunting down Colin Edwards at lap -record pace , th en swapping the W 6 M AY 3 1. 2000 ' cue I e lead to pass h im on the final lap t o win th e first of two World Superbik e race s at the hi storic Monza ci rcuit. "I knew I had t o ke ep up th e pressure on Colin, " Ch ili said . " I actua lly enjoyed race two m ore th an race one in terms of th e fan s and so on , even t h o ugh I lost the race to the li n e . Yeah , i t feel s very g oo d to get m y first race w in of the y ea r, but it i s more important that now I ho pe we have the b ike more co nsistent for the . rest of the season ." Maybe it was just as fitt ing as Chili winning at home tha t Edwards, a man who has go ne on the record frequ ent ly abo ut his admi rat io n fo r all that is Mo nz a , sho u ld wi n th e other r ac e, eve n if h e o nce m or e fai le d in h is stated amb it ion of winn in g both . " I was doing too mu ch th in k ing and not enough riding i n th e fir st race , so I j ust got my head down in n e "" s race two and rode hard for the last couple of la ps ," the Castrol Ho nd amoun ted Texan said . W hate ve r h igh er po w er s were working beh ind th e sce nes , th ey were certainly in a boisterou s m ood at the temple o f spee d inside Monza 's ol d banked arc hitecture . Unique with it s c ity- center loca ti o n , Monza i s also a place whe re horsep ower and aerodyna mics rule , and those with the skill to utilize them to th eir fullest p ot ential. Th e best th ing about Monza's lay out is its never-endi ng ability to provide close raci ng in all classes. With long strai ght s m ad e for sli pst rea ming, and lots o f slo w c h icanes p ro v iding multiple chances to ove rtake on the b rakes , seldo m ca n an y ri der br eak a w ay fr om the c h a si ng packs. Edwards had a go nonetheless , reveling wi t h the good top speed , easy f1ic k ab ility and sure -footed handling th at his RCS] possesses in spades. Th e fr ont runner i n both races , Edward s t ook his 1- 2 sa f e in th e k n o w le dge t h at h is numb er o ne champ i onsh ip riv al Noriyuki Ha g a was i n a b ad way aro u n d Mon za, ba rel y han gin g onto the to p fi ve or six ri der's coattails on his not -q uite-u pto-speed Yamaha R7. It was all t oo much for th e R7 in race one as Ha g a ' s g ea r lever bolt sheared, causing him to pull out of the ra c e and m ov e d own from th e cham p ionship lead. "T his is the bes t I've do ne in th ree years at M o n za . so I s ho u ld b e p leased with th at ," said th e J apan ese rid er , th e ce nter of m uch speculati on at Monza . "Ma yb e a fourth or fi ft h w ould have been p ossib le in rac e one , but thes e things happen. We are g etting some new parts for Hock en -