Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

FIM W o r ld Superbike C h a m p io n s h ip Round 6 : Hoc k enhe imring Beh ind , a real sort-out w ith Slight, man dust- up, as the rest wilted under Corser. Antonello and Meklau was to the pressure of works horsepow er b ac k up to th ird agai n on lap n ine , and fired himself into the lead o n the b ut all the constant moves made way in to C la r k . O n e l a p la ter ( a n d corner , and Chili was on his way out with a c ompletely destroyed Du n lop rear. A nip-and -tuck battle on the fi nal la p all ow ed Bayliss to keep his head ( a n d the l ead ) in to the Motodrom section , h old ing off Yanagawa by a m ere 0 .202 seconds to w in his first - bei n g waged , with A ntonello outbrak- applied to the tarmac b y th e best rid- in g himself at t he chicane an d losing ers. agains t each o the r . and t h e vast speed of Yanagawa 's mac hine, was with only one to go d ue to Hocken - ever World Superbike race. A n amaz- hei m 's huge 4 . 2 1 1 - m il e l e n g t h ) , m ak in g the b attle for the win a five - Bayl iss was a head again at the first ing performance. but an even b ig g er surprise was t he demo tion of E dw a rd s to fo u rth , as Hag a to o k t he last podiu m p ositio n u sing guts and Yanagawa . with his hunting h ead vi tal seconds to his opposition. Ba c k to the front. and Haga was on firm ly , saw his chance on la p I I g u ile in eq ua l measure . RACE2 Ducati's annus disastrous took yet anoth er machiavellian twist in the run up to Hockenheim , with a whole raft of rider changes pre-datin g the first practice sessions - but only ju st. On the Wednesday before the Hock enheim race weekend, Ducati cam e out with the not-unexpected news that Troy Bayli ss would be replacing Carl Fogarty until the end of the season, whether or not Fogart y returns thi s year. His move was m ade possible by the fact that none other than John Kocin ski would be taking over his AMA berth in the Vance and Hines team (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ducati operation). Of even greater magnitud e was the news, offici ally brok en only one day before the start of first pract ice, that Juan Bautista Borja, form erly of the NCR Ducati squad, would be doing a swap with Ben Bostrom , moving into the full factory team. with the Am erican tak ing close techn ical support with him into the NCR setup. Alth ough still on Michelins, Bostrom is soon expected to swap back to his preferred Dunlops - a great irony as Borja started the season on Dunlops, only to throw them over for more familiar Mich elins. It was clear from Bostrom' s body language and silent start to the weekend that he was far from happy to be demoted in such a way - lack of results not withst anding . In addition to a new team and new sponsors, Ben Bostrom had another piece of kit at Hockenheim - a head co ach in the form of Randy Mam ola - present to try and help Bostrom make the breakthrough that his talent and moti vation promi se. The ever-grinning Bayliss was delighted by the news that he woul d be given his big WSB cha nce half a year ahead of any expected schedule. "Yeah I' m really happ y to be given the chance. and I' m sure I'll reall y enjoy it," he said. "I know I would have enjoyed riding in the AMA series, but at least I don't have to risk racing at some of the dodgy tracks they have over there now." Th e state of disarray and indecisiveness in the Ducati cam p after Monza, where they had still failed to bag a podium 10 races into the year, was perfectly illustrated after they tested at Misano for two days befor e th e Hockenh eim event. Not on ly Bost rom and Baylis s were given track time on the Infostrada Superbikes, but Borja and even Ruben Xaus, Ducatl's gifted (if inci dent- prone) Spanish Supersport prodigy , with all of them postin g quite similar time s. Althou gh the offici al reason for opting for Borja was that he seemed to be the best bet. it is k nown that the circuit of Valenci a, the Spani sh Ducati importer and others have a vested interest in seeing Borja (sponsored by both ) on the works machine, with Valenci a only three weeks away and a circuit to fill with Valenci ans. Xaus, passed over for the chance to tum a disastrous run of results in Supersport into half a leami ng season for Superbik e, has made his feelings clear on the subject . "I don't thi nk that the decisio n to let Borja ride instead of me has anything to do with the test we did at Misano. I wanted to ride Superbike thi s year, but Ducati ask ed me to do one year in Supersport. I am very disappointed to have seen my ch ance to get a ride in Superbik e this year and then lose out." Accord ing to Team manager David e Tard ozzi, "The deci sions were made at a high ma nagement level within Ducati, after we had tested with all four riders." A lth ough unwilling to give exact lap times from the test, T ardo zzi confir m ed that Bayliss was no mor e than a 10th faster than any of the others. It also appears clear, from Tard ozzi's further statements. that the changes with in the Ducati camp are not at an end. "When Carl comes back. he will have everything he had before - all his machines, his m echanics, everyth ing back with him . Carl's position within the team is - untou chable. At the mom ent, Troy is using Carl' s mechanics and machines, but we will be able to find a solution to run three bikes." Borja's initi al taste of the official Ducati was sweet and pleasant, with the Spaniard fin ishing the first untim ed session fourth -fastest. A crash in the second session dropped him to 13th . as he found it tougher going to get the most out of his new machine. "The feeling from the bike is good , but there is still a lot of work to do," he said. "In part icul ar on the rear suspension. which will allo w me to work on the right choice of tire. I lost gri p and slid off after the first chicane in a part of the circuit from where it was only possible to get back to the pits on foot , and I lost more than 20 m inut es. I was then unable to im pro ve my time in the rest of the session." Th e second qualifying session was even worse, with the Spania rd blam ing machine problems for dropping him to J7th - out of Superpole and struq gli ng . "I still don't have the right feeling with the bike. and I have to try very hard to get the power down onto the tarmac," said Borja "I don't understand why we've got these probl ems because they act ually appear on the straights and that's why we can 't find an explanation." On e man with a particularly strong sense of sh ad en{reud e at Hockenheim was Tr oy Co rser, m uch amused by the straits that Ducati has gotten itself into after he was unceremoniously fired from the official team last season. "I ju st think it's really funny ." he said. "They put all their eggs in one bask et wi th Carl . and now they'r e paying the pr ice . They had two riders who coul d get results for them, and then they went to j ust Carl, because that 's who they wanted. Then they signed Ben as the new guy. Now they don 't have any of the riders they started the season with . As far as I'm concerned, Ducati are tak ing the easy way out and blami ng the riders, just Troy Bayliss celebra t es w inning like they did with me last year." In his Hoc kenhelm debut. 20 J UNE 14. 2 0 0 0 ' eye I e n e "" 51; W here race o ne wa s so met h in g o f an ever-chang ing, ro lling m au l o f an e vent, r a c e two w a s a m u ch m o r e cereb ra l b attle , as th e us ua l bunc h of p o t e n ti a l w in n ers t ri e d t o o u t sm a rt and outma ne uv er each other . B aylis s, hol esh ot m an , found h im self fou rth at t h e e n d o f lap o n e , as Yan a ga wa , E dw ard s an d Corser beat h im back . Edwards, determined t o wi n aft er t h e one t h a t got awa y earl ier, t hen took the early lead , an d o nce more tr ied to b reak the w ill of t hose b ehin d . slowest co rn er on t h e track) to ge t Hag a for k eeps. H is bold move, ca using Haga to lift u p or crash . w as reci procated on the exit of the comer as Ed w a rd s just shimmied off line b y a foot. and Haga stuck his Ya maha in to a gap which was only half that. O nc e ahead , the last d o uble right of the Su d T ribu ne w as all that separated Hag a fr o m a race win , a nd t he Ja p a nes e m an k ept h is h e ad c oo l an d his throttl e p inned to th e stop t o t ak e f ull points, with Edwards second a n d Ch il i a smart and h ard w o r k in g third. B ayliss' dream d ouble d isappeared in the w ak e of the o th er three , b ut it wa s a 'su c c essf u l d a y for the Du c at i b ro t h e r h o o d , just for a c h a n g e t h is year. S light w a s o n ce more f ift h , w ith C o r s e r s i xt h - a nd ev e r yo n e wh o wa tched it a winn er. CN Hockenheimring HockenheUn,&ennany Results: June 4, 2000 SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING: I. Colin Edwards ( 1:59 .99 1): 2. Troy Bayliss (2 :000 .479) : 3. Aaron Sligh t (2:00 .496): 4 . Pier-Frencescc Ch;); (2:00 .620): 5 . Tro y C orse r ( 2: 0 0. 7 6 3); 6 . No r iyuk l Haga ( 2 :0 0 .9 8 1): 7 . Akira Va nagawa (2 :01. 129) : 8 . H is p at ent failu re t o do so may sa y lo ts o f things about himself, his pursu ers, t heir re sp ec tive mach ines, and the natu re of Hockenheim , bu t after Alessandro Antonello (2 :01.341 ); 9 . Simon Crafar (2:0 1.620) : 10. Ben Bostrom (2 :01.709): II. Robert Ulm (2:0 1.752): 12. Voltoriano Gu e reschl (2: 0 1.84 5): 13. James Haydon (2:0 1.84 5) ; 14. J ohn Reynolds fiv e l aps , B ayliss w a s t e m po rarily b a c k in th e numb er - on e sp o t. Edw a rd s re sto re d h is ow n ide a s o n ( 2 :0 2 . 7 55 ) : 20 . Markus B art h (2:02.806 ) : 21. th e n atu ra l o rder of things by forci n g h im self b ack into th e lea d , which he w ould keep o n every p a ss over t he sta rt-fin ish fo r n ine la ps. Ba y liss, Haga, Yanagawa and C h ili (2:01.87 8) : 15. Ka tsuak l Fuj; wa r; (2: 0 1.890) : 16. Andy Meklau (2:02. 024): 17. Jua n Borja (2:0 1.3 13): 18. Steve Plater (2:02.363 ); 19. J urgen Oe lschlaeger Ale ssandro G ramigni (2 :02.859) ; 22 . Giovanni Bu sse; (2 :02.995): 23 . Lucio Pedercmi (2 :03 .68 8) : 24 . Ma rco Borciani (2:03 .708 ); 25 . """uro Sa nchini (2: 03.733 ): 26 . Lance Isaacs (2 :03 .818): 27. Paolo Bl ora (2:04 . 193 ): 28. Anthon y Gobert (2 :04.87 4 ): 29 . J o n nie Eke rol d (2 :05 .523) ; 3 0. Alessandro Antonelli (2 :07.498); 31. J iri Mr k yvk a (2:08 .937) : 32. Claude -Alain J a g g i (2 :09 .6 12 ); 33. Vladi m ir Kar ba n (2 :09.893 ) ; 34 . Massimo de Si lvestro ju st at the same time (lap 13 ) t hat B ay li ss w as passing Chili fo r third . W ith Haga leadi ng across the li ne (2 :11.737). RA CE 1 : 1. T ro y Be yfis a ( D ue) ; 2 . Ak ira Yanagawa (Kaw); 3. Noriyuki Haga (YlIm) ; 4. Colin Edwards ( Hon ) ; 5. Ae.ron Sli ght ( Ho n) : 6 . A nd y Mekl au (Due): 7. Tro y Corser (A pr) : 8. Robert Ulm (Due ) ; 9. Ales se n dro AntoneJlo (Apr ) ; 10 . Ben Bostro m (Due) : 11. Simon C ra fer (Kaw); 12. James Hay d on ( Du c); 13 . J Ulin Bo rja ( Du c ); 14 . St eve Pl ater ( Ke w } : 15. MMk us B arth ( Ya m) ; 16 . A less and ro Gr am ign i ( Yam): 17 . Mar c o Bo rcle ni (D uc) ; 18 . K at su ak i Fuj iw ara (S uz) : 19 . Mau ro Sa n c h in i ( D uc); 20 . La n ce Isa ac s ( D u c ) : 21 . Giova nni Bu ssei ( Kll W); 22 . Paolo Blora (Duc) ; 23 . Vlttorl ano Gue resc bl (Yam ); 24. Jirl Mrky vk a (Duc) . Margin of Victory: 0 .202 sec . RACE 2 : I. Norl y uk l Hag a (Yam ) : 2 . Co lin Edwards (Hon) ; 3. Pier-Frances co Chili (Suz) ; 4. Troy Bayliss (Duc ); 5. Aaron Slig ht (Hon ): 6. Troy Corser ( A p r) ; 7 . Al es sandro An tonell o ( A p r ) : 8. And y M~kJllU (Duc) ; 9 . Robert Ulm (Due) ; 10. Ketsuakl Fujiwa ra (Suz) ; 11. Ben Bo strom (Due ): 12. Juan Borja (D ue ); 13. Vitt oriano Guaresch i ( Yam); 14. Sim on Crafar ( Ka..... ); 15. Marku s Berth (Yam ); 16. Lanc e Isaacs (Duc) ; 17. Jurgen Oetschl eeper (Yam ); 18. Marco Borc iani (Duc) ; 19 . Al essandro Gram igni ( Yam ) ; 20 . Paolo Blora (Due) ; 2 1. Jiri Mr k yvk a (Duc) ; 22. Clau de-Ala in Ja ggi (Hon) . Margin of Victory: 0. 170 sec. WORUl S

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