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/146679
~ ; ROAD RACE World Championshi~_erb_ike_S_eri_es:_Ro_un_d_9 _ Texan Doug Polen was perfect in Japan, winning both legs of the World Superbike race and extending his championship points lead to 26 points over Raymond Roche. Polen ,perfect, pads points lead in apan By Gary Pinehin sueo, JAPAN, AUe. 30 oing .into Sunday's Diesel Jeans World Championship Superbike round at Sugo, defending World Champion Doug Polen held a narrow five-point lead over 1990 World Champion Raymond Roche. By fending off a stern challenge from Kevin Magee in the second leg, Polen scored maximum points in both races, riding the Team Police Ducati on what he calls one of his favorite circuits. The Texan now enjoys a handy 26-point lead over Roche with four rounds remaining. Magee, in his first World Superbike ride of the year, did everything he could to get by Polen and give Yamaha their first win of the 1992 World Superbike season, but even armed with a trick factory OWOI the Australian rider could not wear down the Ducati rider who used every trick in the book to keep him at bay at th,e height of their second race battle. G 22 Roche's title challenge faltered in Japan. He could only finish fifth in the first leg and came home a lowly eighth in the second leg after a typically bad start and a mid-ract) mistake which dropped the former champ out of contention. _ Sugo was a disaster for the other top Aussie in the field, Rob Phillis. The factory-backed, Team Moving Kawasaki rider never really got on the pace after falling in qualifying and his title hopes are fading fast following 11th and lOth place finishes. Giai1carlo Falappa, Polen's teammate, also had a tough time in Japan crashing in the first leg and finishing sixth in the second. His fourth place in the point standings is looking shaky as Fabrizio Pirovano continued his excellent Far East form with two strong thud place finishes at Sugo. He now has 187 points to Falappa's 206. Qualifying Rain and fog hampered qualifying at Sugo, especially in the final Saturday session when the red flag had to be shown twice as fog shrouded the circuit. During the earlier dry periods, Polen claimed pole, only his third of the season, clocking a I-minute, 32.652second lap - inside his own lap record of 1:32.859 set during last year's race on the 3.,32-mile course - at an average speed of 90.03 mph. Polen said, "Well, I just bettered my old lap record here, and we were just starting to get the bike working better. Now the bike is working fine and has enough horsepower to do the trick, but we're still having some trouble getting the fuel injection just right. It will probably never be right because we don't have the equipment needed for fine adjustment here. The only change we made on Saturday afternoon was to soften the rear shock so the bike wouldn't dance around so much in the rain." Only seven-tenths slower, with a 1:33.355, came Magee, having another four-stroke outing on a factory Yamaha. Magee is currently leading the All Japan 500cc Championship but recently finished second in the Suzuka Eight-Hour aboard the factory's YZF TTFI spec machine. Magee was disappointed not to clinch the pole. "I really wanted pole position," said Magee. "I think I could have done it if the weather hadn't gone sour. This is only the second time this year that I have ridden the bike. The first time was at the factory when I did three individual laps and returned to the garage for adjustments. Finally I gave up. The rest of my time has