Colin Edwards
Hon d a , having seen the writ ing on the wa ll - in
B y G ORD O N R IT CHIE
P HOT OS BY G O LD & G OO SE
T
th e World Superbik e technic al rulebook and in the
he co ntrasts are marke d to say the least. Last
T ex an and RCS ] in per fec t harmony - th e pe rfect
w inn ing c om bination.
In short, as th e pre-season testing prog ram s had
proved , th is looked to be T all Co lin's yea r, at least in
the ey es of lots of p eop le wh o knew their cha m p ions
from th eir chu mps.
A nd so far, on th e eve of th e Valencia race, it has
been Edw ar ds' half- year at lea st , bec ause he leads
nearest ri va l T ro y Co rser b y a lm ost tw o fu ll rac e
win s. T he prob lem is, Edwards has had to rely - t o a
greater or lesser ext ent - on other rid ers' m isfortunes
to find him self in a pos it ion to look down on h is riv als
from th e rarefi ed atmosp here at the to p of th e tabl e.
Honda team headq ua rters in Louth. England - ca me
ye ar , World Sup erbik e rac in g belonged t o the
up w ith an answer. Or ra ther tw o answe rs.
First of them was the real izatio n th at , in t erms of
V-t wins, at least those ones wi th a red hue and a set
Worl d Superb ik e ha rdware , fo ur c ylind ers g ood , two
cy li nders bett er. So they went and built a b ig V-t w in
Fogart y yanking th e throttl e ca bl e.
Compl ete m ast er y wa s thus achi ev ed early o n by
all thei r own , and bu ilt it damn go od .
the Angl o -Italia n pair ing, with Fogarty and th e 9 96
beco m ing so me th ing of a sy m biotic vict ory -garn er -
T he oth er sol uti on was th e pretty we ll tried -and -
ing m achin e, cr ushing an d grinding the best of the
test ed Coli n Edwards, a p iece of bolt -o n ha rdwa re
rest int o pi ll ar s of salt by th e end of the seas on. Or
alr eady prog r a m m ed a nd see mi ng ly d e -bugg ed
eve n halfw ay throughthe seas on .
eno ug h to be the o nly ride r Fogarty reall y appeared
J U LY
5 ,2000'
cue
I
e
And th ere the y had it ,
dust lin in g the empty trophy cabinets at the Castro l
of des mo valv es. And especi all y th e o ne wi th Carl
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t o h av e an y respect for.
n
e
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