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
\f!l@[J{]cfJ ~G!J(JJ@[J§?(JJ®[?{1 ~@~8 {X]@G!J[jiJcfJ @DWD[j)j}J2 r!J @ @D@~~D@ Expecti ng a classic of the epic proporti ons we experienced last year was prob ably a bit much to ask, but we got it all the same, with no fewer than 10 riders in the leading bunch at one point. The holeshot came from local man Maio Meregalli , who from th is privileged position managed to miss all the camage going on behind him as Christer Lindholm and Fabrizio Porrozzi crashed out at the first chicane, the Variante del Retifil io. Lindholm's injury was finally diagnosed as snapped tendons in his right knee although - with Pirovano's bike following him into the Air Fence - it look ed a lot more serious. Meregalli , Paolo Casoli, Karl Muggeridg e and local fly er Carlacci made up the leading pack, as they tried, with som e initial success, to get clear of their tailing group which consisted of Stephane Chambon, lain Macph erson , Chr istian Kellner, Jorg Teuch ert and Jamie Whitham. The stop -and -go penalty notic e issued to Carlacci for a jumped start was ignored, with the Italian crashing out specta cularly on lap three as he touched the rear tire of Meregalli , who had j ust passed him on the entrance to the Lesmos. Casoli had by this stage taken a grip on the lead, albeit with many semi and temp orary challenges for the next 13 laps. The action behind him had taken a closer twist, with MacPherson howli ng past the second group in one audacious overtaking maneuver to help move all the top riders closer together . MacPherson contin ued his forward progress on lap seven, overtaking everyo ne on the mai n straight from behind a huge slipstream, only for Casoli to nail him on the brakes immediately afterwards . A big tail slide, as his tires started to fade at this early stage, dropped MacPherson from second to sixth, falli ng further and further behind as he went. With less than two seconds covering first to ninth - Cesol i, Muggeridge, Meregalli , Whitham , Teuchert, MacPherson, Kellner , Cogan and Chambon - it really could have been anyone's race by lap eight, although Cham bon and MacPherson were never to see the rarefied atmosphere of the front position once again. A seemingly bold maneuver to go third inside at the Parabolica from Teuchert was put down by him later as inconsistent brakes. All the pack shuffling had the net effect on lap 13 of splitting the leading group into two , one led by Casoli and the other by sixth-placed Whitham and the slow starting but rapidly finishing Ruben Xaus, who was on a m ission to come through the pack . On lap 15, with two to go, Whitham made his move to the front of the field, sweeping past Muggeridge, and linin g-up Casoli. His last attempt to overtake on the inside at the Lesmo was rebuffed by the simple expedient of Casoli riding around the outside of him on the power as he held on for his and Ducati' s first Supersport success of the season - a much needed boost for the flagging fortunes of the Infostrada boys. "The main difference today was that we changed the gearing from practic e,' Casoli said. "It was a lot better to be out in front of everyone in one way, to stay out of trouble, but it was also difficult to know who was fast behind me and maybe j ust waiting thei r time. I was on the limit at the Parabolica on the last lap, and it helped that the finish line is now nearer to the comer." Whitham wa s seco nd by a m er e . 0 8 4 o f a seco nd, w i th ecstatic privateer Muggeridge only .168 of a second down for his first World Supersport podium . Meregall i was a disa ppo inted fourth , with Kellner just ahead of the impressive Ruben Xaus, clearly the fastest man after pract ice. Th e big sto ry was not at the sharp end, but at the blunt end, where St ephane Chambon was lang uishing down in ninth, dropping a whole rack of points to the Paolo Casoli (15) gave Ducat! its first World co nvinci ng leader, James Supersport win or the year. Whitham . had w ere th at I was sha ttered at the end of each race. I chucked my lu nch up again in the second race, beca use my fi t ness has suffered when I've not been rid ing Superbikes.· Th e aforementioned Bostrom d id have the pleasure of beating A prilia 's Troy Co rse r , struggling wi th setu p in race one, with t he A merican seventh, Corser ei g h th and h is once-more i m p r e s s i v e tea m m a te A le s s andro A n t o n e ll o , in n in th , even if h e was fighting t i re probl em s . It w a s se t u p problems tha t plague d Co rs e r in race one, ho wev er. "T h e se t u p w a s all wrong in r ace on e , the b ik e w a s ju st fa r too lo w d o wn front and back , " Corser said . ' T h e troubl e i s not having e n o u g h time to set the thing up around here. But th e main problem was pace. I j ust cou ld n ' t sta y with the fastest r iders a ro u nd h ere. I was twisting the throttl e so hard I t ho ug h t the c a b le was going to b rea k !" Ro bert U lm w a s le ft to ca r ry the race o ne Red B u ll G erin fl ag, a ft e r A n d y Meklau w a s p resen t ed w ith a b lack one for a j u m ped start, and then refused to ackn owledge it . Meklau, beh in d Corser and Sl ig ht i n th e second ra c e , did manage t o beat no fewer t h an th ree full wo rks men fro m the paltry 17 finishers , takin g eighth and the edge off his rage at his luck in race one. Very impressive in 15th and 12th was Markus Barth , with an R7 n o slower in top speed than Haga 's , w ith h is teamma te J u rg en Oelschlaeger in 18 th and 13 th . RACE O NE E dward s, in t e n t on d e li v ering o n h is p romise of th e two wi n s he lo st in th e fina l co rners last yea r , had a simi la r t ri c k pull ed on him a ga in - th i s t ime b y the w ily o ld fox of th e Super- c u e ' e In the second race, Troy 8a)'Iiss (2 11 j oin ed in the fun at the front, even l ea din g the race o n one occas i o n . The Australian Is seen h e re g iving c hase t o Edwards through one o r Monza's many c hicanes. b i k e paddock , C h i li. In f ront of h is h o me crowd , Ch il i chased E dwa rd s dow n in t he closi ng l ap s, w it h both r id ers wa iting u ntil th e fin a l c i rc ui t before p la y in g th eir h igh- sp eed game of c at an d mouse to a conclusio n. A few b izarre t wi sts pre -d ated t he final moves of the rac e, w ith Ed w ard s ru nn ing off th e track trying to pa ss Chil i , continually look ing round as if to let the Suzuk i pass , w ith th e m ystery play rounded o ff by a photo -fin ish, the photo showing Ch ili barely a head . It lo oked in t he ea rly stages as if Edwards would m a ke g o o d his in t en d ed esca pe , w ith Chili tangled up w ith o ther rid ers beh ind , an d Cors er sl otted in t o seco n d - one p lac e ahead o f B ay li ss. S l i ght looked like he ha d n ev e r been awa y from the ro ugh an d tum ble of World Su p erbik e competition, screaming pa st B ay li ss and slamming the door shut at Ret ifilio. On lap three , Edwards h a d a stretchi ng 1.3-second lead , w hich he seemed fully intent on maki ng a domi nant o ne . Had it n ot been fo r C hil i's skil led use of t he track a n d she er pace - wi th a new la p record o n l a p 12 - Edwa rds would proba bly have b een away and clear. So fa st was Ch ili's advance that on lap 12 he had already dragged himself i n t o Edwards' slipstream . Attacking ha rd in t he last corner, Ch ili pa ssed on th e b rakes and h eld o ff E d wa rds t o w in by 2 /1 OOths of a second. Third went t o Yanagawa , who had a lonely race for t he most part after so m e scuffles with Bayliss. Ne ither of n e VIl' s MAY 3 1, 2 0 0 0 9