Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Edwards takes pole at home in an action packed Superpole

Colin Edwards celebrated riding at his home round in fine style at Laguna Seca, he took pole! He also set a new outright best lap pace at 1:24.888. But that doesn’t count as a lap record as WSB rules require record laps to be set in race conditions. He was the only rider into the 1:24 bracket during Superpole.

Troy Bayliss crashed heavily in turn three during free practice in the afternoon and was visibly shaken as he sat in the pits prior to Superpole. Despite the spill he still put in a fast time, lapping the twisting Laguna track at 1:25.301 to take third on the grid.

Ben Bostrom had even worse luck than his teammate Bayliss. ­Bostrom didn’t even get to start his flying lap. He had a fluke spill while cruising around on his warm up lap. “There’s no way you can crash like that,” said the disappointed Californian. “I had just removed a tear off and put my hand back on the bar and then the front end just flew away from me ­even though I was just cruising. I thought I’d got caught out by dirt or gravel but Bayliss reckoned I’d slipped on a tear-off faceshield.” The crash moves Bostrom to the back of the second row, ­one row back from his pre-Superpole qualifying position on the front row and in accordance with WSB rules. He’ll start Sunday’s races from eighth.

The other Bostrom brother, Eric, powered his Kawasaki to an impressive fifth on the grid, just behind Nori Haga who had his Aprilia working better after free practice and qualified fourth. Aaron Yates was the top wild card rider in sixth.

Neil Hodgson survived a big rear wheel slide that almost highsided him and took second on the grid alongside Edwards. “The back stepped right out,” explained the HM Plant Ducati rider. “I’m not sure if the actual slide cost me time but it did effect my confidence for the rest of the lap. I’d seen Ben (Bostrom) crash and I didn’t want to blow it!” Hodgson went on to promise to strip buck-naked if he managed to win a race on Sunday. “Normally I just strip down to my Union Jack underpants, but this year’s different, I’ll strip naked!”

Lucio Pedercini also crashed in Superpole throwing his bike away while on his Superpole lap – that relegated him to 15th. Gregorio Lavilla, who crashed earlier in the day, failed to even start Superpole. He’ll be 16th on tomorrow’s grid.

After Superpole Colin Edwards had a message for the FIM, who fined him 3,000 Swiss Franks (US$2,000 or UK£1,303) for grabbing a marshal’s flag and red flagging the morning’s qualifying session after sliding off on oil.

“I was just trying to save someone’s life!” explained Edwards. “And those generous people at the FIM fined me three grand. I’d like all you people out there to write to your local FIM representative and tell them to get f**ked!”

Before the end of the day Saturday, an official SBK Notification of a Sanction to Mr. Colin Edwards was distributed in the media center. The “motive” for the sanction is listed as “On Saturday 13th July 2002 you have acted improperly while on course.” Receipt of the sanction notification was signed for by Castrol Honda Team Manager Neil Tuxworth.

No word on if Edwards will appeal SBK’s decision.


SuperPole Results:

1. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 1:24.888
2. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 998F01, 1:25.189
3. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 998F02, 1:25.301
4. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RSV1000, 1:25.429
5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:25.668
6. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:26.081
7. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.091
8. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 998F02, no time, crash
9. James Toseland, Ducati 998F01, 1:26.129
10. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:26.134
11. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:26.268
12. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.375
13. Doug Chandler, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.406
14. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.695
15. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, no time, crash
16. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, no time, did not ride in SuperPole

The rest of the grid:

17. Chris Walker, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:26.666
18. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:26.703
19. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.071
20. Peter Goddard, Benelli Tornado 900, 1:27.104
21. Broc Parkes, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.451
22. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:27.640
23. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, 1:27.883
24. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.168
25. Serafino Foti, Ducati 996RS, 1:28.319
26. Alessandro Antonello, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.792
27. Mark Heckles, Honda RC51, 1:28.884
28. Bertrand Stey, Honda RC51, 1:30.304
29. Mark Miller, Honda RC51, 1:30.638

Qualifying Lap-Time (107%): 1:30.772

DNQ. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 996RS, 1:30.980