By Glenn Le Santo

A perfect performance today by Infostrada Ducati star Troy Bayliss at Assen gave the Australian two wins, enough to clinch the World Superbike title with one round still to go. Bayliss needed a little help from his teammate Ruben Xaus, who took the lead on lap 13 of the 16-lap race after sitting close behind Bayliss since the first lap. But Xaus’ pit signals were no doubt telling Xaus that a win for Bayliss, with Colin Edwards back in 10th place, would secure the World Championship for Bayliss and Ducati.

With only one lap of the race left, and following his team orders to the letter, Xaus stuck out his foot to signal to Bayliss that he was free to pass. On-form Xaus looked capable of winning both races, but held back to help Bayliss to maximum points. Edwards, third in race one but now down in 10th, could do nothing but watch his title slip away. Recent Superbike superman Ben Bostrom finished just behind Edwards for another disappointing race result.

“I love riding motorcycles and it’s great to do it for a living,” said Bayliss after the race, “and now I happen to be World Champion, but I’m the same guy, nothing special and life goes on.” His modesty can’t hide the fact that he’s ridden a brilliant season, winning the title as much due to consistency as to speed. In the races he knew he couldn’t win, he settled down and scored as many points as he could. He hasn’t crashed out of a single race all year and his clutch failure last weekend in Oschersleben was his only DNF of the year.

Race 2 Results
1. Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 33:31.896
2. Ruben Xaus, Spain, Ducati, 33:32.117
3. Troy Corser, Australia, Aprilia, 33:36.471
4. Pierfrancesco Chili, Italy, Suzuki, 33:36.672
5. Neil Hodgson, Great Britain, Ducati, 33:38.607
6. Akira Yanagawa, Japan, Kawasaki, 33:38.717
7. Regis Laconi, France, Aprilia, 33:44.406
8. James Toseland, Great Britain, Ducati, 33:45.745
9. Gregorio Lavilla, Spain, Kawasaki, 33:45.922
10. Colin Edwards, USA, Honda, 33:52.961
11. Ben Bostrom, USA, Ducati, 33:53.523
12. Stephane Chambon, France, Suzuki, 33:53.535
13. Tadayuki Okada, Japan, Honda, 33:54.233
14. Giovanni Bussei, Italy, Ducati, 34:17.284
15. Lucio Pedercini, Italy, Ducati, 34:26.674
16. Hitoyasu Izutsu, Japan, Kawasaki, 34:30.103
17. Mauro Sanchini, Italy, Ducati, 34:31.078
18. Marco Borciani, Italy, Ducati, 34:31.497
19. Peter Goddard, Australia, Benelli, 34:32.207
20. Steve Martin, Australia, Ducati, 34:34.695

World Championship Point Standings:

1. Bayliss, 369
2. Edwards, 317
3. Bostrom, 286
4. Corser, 264
5. Hodgson, 254
6. Chili, 225
7. Xaus, 191
8. Yanagawa, 170
9. Okada, 149
10. Lavilla, 147


Supersport Results
1. Paolo Casoli, Italy, Yamaha, 34:58.965
2. Andrew Pitt, Australia, Kawasaki, 35:01.422
3. Jamie Whitham, Great Britain, Yamaha, 35:02.613
4. Jorg Teuchert, Germany, Yamaha, 35:04.812
5. Fabrizio Pirovano, Italy, Suzuki, 35:06.174
6. Kevin Curtain, Australia, Honda, 35:08.234
7. Vittorio Iannuzzo, Italy, Suzuki, 35:14.953
8. Iain MacPherson, Great Britain, Kawasaki, 35:16.427
9. Christophe Cogan, France, Yamaha, 35:16.644
10. Fabien Foret, France, Honda, 35:19.140


Klaffee Wins Sidecar Title As Webbo DNFs Again

Another DNF for reigning Sidecar World Champion Steve Webster handed the World title to his arch-rival Klaus Klaffenbock at Assen. Not only did Webbo relinquish his crown, but he also slipped back to third in the title as Steve Abbott took a well deserved win. Webster was forced to retire when his passenger Paul Woodhead got his wrist trapped between a grab handle and the fairing, damaging his arm to such an extent that he could no longer hold onto the outfit. In another bizarre incident, Jorg Steinhausen crashed his outfit when a plastic bag was blown across his visor, obscuring his view. He lost control of his sidecar and crashed.

1. Abbott/Biggs, GBR, Yamaha, 35:51.459
2. Klaffenbock/Parzer, AUT, Suzuki, 37:09.357
3. Van Gils/Van Gils, NED, Suzuki

Klaffenbock and Parzer win the World Superside title with one round remaining.



Superstock Shenanigans

In possibly the most bizarre race seen in recent years, James Ellison saw his Superstock European Championship lead cut to 14 points when he finished sixth and his series rival, Walter Tortorogilo, just squeezed past as they crossed the line, beating Ellison by just 0.014-second.

Seconds before the start of the race, the Assen weather played its infamous trick and as the rain fell to give the track a thorough soaking. Almost everybody dived into the pit lane to change to wet tires. Meanwhile, only 4 riders lined up to take the start. As the lights went off, these four sped off as the other 27, including Ellison and Tortoroglio, were still in the pit lane changing tires.

The race was won by Italian Lorenzo Mauri on a Ducati 996, who forced his way past two local riders, John Bakker and Bob Withag.

Results:

1. Lorenzo Mauri, Italy, Ducati
2. John Bakker, Holland, Ducati
3. Bob Withag, Holland, Honda
4. G. Vizziello, Italy, Yamaha
5. Walter Tortoroglio, Italy, Suzuki
6. James Ellison, Great Britain, Suzuki

Championship Points (with one race remaining)

1. Ellison, 146 points
2. Tortoroglio, 132
3. Heckles, 93

By Glenn Le Santo

Troy Bayliss took the holeshot from pole position in the first World Superbike race at Assen, grabbed an early lead, battled with teammate Ruben Xaus, and was ahead when the race was red-flagged on lap 15 of 16 due to heavy rain.

Bayliss’ lead was only threatened by teammate Xaus, who nudged ahead briefly before allowing Bayliss back past. Both Infostrada Ducati riders were giving their all on the dry circuit to stay ahead of Colin Edwards. The Texan could only sit and watch as on lap 15 of the 16 lap race, the rain fell heavily and the race, which had been declared dry at the start, was red-flagged. With enough distance completed to allow the organizers to declare a race result, the win went to Bayliss.

The win now means Bayliss is on target for his first World Superbike Championship. With 344 points compared to Edwards’ tally of 311, a favorable result in the second race could decide the title. Even if the race had continued it looked unlikely that Edwards could catch and pass even one of the two Ducatis in front of him.

Pierfrancesco Chili finished fourth as Neil Hodgson, who started from back on the fourth row, managed to fight his way through the field to fifth.

Results
1. Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 27:08.793
2. Ruben Xaus, Spain, Ducati, 27:08.959
3. Colin Edwards, USA, Honda, 27:09.875
4. Pierfrancesco Chili, Italy, Suzuki, 27:13.860
5. Neil Hodgson, Great Britain, Ducati, 27:21.544
6. Troy Corser, Australia, Aprilia, 27:22.131
7. Tadayuki Okada, Japan, Honda, 27:24.051
8. Akira Yanagawa, Japan, Kawasaki, 27:24.399
9. Regis Laconi, France, Aprilia, 27:24.604
10. James Toseland, Great Britain, Ducati, 27:29.375
11. Ben Bostrom, USA, Ducati, 27:29.804
12. Gregorio Lavilla, Spain, Kawasaki, 27:34.400
13. Stephane Chambon, France, Suzuki, 27:42.176
14. Juan Borja, Spain, Yamaha, 27:54.928
15. Lucio Pedercini, Italy, Ducati, 28:02.475
16. Giovanni Bussei, Italy, Ducati, 28:02.817
17. Peter Goddard, Australia, Benelli, 28:03.819
18. Martin Craggill, Australia, Ducati, 28:04.585
19. Mauro Sanchini, Italy, Ducati, 28:07.829
20. Steve Martin, Australia, Ducati, 28:09.640

Championship points:

1. Bayliss, 344
2. Edwards, 311
3. Bostrom, 281
4. Corser, 248
5. Hodgson, 243

Young gun John Hopkins is in Estoril, Portugal for this weekend’s World Championship Grand Prix, as a guest of the Red Bull Yamaha team.

The team has arranged a full program of activities for the young American, including listening in during debriefing sessions with Garry McCoy and Crew Chief Hamish Jamieson as well as participating in track scouting and qualifying observation missions with team Director Peter Clifford.

Hopkins’ manager, Doug Gonda of ProTac, Inc., is also in Portugal, as is Hopkins’ girlfriend.

Hopkins is expected to arrive back in the United States on Tuesday, before heading out to Willow Springs for next weekend’s AMA National.

Hopkins is tied for the AMA Formula Xtreme points lead with Damon Buckmaster, Hopkins riding a Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Buckmaster riding a Graves Yamaha YZF-R1. Two races remain in the AMA series, at Willow Springs and at Virginia International Raceway at the end of the month.

By Glenn Le Santo

The line-up for World Superbike Superpole at Assen was decided by Friday’s times, after a short-but-heavy shower soaked the track at the start of Saturday’s final qualifying. If
the track stays wet, then Superpole will be run in the ‘wet’ format, as used in Oschersleben, where each rider has 50 minutes to turn a maximum of 12 laps. The rider’s fastest lap decides his grid position.

The rain means that Ruben Xaus, who was fastest in Friday’s dry qualifying, hangs on to provisional pole in front of Troy Corser. Everything can, and probably will, change during Superpole. Akira Yanagawa recorded the fastest
time in the wet on his Kawasaki, lapping at 2:13.679. Neil Hodgson was second fastest in the wet, he lapped at 2:14.947 compared to
third-fastest Ruben Xaus at 2:15.311. Xaus lapped at 2:02.409 in the dry on Friday.

Fastest times in Saturday final qualifying, (These are times set today in wet, Friday’s faster times decide Superpole qualification):

1. Akira Yanagawa, Japan, Kawasaki, 2:13.679
2. Neil Hodgson, Great Britain, Ducati, 2:14.947
3. Ruben Xaus, Spain, Ducati, 2:15.311
4. Troy Corser, Australia, Aprilia, 2:16.192
5. Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 2:16.546
6. James Toseland, Great Britain, Ducati, 2:16.807
7. Colin Edwards, USA, Honda, 2:16.875
8. Steve Martin, AUS, Ducati, 2:17.259
9. Pierfrancesco Chili, Italy, Suzuki, 2:18.155
10. Ben Bostrom, USA, Ducati, 2:19.115

Unlimited Superbike Practice Times:
1. Brian Parriott, Suz GSX-R750, 1:07.842
2. Michael Barnes, Suz GSX-R750, 1:07.859
3. Lee Acree, Suz GSX-R750, 1:07.876
4. Shawn Higbee, Suz GSX-R750, 1:08.131
5. Grant Lopez, Suz GSX-R750, 1:08.370
6. Michael Ciccotto, Suz GSX-R750, 1:08.436
7. Craig Connell, Duc 996, 1:08.679
8. Alan Schmidt, Suz GSX-R750, 1:08.731
9. Ty Howard, Kaw ZX-9R, 1:08.870
10. Ken Chase, Suz GSX-R750, 1:08.969
11. Tray Batey, Apr RSV1000R, 1:09.058
12. Eric Wood, Suz GSX-R750, 1:09.377
13. Josh Bryan, Suz GSX-R750, 1:09.510
14. Michael Himmelsbach, Apr RSV1000R, 1:09.526
15. John Dugan, Suz GSX-R750, 1:09.574


Pro Sportbike Practice Times:
1. Lee Acree, Suz GSX-R600, 1:09.216
2. Brian Parriott, Suz GSX-R600, 1:09.242
3. Michael Barnes, Suz GSX-R600, 1:09.330
4. Michael Ciccotto, Suz GSX-R600, 1:09.490
5. Paul Harrell, Yam YZF-R6, 1:09.773
6. Clint McBain, Suz GSX-R600, 1:10.166
7. Ty Howard, Yam YZF-R6, 1:10.309
8. Shan Ball, Suz GSX-R600, 1:10.485
9. Eric Wood, Suz GSX-R600, 1:10.657
10. Stoney Landers, Suz GSX-R600, 1:10.893


Buell Lightning Series Practice Times (All on Buell 1200s):
1. Jeff Vermeulen, 1:14.829
2. Bryan Bemisderfer, 1:15.618
3. Tripp Nobles, 1:16.148
4. Jason Smith, 1:16.544
5. Daniel Bilansky, 1:16.572
6. Brian Bodine, 1:16.824
7. Steve Luxem, 1:17.008
8. Jeff Johnson, 1:17.255
9. Darren James, 1:17.422
10. Brian Frank, 1:18.073

Michael Barnes, the fastest Buell racer in Friday practice, did not ride Saturday morning.

Aprilia Cup Challenge Practice Times (All on Aprilia RS250s):
1. Jeff Wood, 1:15.686
2. Shannon Silva, 1:15.959
3. Josh Sortor, 1:17.813
4. Dan Fischer, 1:17.938
5. John Lemak, 1:18.182
6. Brent Prindle, 1:24.888

Aprilia Cup racer Thad Halsmer was not using his timing transponder during Saturday morning practice.

The hottest racetrack rumors have former World Superbike pilot Mike Hale returning to AMA Pro Racing in the Formula Xtreme and 600cc Supersport class for Erion Honda, teamed with Roger Lee Hayden, who is apparently moving up from the Bruce Transportation Group satellite team. Alex Gobert, youngest of the Gobert brothers, seems destined for the Bruce team, with an un-named teammate, maybe Jake Zemke, maybe not.

By Glenn Le Santo

Assen, Holland, Saturday September 8

Without doubt the Superpole is one of the most exciting spectacles in motor racing today. The sight of 16 riders going flat-out, and completely alone, for one lap to try to grab a good grid position for the next day’s races is something every motor racing fan should witness first hand. Sadly, those watching the Superpole at Assen, or on the television from the comfort of their homes, missed the spectacle today. Rain gave the organizers no choice but to declare the Superpole ‘wet’, which meant the 16 fastest qualifiers from the previous two qualifying sessions had 50 minutes and a maximum of 12 laps each to produce the times to decide the grid for Sunday’s two races.

Unlike at Oschersleben, when the ‘wet’ Superpole format was played out on a dry track, the rain came down hard before, during and after the Superpole at Assen, ensuring that the 16 riders had to ride the whole session in full-wet conditions. It was Australian Troy Bayliss who came out of the session on top, his time of 2:10.922 just fast enough to put him on pole, ahead of his Ducati Infostrada teammate Ruben Xaus. They will line up their Ducatis on the front row on Sunday next to Akira Yanagawa on his Kawasaki and Pierfrancesco Chili on his Suzuki.

Colin Edwards just squeezed himself onto the second row, where he is joined by James Toseland, whose fifth place is the highest grid position the young British rider has had in his debut World Superbike year. Toseland’s teammate and winner of four Superpoles already this year, Neil Hodgson, will have to start the race from the fourth row, a very unfamiliar place for the GSE Ducati rider.

Superpole (wet) best times:

1. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 996, 2:10.922
2. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 996, 2:11.126
3. Akira Yanagawa, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 2:11.382
4. Pierfrancesco Chili, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:13.776
5. James Toseland, Ducati 996, 2:14.047
6. Gregorio Lavilla, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 2:14.058
7. Troy Corser, Aprilia RSV1000, 2:14.120
8. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 2:15.296
9. Tadayuki Okada, Honda RC51, 2:15.770
10. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RSV1000, 2:15.985
11. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 996, 2:16.627
12. Juan Borja, Yamaha YZF-R7, 2:16.647
13. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:16.892
14. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati 996, 2:17.581
15. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 996, 2:17.937
16. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 996, 2:18.257

FIM Grand Prix Qualifying From Estoril, Portugal:

500cc Final Qualifying Results:
1. Max Biaggi, Yamaha, 1:40.076
2. Loris Capirossi, Honda, 1:40.258
3. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:40.324
4. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:40.531
5. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Proton, 1:40.540
6. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:40.670
7. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki, 1:40.713
8. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:40.752
9. Garry McCoy, Yamaha, 1:40.894
10. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:40.901
11. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:40.969
12. Alex Criville, Honda, 1:41.037
13. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:41.139
14. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:41.520
15. Oliver Jacque, Yamaha, 1:41.583
16. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha, 1:41.887
17. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:42.130
18. Anthony West, Honda, 1:43.173
19. Leon Haslam, Honda, 1:43.645
20. Johan Stigefelt, Sabre, 1:43.715
21. Barry Veneman, Honda, 1:44.446
22. Brendan Clarke, Honda, 1:45.593

Max Biaggi’s pole-position-winning time is over 2.1 seconds faster than Valentino Rossi’s pole position time from 2000.

500cc Top Speeds:
1. Ukawa, Honda, 183.6 mph (295.6 kph)
2. Capirossi, Honda, 182.5 mph (293.7 kph)
3. Biaggi, Yamaha, 181.9 mph (292.8 kph)
4. Rossi, Honda, 181.8 mph (292.7 kph)
5. Criville, Honda, 181.6 mph (292.3 kph)
6. Barros, Honda, 180.7 mph (290.9 kph)
7. Haga, Yamaha, 180.7 (290.9 kph)
8. McCoy, Yamaha, 180.3 mph (290.3 kph)
9. Jacque, Yamaha, 179.8 mph (289.4 kph)
10. Gibernau, Suzuki, 179.5 mph (289.0 kph)
11. Nakano, Yamaha, 178.8 mph (287.8 kph)
12. Checa, Yamaha, 178.7 mph (287.6 kph)
13. Roberts, Suzuki, 178.6 mph (287.5 kph)
14. Goorbergh, Proton, 176.2 mph (283.7 kph)
15. Abe, Yamaha, 176.29 mph (283.7 kph)
16. Cardoso, Yamaha, 175.9 mph (283.2 kph)
17. Haslam, Honda, 174.3 mph (280.5 kph)
18. Aoki, Honda, 170.4 mph (274.3 kph)
19. Stigefelt, Sabre, 168.0 mph (270.5 kph)
20. Veneman, Honda, 167.5 mph (269.7 kph)
21. West, Honda, 167.3 mph (269.3 kph)
22. Clarke, Honda, 166.6 mph (268.2 kph)

250cc Final Qualifying Results:
1. Tetsuya Harada, Aprilia, 1:41.993
2. Daijiro Katoh, Honda, 1:42.205
3. Jeremy McWilliams, Aprilia, 1:42.251
4. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:42.588
5. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:42.706
6. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:42.775
7. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:42.836
8. David Checa, Honda, 1:42.997
9. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:43.019
10. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:43.273
11. Roberto Rolfo, Aprilia, 1:43.298
12. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:43.495
13. Lorenzo Lanzi, Aprilia, 1:43.544
14. Taro Sekiguchi, Yamaha, 1:43.751
15. Alex Hofmann, Aprilia, 1:43.949

29. Katja Poensgen, Honda, 1:47.808

Tetsuya Harada’s time is a new track record and his fifth consecutive pole position.

125cc Final Qualifying Results:
1. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:45.923
2. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:46.045
3. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 1:46.439
4. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:46.651
5. Toni Elias, Honda, 1:46.676
6. Angel Rodriguez, Aprilia, 1:47.095
7. Jakub Smrz, Honda, 1:47.153
8. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:47.246
9. Alex De Angelis, Honda, 1:47.293
10. Jaroslav Hules, Honda, 1:47.301

Manuel Poggiali’s time not only earned him his first pole position, but was also 1.35 seconds faster than the 2000 pole time.

By Glenn Le Santo

Friday’s provisional World Supersport front row at Assen was undisturbed by Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. Only Karl Muggeridge and Fabrizio Pirovano were able to force their way into the top 10, squeezing in a fast lap each early in the session when the track was drying out. The final qualifying was another case of wet-or-dry as mechanics struggled to keep pace with the changing weather. Typical of the day was Fabien Foret’s experience, as the track finally dried out he sat astride his bike, newly set-up for a full dry session, only for a heavy rain shower to fall on the circuit before he could turn a dry wheel. Foret, no fan of wet racing, got off the bike and took no further part in the session.

Meanwhile, Foret’s teammate Pere Riba gave the rest of the paddock a lesson in professional racing. While the rest of the riders sheltered from the high wind and heavy rain, Riba asked his team to give him a bike in full wet set-up and went out to complete some valuable laps in the rain. He also took the opportunity presented by the empty track to try some wet starts. His efforts could well pay off as the weather looks likely to remain changeable.

Tomorrow’s race, in which Suzuki’s Katsuaki Fujiwara will start on pole, could well turn into a tire lottery if the weekend’s weather so far is anything to go by.

Final Supersport qualifying times, Saturday:

1. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan, Suzuki, 2:08.497
2. Pere Riba, Spain, Honda, 2:08.553
3. Paolo Casoli, Italy, Yamaha, 2:09.015
4. V. Ianuzzo, Italy, Suzuki, 2:09.123
5. Karl Muggeridge, Australia, Suzuki, 2:09.141
6. Andrew Pitt, Australia, Kawasaki, 2:09.149
7. C. Cogan, France, Yamaha, 2:09.211
8. Kevin Curtain, Australia, Honda, 2:09.276
9. Iain MacPherson, Great Britain, Kawasaki, 2:09.317
10. P. Bontempi, Italy, Yamaha, 2:09.737


Marty Nutt was fastest in Superstock Qualifying. Times follow:
1. Marty Nutt, Great Britain, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:25.145
2. Mark Heckles, Great Britain, Honda CBR929RR, 2:25.187
3. Paul Mooijman, Holland, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:26.447
4. James Ellison, Great Britain, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:27.188
5. Dario Tosolini, Italy, Ducati, 2:27.203
6. Andy Notman, Great Britain, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:27.489
7. Markus Wegscheider, Italy, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:27.812
8. Koen Vleugels. Germany, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:28.706
9. Robert de Vries, Holland, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:29.065
10. Didier Vankeymeulen, Germany, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:29.401