CORSER CROWNED CHAMPION AFTER SECOND RACE CANCELLATION Troy Corser (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) took his second World Champion in peculiar circumstances, after the second race at the Imola circuit was cancelled before it had started, due to torrential rain. Chris Vermeulen (Winston Ten Kate Honda), the only man who had an arithmetical chance of stopping Corser’s surge to the crown, won the first 21 lap race, but with Corser second it was always going to be an uphill battle to secure the overall championship even if race two had gone ahead. After a long delay to allow the weather to improve enough to let racing start, Race Direction eventually called of the event to a reluctant halt. Corser is now an unassailable 55 points ahead of Vermeulen, 409 to 354.
OPENING RACE DRAMA It was to be Vermeulen’s race, but the lead changed between Corser and himself as they took it in turn to head off from a chasing early pack. Crashes and technical issues told on the following riders, and after a tough fight between Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Team Italia) and outgoing champion James Toseland (Ducati Xerox), an off track excursion by the Englishman put him in fourth, allowing Haga a clear run. The strength in depth of the championship this year was perfectly demonstrated by the fact that Petronas rider Steve Martin finished fifth, just ahead of Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki), making it six different machines in the top six places. Walker had his rear brake damaged in his off track excursion, and thus found his machine a handful from that point on.
NEUKIRCHNER SEVENTH AS GIMBERT RETURNS TO FORM SBK rookies Max Neukirchner (Klaffi Honda) and Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) had strong runs in race one, with Neukirchner caught by Martin late on and Gimbert happy on the fast curves and dips of the Imola circuit. The top nine was rounded out by Regis Laconi (Ducati Xerox), who lost power from his recently injured elbow, and faded throughout the race. Rookie Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha rider Gianluca Vizziello scored a popular top ten finish.
REGULAR RIDERS JOIN A LONG LIST OF CRASHERS Some big names fell from top positions at Magny Cours, with the crash list including front-runners Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) and Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia). Like Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki), Pitt crashed but remounted to finish, but only Kagayama took the last point on offer. Local hero Lorenzo Lanzi fell in the treacherous early drying conditions of the delayed first race, as did his compatriot, Pierfrancesco Chili (Klaffi Honda). Ben Bostrom (Renegade Honda Koji) struggled with his lingering back injury to secure 13th place. Only 17 riders finished race one, with 16 riders not making the finish line.
WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP A delayed start to the 21-lap Supersport race led to an all-action contest, which was further interrupted by rain. With warning flags out due to the rains restarting after half distance, red flags came out when the leader Fabien Foret (Team Italia Megabike Honda) crashed. With 14 laps completed, the leg one was pulled back to 13 laps, and thus a restart was required, as it had not gone full two-thirds distance. In the fully wet re-start, Gianluca Nannelli (SC Caracchi Ducati) sent the crowds wild with his and Ducati’s first ever win in World Supersport with the 749R. In second place Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) ensured his second placing in the overall championship, while the drenched ‘Ducastisti’, saw Alessio Corradi take his SL Selmat Ducati 749R to third place in the race - the double podium finish being another first for Ducati’s 749. Neither new world champ Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) nor his team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara could race, due to injuries from practice crashes.
SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP A crash suffered by championship leader and pole position sitter Kenan Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motor Germany) allowed Riccardo Chiarello to overcome Alessio Polita (both Suzuki) for the win. The most significant results, however, were for Craig Coxhell (EMS Racing Suzuki) and Didier Van Keymeulen (Yamaha Motor Germany). Coxhell’s third and Van Keymeulen’s fifth puts the latter in the lead of the series, by a single point over Sofuoglu, while Coxhell is 13 points behind the lead, with only the Magny Cours race left to run.
EUROPEAN SUPERSTOCK 600 With third place man Davide Giugliano (Honda) ruled out for a technical infringement, the Imola 600 Superstock race order was Yoann Tiberio (Junior Megabike Team), Michel Berger (MBE Racing Honda) and Andrea Antonelli (Lightspeed Kawasaki). In the championship battle, leader Claudio Corti (only fifth at Imola) now enjoys a 24-point lead over Tiberio, with just one race left to run.
