Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Wor ld Sup erbike C h ampio n ship R o u n d 1 2 : O schersleben . G e r m a n y have co me ba c k with th e g ood s tuff now," Edwa rds said. "We chose the best race se tup and that's why we're s itting here in first place now." O nly harried temporarily by Pier Fr anc e s c o Ch ili in race one a nd th e mere shadow of Troy Ba yliss in race two . but ac tually crossing the line in the lead on every single lap . Edwards has done exactly what the outg oing champion Carl Fogarty has been s aying he should be doing, winning the title by winning races. "The only thing tha t takes awa y from the grandeur of the championship win is tha t there is still all this drug s shit going on with Yama ha or [Noriyuki] Haga or whoever," Edwards said. "So we' ll just h a ve to go to Bra nds and beat him there." With more ra ce wins th a n anyo ne e lse in the se ries now (s e ve n , with Haga 's ephed rine-fueled one included ). Ed wa rd s is firin g o n both cyli nde rs , prov ing the theory that the furor of fl ying aro und the world to co m pete in the a · hou r race and attendant testi ng had ta ken its toll on his concentra tion a nd ability to foc us on two goa ls at once. Ma yb e th a t ' s o ne reaso n why Ed wa rds has been talking to Duc a ti, altho ug h it a ppea rs home still feels best. By G ORDO N RIT CHIE P HOT O S BY G O LD £, G OO SE OSCH ERSLEBEN, G AN , SEPT. 10 ERM Y n tw o s ep arat e oc ca s io n s thi s year , Colin Edwa rds has saved his present em ploy er's bacon. O nce , way ba ck in the first round of the series in South Africa, when he gave the RCS 1 its first race win in full -on Superbike co mpetition, and now that he has almost c e rt ai n ly won t he World Superb ike Cham pionship. Winning the championship is not the big d ea l in itse lf, and t hat is not to undermine the feat of "Big Col" finally ac hiev ing his ambition of be ing World Superbike Cha mp ion, but the fact that it ma y very well be the only road racing Wor ld Ch amp ionship th a t Ho nd a will win in 2000 . For the world's bigg est manufa cturer, and the world's biggest su ppo rter of rae ing in all its forms, this championship is unqu estionably priceles s. Of immense person al sa tisfaction to Ed wards is not just the cham pionship, but the nature of how he we nt about the Os che rs leben race. Often prom ising a dou ble win, he fina lly delivered in so me style. "I've been sayi ng to Michelin a ll year that the tires are shit, shit, shit, but they O 6 S EPTEM BER 2 0 , 2000' cue I e n evvs "I imagine I'll be here next yea r· but I ha ve a couple of offers on the table," he said . " I wou ld like to s t a y with Honda , but we have to discuss s ome numbers." The supporting cast to Edwa rds ' big day was filled with talented individua ls , but during a wee ke nd whe n many fancied Noriyu ki Haga or Troy Co rser to replicate the good form at twisty trac ks like Osch ersleben, eac h of those indio viduals had moderate n ightm ares to contend with. Haga 's problems were chatter from the front, the same type that deposited him on his charging ea r during S upe rpole , and the attendant hassles with tire se lection. Not to mention starti ng from the fourth row. "I'm not sure what the problem was, but I bum t up the tire in m y cha rge to the front," Haga said. "I st ill feel su re that I can get my points back for Bran ds [Hatch] so it's not over yet. " De sp ite h is bra ve wo rd s , n int h in race one a nd fifth in race two, a miracle , a co urtroo m drama or an act of God will be needed to save his chances of losing th e fo u r from his num be r pla te next year. Corse r was in ev en mor e di re stra ights. Involved in a bizar re first-lap Pier-Francesco Ch ili (7 ) chases Edwards (2) in the early stages of race one. The Italian would eventually fade to sixth with a cooked re a r t ire while Edwards went onto w in by over f ive seconds. melee tha t saw J uan Borja crash on the long Hotel corner, with the Spa niard 's Ducati careening into the side of Corso er 's machine, holing its radiator, then going aro un d the corn er of its own accord . where it promptly knocked off Do ria no Rom bo ni and broke his little finger , pu tt ing h im out of the second race . (Th e ghostly Ducati's dethroned rider , Borja , ended his day before it had begun , with a concussion and badly bashed feet.) With Corser 's bike lea king water, his engi ne temp er atu re rose t o ov er 21 2°F, befo re bo iling to a collectio n of se m i-fluid m eta l. Cutt ing out o n th e last few lap s and ca usi ng Corser to run off the tra c k on numero us occasions , th e April ia som eh ow staggered ove r the line befo re exp iring a t th e tra ckside . Yamaha , desperate to keep Cors er at a rms len gth in the cham pionship battle , lodged a n appe a l. T he ba s is for t he a ppeal was that the ma chine could not pass the post-ra ce noise test , m ainl y

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