Honda-mounted Colin Edwards won the opening race of the World Superbike championship season in South Africa on his v-twin, with Yamaha’s Noriyuki Haga taking the second race on his four-cylinder machine. In racing every bit as interesting as expected, the twins and the fours were closely matched all day long.
In the first race, Edwards had a close battle with Haga and Carl Fogarty (Ducati), eventually winning by a tiny gap, with Haga in second and Fogarty third. Aprilia’s Troy Corser brought his bike home fourth — the best finish ever by the relatively new Aprilia machine.
Haga and Edwards switched positions in the second race, with Haga this time winning by a much larger gap over the second place Edwards. Frankie Chili (Suzuki) came in third, with Corser again fourth.
Overall, v-twins had a first, a second, and a third place on the day, while four-cylinder bikes also had a first, a second and a third place showing. Looks like the death of the four-cylinder machines’ competitiveness has been announced prematurely. Chili was also competitive in the first race (finishing fifth), while Kawasaki-mounted Gregorio Lavilla took a pair of sixth place finishes home today.
American Ben Bostrom (Ducati) finished ninth and eighth in the two races, just off the pace of the leaders.
Although Anthony Gobert’s Bimota failed to complete the first race (mechanical problems), Gobert finished a respectable twelfth in race two with only two weeks of practice and set-up under his belt.
Defending champion Carl Fogarty (Ducati) crashed out of race two (unhurt) and must begin the season in seventh place in the points, with Haga and Edwards sharing the points lead.
All-in-all, World Superbike is shaping up to be the most competitive season ever. Haga, who is known more as a racer than a practicer, did not show much speed during pre-season practice sessions. His Yamaha R7 was definitely fast today, and it appears that Yamaha found the right combination for Haga during the off season (including the switch to Dunlop tires).
It is a shame that Kawasaki’s number one rider, Akira Yanagawa, was injured during practice for this opening round (broken collar-bone), as he too would have surely been in the fight for race victories today. Yanagawa is normally quite a bit quicker than his teammate Lavilla, and Lavilla was not far off the pace today.
An interesting note concerns the privateer Ducati effort of Superbike rookie Haruchika Aoki. Aoki not only beat Fogarty’s factory teammate Ben Bostrom in both races, he finished seventh and fifth today. These were the best finishes ever by a first-time World Superbike rider. Aoki will surely be one to watch as the season progresses. Perhaps, he will get more factory help as his talent is displayed to the Ducati bosses.
Race One – Final Results (Top 10)
1. Colin Edwards (#2 - HONDA) 2. Noriyuki Haga (#41 - YAMAHA) 3. Carl Fogarty (#1 - DUCATI) 4. Troy Corser (#3 - APRILIA) 5. Pierfrancesco Chili (#7 - SUZUKI) 6. Gregorio Lavilla (#6 - KAWASAKI) 7. Haruchika Aoki (#12 - DUCATI) 8. Katsuaki Fujiwara (#9 - SUZUKI) 9. Ben Bostrom (#155 - DUCATI) 10. Juan Borja (#19 - DUCATI)
Race Two – Final Results (Top 10)
1. Noriyuki Haga (#41 - YAMAHA) 2. Colin Edwards (#2 - HONDA) 3. Pierfrancesco Chili (#7 - SUZUKI) 4. Troy Corser (#3 - APRILIA) 5. Haruchika Aoki (#12 - DUCATI) 6. Gregorio Lavilla (#6 - KAWASAKI) 7. Juan Borja (#19 - DUCATI) 8. Ben Bostrom (#155 - DUCATI) 9. Katsuaki Fujiwara (#9 - SUZUKI) 10. Alessandro Antonello (#30 - APRILIA)
