The
new World Champion celebrates his title with a prerequisite burnout
after Race One.
SBK World Superbike Championship, Assen Round
10 of 12
Wet Superpole to Franki Chili,
Ducati Fila Teammates Xaus and Hodgson Trade Race Wins as
Hodgson Clinches
World Superbike Championship
Assen, Holland, September 5-7th: Britain's Neil Hodgson
(Ducati Fila) wrapped up the 2003 World Superbike Championship with
second place in a very heated battle in Race 1 with team mate Ruben
Xaus and a thrilling victory in race 2 at the Dutch circuit today.
Hodgson, who needed just ten points to clinch the title, and his Spanish
team-mate put on a fantastic show for the 76,000 strong crowd, which
included thousands of British supporters who had crossed the Channel
to see Hodgson's title win.
Neil Hodgson sports
his new number 1/100 T-shirt on the podium with Xaus and Chili after
clinching the Championship with a 2nd behind Ruben in Race One.
Hodgson
becomes the second British rider to win the Superbike crown after
Ducati legend Carl Fogarty, and the tenth Ducati rider to win the
coveted world title. The Italian manufacturer has dominated the 2003
WSBK championship for streetbike-derived machines and this year, with
the new-for-2003 Ducati 999, it has won both the Riders' and Manufacturers'
titles.
Ducati Motor
Holding President Federico Minoli, commenting on the victory, said:
"This is another important chapter in the history of Ducati and
the championship-winning 999 will take its pride of place in the Ducati
museum! We are very proud of the 999's performance in its first year
of racing".
Qualifying
and Superpole has Frankie on top
The
anticipated wet weather made its mark on the second day of qualifying
at Assen, and despite a largely dry track surface under the tyres
of the riders, a"Wet" Superpole was declared. Under these
rules each rider has a maximum of 12 pit exits in a 50-minute period
in which to set his best lap time, with the final top 16 grid positions
allocated on those times alone.
A flurry of early
activity gave the first fastest lap to the man who had scored the
fastest lap in regulation qualifying, Gregorio Lavilla, on the Alstare
Suzuki. His team-mate Vittorio Iannuzzo did not make the final day
of qualifying action, having suffered a severe concussion the previous
day. Chris Walker was another missing rider from the Superpole session,
having suffered a crash in the morning on Saturday. James Haydon's
fall in the morningís timed session also meant that his was
out of action in the final untimed session, even though he did not
qualify for Superpole per se.
The fully dry
track conditions midway through the 50-minute Superpole session was
enough to allow a multitude of riders to make their individual fastest
lap times and the fastest man of them all was Frankie Chili (PSG-1
Ducati) who finally secured the pole position status he had so desired
all season. His late fast lap went unchallenged by Hodgson, despite
the Englishman having three laps left to complete, and enough time
to get one last attempt in.
Despite hitting
the inside of the kerb at the chicane on his earlier fastest lap of
the day Neil Hodgson (Ducati Fila 999 F03) stayed aboard to record
the second best time, a still impressive 2:01.226, well under the
previous track best. In third and fourth places respectively, Gregorio
Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000) and Ruben Xaus (Ducati Fila 999
F3) swept all except Chili and Hodgson before them, and were both
just in the 2:02 bracket, only a few hundredths away from a 2:01.
The 6.027km Assen
track was a challenge for most of the top riders in this battle against
the stopwatch, wildcards and regulars alike. John Reynolds, a wild
card from the BSB Championship series, was fifth fastest on his Rizla
Suzuki, with Regis Laconi in sixth place on his NCR Ducati. James
Toseland, the lone HM Plant man in the Superpole session after Walker's
medical woes, went seventh, ahead of Chris Walker.
The young British
talent from BSB, Leon Haslam (Renegade Ducati 998) went ninth, the
top ten rounded out by Ivan Clementi, in the top six after regulation
qualifying, was ninth quickest overall, while Troy Corser (Foggy Petronas
FP-1) went 11th on his recently modified three-cylinder machine.
Race
Day
"It
hasn't sunk in yet" declared Neil immediately after he stepped
off the podium. "All I can think about is the race, which I was
trying to win. I've never suffered from concentration so bad, but
at a certain point I was thinking 'this is it, this is it, I'm world
champion'. I've been focussed all weekend but because of the battle
with Ruben, I just tensed up and was unable to relax and go for the
race win.
"It means
so much to me to win this championship" he added. "I've
been racing since 1990, I've had an up-and-down career but now I've
proved a few people wrong by winning the title and I truly feel I
can move on from here. I'd just like to dedicate the title to Kathryn
and our baby girl, as well as my chief engineer and right-hand man
Ernesto Marinelli, who couldn't make it here due to a recent accident".
Race
One
The race began with Spainard Gregorio LaVilla powering his Alstare
Corona Suzuki GSXR1000 into the lead ahead of Xaus, Hodgsen and Chili
who were to take up a 3-way scap for second position as Lavilla dominated
the lead. But then on lap 7 Gavilla went off line in one corner and
hit a patch of suspected fluid that spit the Suzuki's front end out
from under him and sent him bouncing into the gravel trap and out
of the race.
The race quickly
changed into a heated 2-way battle for the lead between the Ducati
Fila team mates of Xaus and Hodgson as they traded the lead as often
as twice a lap and looked like they were ready to take each other
out and any moment. Ruben needed to finish up the season on a winning
streak to secure a contract for next season. While Neil, said afterwards,
he didn't want to secure the Championship in Race One (he only mneed
to finsh 6th or better to secure the remaining points needed for his
crown) without being on the top of the podium. He didn't want to have
to give some critics who had hounded him his whole career the chance
to say he lucked into the this Championship. But with so much running
through his head (including becoming a first time father just a few
days earlier), Neil found he wasjust too tense on his bike and just
didn't have the presence of mind to retake the lead from Xaus on the
final lap. Ruben would take the race win by just half a second over
Hodgsen, followed by Frankie Chili on the PSG 998F 02 and James Toseland
on the HM Plant 998F 02 and of hios team mate Chris Walker. Troy Corser
would bring the underpowered Foggy Petronas home in 6th for its best
ever finsih in World Superbike.
Ruben Xaus, who
rode a storming race to take his fourth win of the year in Race 1,
immediately congratulated his Ducati Fila team-mate on his championship
victory. "Congratulations to Neil and Ducati Fila, who have done
a fantastic job all through the year. It was a pretty difficult race
because there was so much tension between Neil and myself. I didn't
want to make any mistakes but I did, throughout the race. Sometimes
I was faster than him, and he was faster than me, we had to take the
battle right down to the last lap, when I think Neil relaxed a bit
because he knew he was going to be world champion".
Neil leading with
his newly installed 1/100 front number panel ahead of Ruben (11) and
Gregori (22) in Race Two. With reigning #1plate holder, 2002 champ
Colin Edwards not racing in World Superbike this season, and with
Hodgson possibly headed to MotoGP next year as well, this modified
#1/100 plate was a great idea by Ducati and the only chance in the
next few weeks for Neil to carry the coveted #1 plate.
Race
Two
With the 2003 Superbike Championship in his pocket, Hodgsen was much
more confident and relaxed for Race Two and would lead it from start
to finish, hounded every foot of the way by team mate Ruben Xaus.
Hot on Ruben's exhaust pipe was Gregorio Lavilla with the GSXR and
James Toseland on the HM Pant Ducati, but in the closing laps both
riders found their Dunlop rear tires chunking and Toseland had to
retire to the pits. Dunlop has being trying to enter the World Championship
arena, but even in American Superbike, has been having a difficult
time developing a new tire for the new generation of high horsepower
1000cc Superbikes.
The Ducati 999's
triumphant day was completed with another victory for the promising
young Italian Lorenzo Lanzi (Team Rox Ducati) in the round of the
European Superstock Championship.
Race
1:
(Laps 16 = 96,432 Km)
Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team /Gap
1/R. XAUS/ESP/Ducati Fila/33'07.249
2/N.HODGSON/GBR/Ducati Fila/0.609
3/P. CHILI/ITA/Team PSG-1/0.835
4/J. TOSELAND/GBR/HM Plant Ducati/1.062
5/C.WALKER/GBR/HM Plant Ducati/14.737
6/T. CORSER/AUS/Foggy PETRONAS Racing/22.981
7/L. HASLAM/GBR/Renegade Ducati/23.118
8/I. CLEMENTI/ITA/Kawasaki Bertocchi/23.350
9/S. MARTIN/AUS/D.F.X. Racing Team/45.862
10/M.SANCHINI/ITA/Kawasaki Bertocchi/54.164
11/A. GRAMIGNI/ITA/Nuvolari 391/1'05.147
12/L. PEDERCINI/ITA/Team Pedercini/1'39.774
13/H. SAIGER/AUT/Remus Racing Austria/1'51.449
14/G.LIVERANI/ITA/UnionBike GiMotorsport/1'51.917
15/J. MRKYVKA/CZE/JM SBK Team/1'52.416
Fastest Lap =2° Gregorio Lavilla 2'03.081 176,284 Km/h |
Race
2 : (Laps 16 = 96,432 Km)
Pos /Rider /Nat. /Team /Gap
1/N.HODGSON/GBR/Ducati Fila/32'57.759
2/R. XAUS/ESP/Ducati Fila/0.466
3/G.LAVILLA/ESP/Alstare Suzuki/7.799
4/R. LACONI/FRA/Caracchi NCR Nortel Net./14.884
5/P. CHILI/ITA/Team PSG-1/19.868
6/L. HASLAM/GBR/Renegade Ducati/27.997
7/I. CLEMENTI/ITA/Kawasaki Bertocchi/39.006
8/C.WALKER/GBR/HM Plant Ducati/41.568
9/T. CORSER/AUS/Foggy PETRONAS Racing/43.155
10/J. REYNOLDS/GBR/Rizla Suzuki/48.883
11/S. MARTIN/AUS/D.F.X. Racing Team/57.319
12/M.SANCHINI/ITA/Kawasaki Bertocchi/1'06.208
13/M.BORCIANI/ITA/D.F.X. Racing Team/1'08.487
14/L. PEDERCINI/ITA/Team Pedercini/1'15.103
15/A. GRAMIGNI/ITA/Nuvolari 391/1'27.128
Fastest Lap =16° Neil Hodgson 2'02.649, 176,905
Km/h |
Riders
Championship Standings:
1 HODGSON 431, 2 XAUS 291, 3 TOSELAND 240, 4 LACONI 221, 5 LAVILLA
201, 6 WALKER 191, 7 CHILI 186, 8 MARTIN 109, 9 BORCIANI 98, 10
PEDERCINI 97, 11 CORSER 81, 12 SANCHINI 80, 13 CLEMENTI 62, 14
BORJA 59, 15 BUSSEI 52 |
Manufacturers
Standings:
1 DUCATI 500, 2 SUZUKI 251, 3 KAWASAKI 101,
4 PETRONAS 92, 5 YAMAHA 56, 6 HONDA 25.
|
2003
MotoGP World Championship, Spain Round 11
Capirossi
destroys the Pole in Qualifying on Ducati, but...
Rossi and Honda Dominate the
Race in Spain
|
Estoril,
Spain, September 7th: The reigning World Champion Valentino
Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) stole the show again here in sunny
Estoril with a win in front of a 45,000 crowd. His performance
showed precisely why he is now leading one of his toughest World
Championships so far by 46 points from his nearest rival Sete
Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V).
Ducati MotoGP Team
rider Loris Capirossi stormed to pole position at windswept
Estoril on Saturday to break the track lap record by over 1-second,
with team-mate Troy Bayliss securing a second-row start for
his first race at this challenging circuit. Capirossi’s
third pole of the year highlights recent detail improvements
to the team’s awesomely fast Desmosedici MotoGP bike.
These upgrades include a new Ohlins front fork, a new chassis
and new bodywork which improve the bike’s rideability. |
Rossi after his win. 220hp held a bay with one hand. A god,
or what?
This photo deserves a Caption Contest: Mail to :Editorial
@ FastDates.com
|
“I’m very happy,” grinned Capirossi,
whose pole time was a phenomenal 1.38 seconds inside last year’s
Estoril pole. “We’ve done a great job here over the past
two days, and this pole position is like a present for everyone in
the team. The bike was perfect this afternoon. This morning I was
joking with (Sete) Gibernau that I’d do a 1m 38.5, but I went
even faster than that, which is great. The race will be very difficult
but after today I’m confident that I can be part of the fight
for victory.”
But on Sunday
for the race Va;entino Rossi was measured and merciless and neither
Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) who finished second nor Loris
Capirossi (Ducati) who was third had any answers to his dominance.
Rossi made his usual scything progress through the field on the opening
lap after a mediocre start from the front row and once he was behind
Biaggi by lap two, he looked at ease matching the Roman's pace in
the first half of the 28-lap race. At mid-distance on lap 14 he slipped
past Biaggi at turn one at the end of the long start/finish straight
and began putting some distance between himself and his rival. He
pulled out one second in one lap and then turned up the heat in the
next set of ten laps to lie 3.6 seconds ahead three laps from the
end.
Biaggi finished
a determined second, never letting up for a moment and keeping the
duel for third between Capirossi and Gibernau well behind him. Capirossi
had stalked Gibernau in the closing laps and on the final lap he went
through at turn one before getting out of shape and allowing Gibernau
through at the chicane. But Capirossi drafted the Spaniard on the
straight and then beat him by just over a hundredth of a second across
the line.
Rossi needed this win to steady himself for the title run-in after
two of the most closely-fought Grands Prix of the MotoGP era. After
narrowly losing out to Gibernau in Germany and then beating him in
the Czech Republic by a similarly wafer-thin margin, he had to show
that he still had the muscle to dictate a race on his terms.
He was utterly
convincing today. Fourth out of turn one, he dispatched Gibernau and
Capirossi on lap one, but had to chisel away at Max Biaggi who was
leading by a clear 0.6s as the pack crossed the line for lap two.
By lap four he was right on Max's tail and in his usual early-race
fashion he chose to wait and watch as Max coolly stayed in front,
riding smoothly and refusing to be pushed into doing anything rash.
Biaggi and Rossi
were shadowed closely in the early stages by a Capirossi/Gibernau
pairing, but neither of them could make any impression on the front
men who were running hot in the low 1m 39s bracket. The pace was too
much for them and they were destined to have an epic last lap scrap
between themselves as Rossi and Biaggi made the running.
But Biaggi had
no answer when Rossi finally decided to make a break at half race
distance. Rossi moved into the lead on lap 14 slipping underneath
Max at turn one. In that one lap he pulled out a one second lead and
then gradually extended it further once he got into his own rhythm.
He worked the hard compound front and rear Michelins to their maximum,
sliding his RC211V around the 4.182km track almost like a 200mph dirt
track machine at times.
By the end of
the race Rossi had a comfortable 2 second advantage over Biaggi, although
it had been as high as 3.6s before he eased off during the final lap.
Biaggi finished comfortably ahead of eventual third-place man Capirossi,
but there was nothing comfortable about how Capirossi had to fight
for his podium place.
On the last lap he inched past Gibernau at the popular turn one overtaking
spot and Gibernau stuck as close as he dared when the pair went into
turn seven. But Capirossi had a huge slide on the exit and Gibernau
used this slip to glide by into the chicane. But Capirossi wasn't
done and the Italian drafted the Spaniard along the straight before
diving out his slipstream and crossing the line half a bike-length
ahead.
Tohru Ukawa (Camel
Pramac Pons RC211V) rode a strong race to fifth place while rookie
Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) made the top ten in ninth at this
difficult track. Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda RC211V) was another man
in the top ten in tenth while Ryuichi Kiyonari (Telefonica Movistar
Honda RC211V) was 16th. Rossi leads the World Championship with 237
points from Gibernau with 191 and Biaggi with 161 as the MotoGP bandwagon
heads to Rio in Brazil in two weeks time.
1). 46 Valentino
ROSSI ITA Honda RC211V(4) Repsol Honda Team 0:46:48.005; 2). 3 Max
BIAGGI ITA Honda RC211V(4) Camel Pramac Pons 0:46:50.099; 3). 65 Loris
CAPIROSSI ITA Ducati Ducati Marlboro Team 0:46:53.259; 4 15 Sete GIBERNAU
ESP Honda RC211V(4) Team Telefonica Movistar Honda 0:46:53.274; 5).
11 Tohru UKAWA JPN Honda RC211V(4) Camel Pramac Pons 0:46:58.586;
6). 12 Troy BAYLISS AUS Ducati Ducati Marlboro Team 0:47:02.251; 7).
33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Yamaha Fortuna Yamaha Team 0:47:04.148; 8).
7 Carlos CHECA ESP Yamaha Fortuna Yamaha Team 0:47:06.088; 9). 69
Nicky HAYDEN USA Honda RC211V(4) Repsol Honda Team 0:47:06.289; 10).
6 Makoto TAMADA JPN Honda RC211V(4) Pramac Honda Team 0:47:09.820;
11). 4 Alex BARROS BRA Yamaha Gauloises Yamaha Team 0:47:12.064; 12).
56 Shinya NAKANO JPN Yamaha d'Antin Yamaha Team 0:47:15.087; 13).
19Olivier JACQUE FRA Yamaha Gauloises Yamaha Team 0:47:15.656; 14).
45 Colin EDWARDS USA Aprilia Alice Aprilia Racing 0:47:19.510; 15).
41 Noriyuki HAGA JPN
Aprilia Alice Aprilia Racing 0:47:45.123; 16). 23 Ryuichi KIYONARI
JPN Honda RC211V(4) Team Telefonica Movistar Honda 0:47:49.417; 17
10 Kenny ROBERTS Jr. USA Suzuki Suzuki Grand Prix Team 0:47:49.547;
18). 21 John HOPKINS USA Suzuki Suzuki Grand Prix Team 0:47:54.606;
19). 99 Jeremy McWILLIAMS GBR Proton KR Proton Team KR 0:47:58.963;
20). 9 Nobuatsu AOKI JPN Proton KR Proton Team KR 0:47:59.528; 21).
88
Andrew PITT AUS Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team 0:48:06.555; 22). 52
David DE GEA ESP Harris WCM WCM 0:46:58.734; DNF 8 Garry McCOY AUS
Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team, DNF 35 Chris BURNS GBRHarris WCM.
Tony Elias won
the 250 race comfortably from Manuel Poggiali, with Randy de Puniet
third (all Aprilia). But the scrap for second and third places was
the high point of the race, with Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW)
losing out on a probable third and possible second when Sebastian
Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) collided with him
at the chicane on the final lap.
After a restart
due to a second lap incident involving Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia)
and Youichi Ui (Derbi), the 125 race was won by Pablo Nieto from his
team-mate Hector Barbera with Alex de Angelis (all Aprilia) third.
It was Nieto's first ever Grand Prix win. Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica
Movistar Junior Team RS125R) was fourth and increased his World Championship
lead to 38 points over Stefano Perugini (Aprilia) who crashed out
of the race.
