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Wond Super'bike Chempionehip
Round 11 : Aasen, Holland
(Above) Coming into the Dutch round at Assen, Colin Edwards (2) hadn't won a race since Monza in May, and his lead in the
championship has been dwindling rapidly. His race-one victory - and fifth in race two - gives him a 20-point cushion over racetwo winner Noriyuki Haga. Juan Borja (19) had his best-ever weekend in World Superbike, finish ing second in race one, and
third in race two.
(Below) Edwards (2) got a smoking start in race two - which was run in the dry - but it only lasted a few corners before Haga
(41) got past him. Edwards went backward as he struggled with a tire that was going off. He eventually finished fifth, with Haga
taking the win.
26
SEPTEMBER 13, 2000'
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B y G ORDO N RIT CH IE
ASSEN,HOLLAND,SEPT.3
f a ll th e c ha mpio ns h ip co n te nders to ste p forwa rd into the
br e e ch le ft in Assen's d ikes b y th e
depa rtu re of the undi spute d King o f
the histor ic Dut ch ci rc u it Ca rl Fogar ty , po ss ib ly th e lea st likely c a ndidate
for new ruler wa s Noriyuki Ha ga .
Th e vote for new Princeli,ng wou ld
also have deli ve red few pollin g ca rds
marked up for Jua n Borja ei the r. But
afte r tw o ve ry d iffe re nt co ntests in
As s en , Haga e n de d up top sco re r,
with Borja hot o n h is flying heels .
Th e reason s for th e wonderment at
Haga 's perform a nces we re clea r. With
no Yamah a e ve r having a good result
at Ass en , and Hag a no fan of its lon g,
banked topography, a nyone could be
forgiven for not fan c ying him for even
a podium. But his third pla c e in th e
wet o pene r, and th en a s ubseque ntly
aw e some win in th e dr y second race
ha ve written hi s nam e larg e in t h e
anna ls of Assen histor y.
"I hav en't raced in the rain for ages
and I was very rusty ," said a plainly
O
