Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

one and ony I 4th in race two. Rear-tire grip was down in race one, but he could nonethdess run into corners wEll enough, but changes for race two just left him with reduced front-tire grip - and that held him back even more. Sterilgarda Berik Ducati! Ruben Xaus scorcd seventh in the opening race, but he fell in the second outing, limping away in fronr of a sryrnpathetic home crowd. After Abe's brilliance, on a bike and sus- pension package they seem to have gotten sorted out now, Wodd Superbike rookie Shinichi Nakatomi learned much from a three-day test at Valencia last month and s.ored good poirts, thank to a pair of l2th- place finishes. He looked aggressive $rouShout, and wa5 stoked by his new- found comp€titiYeness. ln the opening race Corser was the leader for most of the race, but it was Bay'iss who was makjrE it count at the end, eaming a winning margin of 2.765 seconds. Corser's teammate Yukio Kagayama finished sixth, before a fall robbed him of a good finish rn Race one was always going to be the propeny of one of the Troys, and riSht from the start, B6y'iss and Corser were the two to beat. It was Bayliss, Corser and Abe ofi the line, with Lanzi soon up to $ird and Nieto up to fifth, at the very llrst right-hander. Haga werft sfaight to si:th place from row three. with Chris Walker seventh and Laconi eigtrth. Toseland was top Honda off the line, and front-row qualifier Steve Martin was drowned in bikes from the start, and went loth aftetr one circuit. lt was the usual story for lt4artin, much promise rn qualifying, the realities of 900cc life in races- Corser passed Bayliss on the third comer of lap one to take the lead, and he was to hold it until lap 19, Haga passed Abe for llfth early on lap two, and attempted to get by Nieto on lap three, on the inside at the final corne[ but drc Spanish locai rebuffed him as he ran wide. But half a lap later Nieto had run wide himsell and allowed not only Haga, but Abe through as well. Baros, well out of sorB, was three sec- onds off the pace at the br€inning, as his nigttmare weekend continued into race one. With damp patches still showin8 on the main straigk, Corser hammered out the fastest l+ of the race up to that point, with a l:35.722, iust about 0.7 of a second from the race lap record. He would get nearer the old mark of Neil Hodgson, but condi- tions were not what €ould be called ideal. All three Kawasaki riders (Nieto, \ v5lkel and Laconi) were locked together in the early stages, a triarcly that would be repeat- ed in race two's final result. On the seventh lap. Haga's attempB up the inside of Lznzi were still rebuffed. but Haga contjnued to chip away on a tight line that no other rider seemed capable of emularing. Haga was to push his way past on turn one of lap eight, with Abe fifth, Nieto sixth, laconi seventh and \rlhlker erCh*r, Kagayama, recovering well it seemed, Yras rigllt in the mix, feeling little ill effects from his big crash on Saturday After slow starts, both Toseland and Pitt passed Xaus on lap eight. Just as Bay'iss w"as drawing level with Corser on lap nine, Walker ran wide at the last corner and allowed Kagayarna to pass. Kagayama and Laconi then had a coming together at the end of the rnain stl'aight on lap I I , and Kagayama got the best of thinSs, running free immediately, iust as Max Neukirchner was being fonced to retire- The group following the leaders was a four-rider version on lap ll, with Ha84 Lann, Abe and Nieto all together, and only the leading dLro cutting l:36 second laps. Lanzi repassed Haga on lap 13, as the rnuhiple-race-winnin8 Japanese rider found his traction fading. Martin's race lasted only until l+ 14, when his Petronas' engine lost power and he was forced to pull in. lker walued past Laconi on lap I 6, but each was being hunted down by Xaus, with serren lapa to run. Lorenzo Alfonsi crashed out on his lTth lap, and as the race continued for another half a lap, Nieto broke down and had to stop in front of his home fans - a broken alternator being blamed. lt was a busy lap for rhe Kawasaki team as Walker hit a damp white line, took to the gravel, and reioined at the back. On the same hp, Bayliss bhsted into the lead on the second left-hand corne[ where Corser had been looking most vulnerable. He immediately put in a Eap of almost half a second to Corsen then almost a seaond one lap later, And so, by that stage, at was a certainty that Bayliss would win - and by an eventual 2.7 seconds, Abe. watching Lanzi pull away from Haga, decided to pass his compatriot on lap 22, at the eod of the main straiglt, and with Kagayarna immediately behind it was an all- lapanese-Superbike race from fourth to six$. The final order of the top I 0 was Bay'iss, Corser, [anzi, Abe, Haga, lQgayama, Xaus, Laconi, Toseland and Pift, with Barros a recovering I lth. The second race looked like it would be Corser's own domain, such was the pace and surprise of his initial escape, but as the end of the race approached, Bay'iss hunted of a second. He was worried he might never quite catch him, but all he had to do was play a game of high-speed patience. Bayliss' teammate Lanzi scored his second podium of the day in third, with Abe and Haga completing the identical run of top five finishers compared to race one. Nieto gave Kawasaki a much-desired top six fln- ish in race two, running has PSG-I ZX-IoR to the uPper echelons, desPite The contr.stjnS fortunes of Sle SupEport and Supertike wings of the len l(ate operatbo at Vaiencia .ould not be more strorEb, illustret€d dlan *rey were this weekend. vvith all the Honda Superbke rijers in a brt of bodler Wodd Super- sport's Sebastien CharPenter raced at lap record pace to take hir third win in thre€ attempts. His new b€st, of I :38.664 wa s€t on hp two, as he made a decisive break from dle chasing pack. He had it atl hb o.vn way, but had tGiin Curtain Oamaha lnlotor Gennany) got ofr to a better stan, then he rnay have not had such a clean six-second advantage. Cunain took sorne time to get to second ph.e on the track, then rode to his third consecutive runner-up spot of dle rear. RenrminS rider l(aEtEki Fuiiwara (MeSabike Honda) was third, despie his lingering wrisr injur/ bodErin8 him from l+ I 0 on. Broc hrk€s C/arnaha Motor Gerrnany) \ /as fourth, despite problens widt rerr-bEke fluid lekirE onto the rear of his rnachine, $/orryin8 him fEt it may be reaching $e back tire. Local rilerjcrdi TorrEs (Speed l4oto Yafiraha) was an impressive frfth, until he vlar dqualilki. His mad ne w6 roo li8tt at dle weBhin, by about three poun&. "Tt'e ra.e wEnt iust p€rlect, it6t like I had phnned, Charpentier said. "l med ao gain as muEh of an adv"nqSe as I coid, as quickly as I could, so lcould control the race wittiout risking too mudr at dle end. The bike was Perfecc dle tires \4ere perlect umil the very last bp. I knew after the test we tEd scme advancge here. so I feh stron8 straigtt awaf ' Pireli bro€tt rnore new tires to \6lencia, wth one new+tyie front and rear for the Superbike guys, and one new rear Ior the Superspon riders. The rmin new rubber wE on drc wheeb ofthe Supersto

• Cover