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/128619
World Supeo obiIce Chai i ~ lSI lip B y G O RDO N R IT CHIE P HOTOS BY G OLD & G OOS E M1SANO, SAN MARINO, JUNE 18 r o y Corser co u ld ha rd ly b e d e s c ribed as a World Supe rbik e n e w b o y, bei ng the 19 9 6 Wor ld Ch a m p ion a nd a ll, but in terms of his re latio nsh ip wit h his Ap rilia RSV, he is still on ly jus t pa s s ed t he h a lfwa y point in h is first te rm of Ap rilia edu cati on . Yet h e took his la te st Ita lian V-twi n to two cle ar wins a lo ngs ide th e Adr iatic coast of Misa no , by e ight and four s econds ap ie ce , while taking the fie ld apa rt. Com p reh en siv e ly, as if savoring it pie ce by p iece, "We ha d 'a little bit of a n a ccele ratio n and to p -s p e e d disa d va nta ge at th e last two tra cks, but he re the bike wa s perfe ct ," Co rs e r sa id, "We put t h e settings we used from ou r test her e a few weeks a go on to the bike a nd ha rd ly tou ch ed it a ll weekend . We 're ready to win now , be c a us e th e bike is right th ere. I wa nte d to p rove to peo ple that we can win in th e dr y and the wet. " In an y ot he r mea su ra ble form , the w hol e week end a t Misa no - yet a no ther crash -ha ppy and ne ve r-e nd ingl y dram a tic e ve nt in this yea r of e nhanced chaos in the World Super- T 26 JUN E 28 , 2 0 0 0 ' cue • e bike cosmos in ge ne ra l - belonged to th e ne w pupp e t e e rs , wh o pu n c hed a nd bra wled their wa y to the podi um finish e s , a s yet ano the r wav e of the old gua rd wilted in the heat of com petit io n, both lite ra l a nd figur ati ve . How e lse ca n we ex pla in th e fa c t th a t , d esp ite t he co m ple te domi nation of the ve ne rable Cors er (a m an wh o took th e lap re c o rd at the modi fie d Mis a no c irc uit , tw o provis io na l pol e s a fter e ach t im e d ses s io n, the Supe rp o le win , two ra ce fa stest la ps a nd a debut Aprili a d oub le win ), it wa s the young , o r at le a st ne w, pre te nders to the four-st roke cro wn who for ced th eir wa y to s na tc h rest of the si lverware? And an yone who pred icted that Kat sua ki F ujiwara a nd Ben Bo strom wo uld kick , scratch and deserved ly over - ride t he m s e lve s onto t h e ros trum in race one and two , respective Iy, ought to give up their da y job and wo rk the ta bles in La s Vegas . "I'm starting to get ba ck to my real self now ," a ha p py Bo s tro m sa id . "I was s liding a lot in th e rac es , but I like it thai wa y a nd if I'm sliding I'm go ing fas t. I want to put th e bik e on the top of the podi um in La guna ." T ipping Troy Ba yliss to tak e tw o second places on his Duc ati wo u ld n Ie vv S h av e be en a shr ew d but n o t ou t la nd is h th ought , b ut his teamma te , J uan Bo rja , so disma lly off the pa c e in Hock e nh e im , ca me good in ind us tria l qua ntiti e s a t Mis an o , ba tt li ng hard a nd sliding his Mich elins to ve ry cred ible fourt h a nd fifth pla ce s . "I wo u ld ra ther ha ve be e n o n th e pod ium , b ut I'm fe e ling mu ch m o re Troy Corser (3 ) is already pulling away from the field in the f irst of two World Superbike races in M isano, Italy. Corser and his Aprilia were dominant , winning both races, much to the chagrin of m e n like Noriyuki Ha ga (41 ). co nfident o n the bike ," Borja sa id. "I was ve ry good tod a y so I'm looking forw ard to Va le nc ia. " Juan Borja (19) holds off Akira Yanagawa (hi d den) and Ben Bostrom (15 5) in race one.