Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Loroil Ci..uir Doho. Gloror Toseland (38 each), with Pitt fourth, on 27. Fabrizio and Barros have 19 points ea(h. in equal fifth place. RAC€ ON€ Race one was a real classic, with surprise early leaders. You could get 25-l on a Kagayama win, I 7 {or Toseland and a whotr. ping ll to I for Haga. How wrong the bookies were this time - Pitt and Haga took an early advantage into the l8-lap race, with Bayliss, Corse. and Kagayama close by. Jones was to last only a few comers, before falling in a fast ri8ht, not a good resuh for a man with a hole in his knee after a fall in qualirying. The leadinS duo soon made it a realduo, by squeezing almost a second advantage over Bayliss after one lap, with Corser, Kagafdma, Lanzi and Walker making the top seven. Muggeridge was lelding fast-startinS Fabrizio and Toseland in the top ten, before Toseland got his tempo up. Barros w-as a lowly l5th, after some "arEy bargy'' in the lirst few corners with Kag4"ama Barros' bike was not the fastest out there. but Fabrizio's llrst-lap-speed trap time was an incredible 192.62 mph. The fastest bike time of the two races were shared between Ruben Xaus and Corser, who each went 193.86 mph in race two. Corcer had passed Bay'iss before the end of the second lap, and set a mightily fast, new lap record of 2:00.544 as he did so. By the flnish of lap three, the flrst four ride6 were covered by a second, with Kagayama in fifth. Lanzi sixth, immediateb/ setting a new lap record himself, at 2:00.449. Toseland was pressuring Lanzi from behind, only marginally slower than the Italian, who feh it ar he pressed on. Lanzi fell in a fast right in the back section of track a lap after sefting his temporary fastest lap. He seemed to lose the rear before he flipped through the gravel at high speed, hurting his knee in the impact. With race pace seftling into a 2:01-sec- ond average, Fabrizio was impressing all those present with his immediately com- bative speed in his rookie SBK year, put- ting his half a season MotoGP experience to good use- Another "experienced rookie," Barros, was in terEh place after frve lap6, setting lo^r' 2:O2-second laps on his still dweloping Honda, which was down on power com- pared to most - certainly iust until new tun- ing parB arrive in Valencia. Pift, rhe longtime ioint leader. was in sparkling form, as he and Haga traded tums at the front. The top five were now a complete bunch by this sta8e, as Kagayama caught up to the front four: with three Aussies and two Japanese making it an all-Pacific affair. It wouldnt last. Kagafama, a race winner from 2005, was past Bayliss on lap seven, as Toseland finally caugtt up with the Sroup - the onty rider doing low 2:01-second l+s and then settinS a 2:00,9 on the eiglrth. Fabien Foret, who broke down in warmup on his far-from-factory Alstare Suzuki, broke aSain in the race, and didn't finish race two either Toseland, still leaming has way around a four-cy'inder machine, set his second con- secutive 2:00 lap, but his fellow Englishman Walker was back in the pit lane by lap nine. with a busted fuelpump being the lirst ofhis A mistake from Bay'iss on lap I I dlowed Toseland to move up to lifth, as Bayliss looked to be struSgling for front grip. Haga was stung into action on lap ll, battering ahead by 0.5 seconds, and his dis- appearing red Yamaha was all Kagayama needed to give chase, passing Pitt. Bay'iss went back to sixth after runninS wide pass- ing Toseland. The runninS order on l+ 12 was Haga Kagafama, Pitt, Corse[ Toseland and Bayliss. A hard pass up the inside by Toseland caused Corser to be pushed wide, and Bayliss went through as well, as Corser had to lift and run even wider to pre\r'ent himself from running off while leaned over. After backmarker Talal Al-Naimi was passed by the top group, lGgayama took the lead on lap 15, passing Haga at the end of the start-linish straight, with Toseland fol- lowing to leave Pift fourth, Bayliss fifth and regained the lap again and had a realty good figtrt wier Fabrizio and many other gup. But it was all fun, even if ny starts were not so good, and I got edged out in the first corner of the flrct race. Now I undersEnd how the machine and tires work We should be bet- ter at the next races." By lap 12, a 2:@.80-second lap had pushed Corser to a one-second lead over Haga and then Pift, with Bayliss and Toseland s1/v"pping places behind. Bay'iss was also on two-minute lap pace, once pas Toseland, with Pitt his next tar8et for a pos- sible pass. An aftempt on lap l3 was repelled when Bayliss ran wide. hrEi, sixth, was some 14 seconds back from the lead with four laps to go, while Muggeridge, Fabrizio and Barros disputed the s€venth to tenth positions. 'After I had destroyed my bike in the first-race incident," Lanzi said. "l felt that the bike I used in fie second race didn't entire. t suit rne the way I wanted because \ /e hadn't used it much over the weekend, and so it was more of a struggle. I paid dearly for my error in race one when I wanted to go and catch them at all costs, but I was a bit too hasty. The crash was a nasty hiShside - very dangerous - in quite a fast comer, the next to last right-hander. Phpically I wasnt |oo-percent for the second race but I got a sixth place, which is okay considering the conditions." Bay'iss up to second place by lap 14, was the only rider cutting two-minute laps, and was clear of the chasing group once in sec- ond, as he hunted down the fleeing Corser It looked like Corser's previous impreS- nable one-second led was definitely in ieoparq. As they dodged the gravel strewn on the track after Chili's crash in tum nine, Bayliss got close to Corser hrt ran wide, and another attempr was defended from the constant pressure from Bayliss. The "wars of Troy'' culminated in a last- lap dust-up between tums eight and the last fa$ left, with Bay'iss overcooking it twice, the second time running out of track, as Corser took the lead and the win. Bayliss was second, some 1.025 seconds down, wath HaSa third. Toseland's late charge was not quite enough, but he did prove that he is lust as much one to beat as any other, and unlike his peers he has not had the luxury of a good winter of testing to rely on so far, There are six riders in terms of likely chal- lengers for race wins, and that's without Barros and company who have yet to Eet up to {ull steam yet. Special mention of the weekend could go to many riders, but the brilliant ride from Ruben Xaus in race two - from a man on cntches who was looking like a rnan on his way to the hospiE , not to ride a Superbike - was outstanding. Teffh was a credit to him, so add another to the list of soon-to-be challengers. Cl{ World Superbikc Championship WORLD SUPCRBIK€ 30 MARCH 8. 2006 . CYCLE NEWS Round I tebruqry 25, 2lJo6 s \ L \ i- e I his woy in lhe two 'l I Corser a slowly languishing sixth. Haga, determined to win from tlre front, repassed Kagayama on lap 16, as Bay'iss started to get the better of Pitt, with a sweet move up the inside on turn six's tiSht radius. KagayarE slotted past Haga at the end of dle front straight, on the start of lap 17, and they changed places once more. Bayliss was looking for third, lapping with a 2:00.9 on his second-to-last circuit, with Toseland locked on as well. Haga ended the drama of the Japanese fraternity, as his cerebral electronics hit a blip. Screaming into tum six on the inside of Kagayanra he lost the front on the brakes and only succeeded in taking out both rid- ers. Thus the batde for the win went the way of Toseland under severe pressure from Bayliss behind. Andrew Pitt scored his ,lrst podium in World Sup€rbike with his well- deserved third, while Corser was fourth, some 2.599 seconds from the win. As the Wnston Ten Kate pit erupted at Toseland's victory we had witnessed a sight that not many could have predicted, Siven the preseason testing resuls. None could deny the speed and prowess of all the top riders, even if Bayliss had dom- inated the proceedirEs up to race itself RAC€ TWO The lSJap race-two proceedings got staned with dle same two Yamahas up front as in race one (Haga and Pift), this time with Toseland jn hot pursuit of them, and with Bayliss then Corser iust behind. Barros, hav- ing a tough time in traffic at the start, was down in 20th place, but by lap three he had dimH up to a l3th. MugSeridge, an irvisible entity in race one after his machine problems, got up to sixth after three tours, with race-one fallen Lanzi se\.enth, Chili eighth, Ro[o ninth ahd Walker tenth, having a personal fEht with Nieto. Laconi crasH out of contention on lap three. The same leadinS group ets r:rce one, without the specter of lGgayama (who ran off track eady on) carried on their figtt, and Corser went into the lead on hp seven, try- ing to put things riSht after his race-one off- podium placinS- Haga set tl|e new lap recond with a 2:00.051 on lap two, and it would stick for the rest of the aace, Craig Jones finrshed off a rerrible day in his first Petronas' weekend with another crash, on lap seven. Barros was on a charge from another dismal start. He had battered his way to ninth by lap seven, lust as the front-runne6, now a tiShty packed group, were doing their bit for entertainment value, With only I . l0 seconds coverinS the top few places, it wai to be a larget dose race again. "Two tough races - and in race two I alrnost hit Chili when he fell." Barros said. "l

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