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/128620
"It 's been fa nta stic to ra ce in fro nt of th is c ro wd, a n d I h a d th e gr e at hon or of being stopped by the Span ish fans to set fire to the 'trac ca s ' fire wo rk s ," Bo s tr om sa id . "I'v e n ev er seen a bunch of pe opl e c e lebra te with so m uch e nthus ias m !" A n e w h ero in Sp ai n , bu t n ot a loca l one . Ha ga was the ma n with th e lighter offe re d up to the fus e in th e s e c ond ra ce , bu t in a m oment of high come dy , t he Japan es e r id e r t o ok th e offered Ja panese flag , onl y to find out it was a n o ld im perial va riet y , c o m p lete w ith risi n g sun ba c kg ro und , wh ich he jett is o ne d a s soo n as h e rea lized the mi stake . Edwa rds, o nce m o re , was s tr ugg ling and was obv io usly n on e t o o p le ase d a bo ut so me t h ing th a t h e allu ded to but ne ve r adm itted to. "It was n' t too pr e tt y was it ? " t he Te xan sa id . "I could te ll yo u wha t th e pro ble m is , but I'm not a llowed to te ll yo u wha t the pr oble m is [su ppos ed ly eit he r tires o r the EFI sett ings ]." A cry pt ic c lue a ll right , bu t a clea re r fac t is t hat t h e w ho le C a s t ro l Hon d a c a m pa ig n is a s h a dow of its for m e r se lf. Even Aa ron S light wa s co m p lai n ing that Edwards wa s hold ing h im up in ra c e o ne . Pe te r God da rd, onc e m ore a World S u pe rb ike rider (and confirm ed as a sta rter at La guna Se c a as we ll) was in stro ng a nd determ ine d for m , winning batt les with Sligh t , fron t- ro w s tarter Ka t su a k i F uj iwa ra a nd Apr il ia 's Antone llo . "I co uld ha ve go ne fas ter on a cou ple of the lat er s ect ions of th e tra ck, b ut oth erwis e I' m h a p p y eno ugh , " s a id th e Aussie . Go dd a rd 's st r ength c o n t r as te d sharp ly with th at of Aki ra Ya nagawa , who was so up s et with his poor show ings t h at he di sap p e ared off to h is (Abovel Race one was won by Corser (31 with Bostrom (15 51 getting second and Haga (411 third. It was Corser's fourth race win of the season on the factory Aprilla. (Leftl Colin Edwards (21 had an off day. Here he holds off his teammate Aaron Sl ight (1111, Suzuki's Katsuaki Fuj iwara (gl a nd Ducat! privateer Haruchlka Ao kl (121. m o t or h o m e a n d wa s ne v e r se e n a ga in aft e r ra c e two . He d id, however, m ana g e to mutt e r e a rlie r: "I a m not very ha ppy , becau se I thi nk m y rid ing style is too hard a t th is tra c k. I a lmost c ra s he d at turn 12 a nd I ha ve los t a bit of co nfidenc e in the front tire ." Fro nt row qua lifier Robert Ulm was luc ky to esca pe with on ly a co nc uss ion afte r co llid ing with Ba yliss seconds aft er th e sta rt of ra ce one . Lying on th e tra c k , it was a mi ra cle no one hit him , a nd after be ing robbed mi d week, it was ob vious ly not Ulm 's ha p pies t tim e. Andreas Mek lau was a no ther with m ixed for tu nes , a good 1 1th after not the g reatest st a rt in t he wo rld a n d then a clash with Borja , wh ich c a me not lon g befo re Mek lau m is se d out o n a fin ish a ll togethe r by c ras h ing in t urn o ne in ra c e t wo , trash in g his m a ch ine . " Ano t h e r co u p le o f la p s e n dI mi gh t hav e go t to Ya n a g a w a a nd Antonello , in race o ne , but I just we nt into th e firs t c o rner too fas t in ra c e tw o and lost th e fro nt," Me kla u s a id. "I ha d a cla sh with Bo rja as we ll." Th e A lp ha T e c hni k S up e rbi ke m en , Mar ku s B arth a n d J ur ge n Oelsc hlaeger, were in the thic k of the action a s a lways, with Barth running off th e t ra c k tw ice, a ltho ugh he did s c or e a po int in ra c e one . Th e m an of the day is a ha rd ca ll, wit h th e g rit ty Pie r-Fra nc e s c o Ch ili co mi ng close for h a v in g th e h eart br e ak of sma sh ing h ims e lf up at Mis cu e I e n e uv S • J U LY 5 . 2000 13