Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Edwards wins his first race of 2002

Colin Edwards rode a cool race to take his first WSB victory since Oschersleben last year. Edwards narrowly beat the Cabin Honda Wild card rider Makoto Tamada after leading for most of the race.

Pole position man Noriyuki Haga mixed it with the leading bunch early in the race after Tamada took the holeshot. Neil Hodgson was also there, challenging Tamada for the lead in the early stages. But it was Colin Edwards who came through the strongest, winning an early battle with Tamada to take the lead. He then held off a strong challenge from Haga before the Aprilia rider faded back to finish third.

Tamada tried to attack Edwards in the last laps, but Edwards rode the wheels off his Honda to stay ahead. Mark Heckles crashed at the chicane just before Edwards and Tamada came through for the last time. With the yellow flags waving there was no way Tamada could make a pass there, losing his final overtaking chance and having to settle for second.

Edwards’ victory marks the first time a non-Japanese rider has won at Sugo since Fogarty in 1995. It also marks the first World Superbike victory for Michelin at the track since Fogarty’s win.

Noriyuki Haga struggled with grip late in the race but held it together enough to take third from Hodgson. World Champion and title leader Troy Bayliss came in fifth.

Bayliss now leads the championship by a reduced margin of 31 points.


Sugo World Superbike Race One Results:

1. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 25 laps
2. Makoto Tamada, Honda RC51, +0.161 second
3. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RSV1000, +4.486 seconds
4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 998, +12.255 seconds
5. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 998, +21.313 seconds
6. Akira Yanagawa, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, +22.877 seconds
7. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 998, +23.261 seconds
8. Yoshikawa, Yamaha YZF-R7, +26.359 seconds
9. James Toseland, Ducati 998, +29.082 seconds
10. Takeshi Tsujimura, Yamaha YZF-R7, +30.348 seconds
11. Chris Walker, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, +31.022 seconds
12. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, +42.361 seconds
13. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, +43.368 seconds
14. Juan Borja, Ducati 998, +44.134 seconds
15. Yuichi Takeda, Honda RC51, +44.272 seconds
16. Pedercini, Ducati 998, +77.227 seconds
17. Steve Martin, Ducati 998, +79.973 seconds
18. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, +84.513 seconds
19. Kenichiro Nakamura, Honda RC51, +93.197 seconds
20. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, + 1 lap
21. Mark Heckles, Honda RC51, +1 lap
22. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 998, DNF, 17 laps
23. Broc Parkes, Ducati 998, DNF, 8 laps
24. Alessandro Antonello, Ducati 998, DNF, 4 laps
25. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998, DNF, 1 lap
26. Hitoyasu Izutsu, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, DNS, 0 laps

World Superbike Point Standings After Race One:

1. Bayliss, 161 points
2. Edwards, 130 points
3. B. Bostrom, 86 points
4. Hodgson, 82 points
5. Xaus, 79 points
6. Haga, 76 points
7. Toseland, 52 points
8. Walker, 49 points
9. Izutsu, 47 points
10. Borja, 38 points

More from an HM Plant Ducati press release:

Superbike World Championship
Round four: Sugo, Japan
Sunday 21 April 2002
Race one

Hodgson and Toseland dialled in at Sugo

Race one of the Japanese round of the Superbike World Championship saw both HM Plant Ducati/GSE Racing riders once more put in impressive performances and claim solid point scoring finishes. Britain’s number one Superbike rider Neil Hodgson finished a comfortable fourth and continued to show the kind of consistently strong performance that has now earned him fourth place in the championship standings. His rising star of a team-mate James Toseland rode intelligently to finish ninth.

After a strong start that had the #100 HM Plant Ducati running a close second to Makoto Tamada for the first two laps, Hodgson soon found a good rhythm and maintained a secure fourth place for the remainder of the race. Colin Edwards went on to take the win, but significantly Hodgson took the chequered flag almost ten seconds ahead of the reigning World Champion Troy Bayliss, and three places in front of factory rider Ben Bostrom.

“I felt really good out there,” said the Isle of Man-based rider. “The 13 points that I picked for fourth place are a great boost to my championship hopes. The team has been working really hard to get everything right and the set-up that I have now is excellent. I’m gaining more and more confidence in the HM Plant Ducati every time that I ride it, and during that race it felt better than ever. I now know that I can push the HM Plant Ducati even harder than before and I’ll be going into race two with no reservations whatsoever.”

James Toseland emerged victorious from his own battle. The Yorkshireman again displayed maturity beyond his 21 years to better his grid position by two places and cross the line well clear of his nearest challenger, local rider Tsujimura, and several other full factory-equipped riders.

“I’m pretty happy with that result,” said Toseland. “To be competitive around an incredibly technical circuit such as Sugo is an achievement in itself. To beat riders who have been here a lot more that I have, is even better. I’m now seventh in the world championship standings and that’s not a bad situation to be in after only seven races.”


More, from a Honda press release:

EDWARDS WINS IN HONDA 1-2 AT SUGO

Castrol Honda’s Colin Edwards took victory in today’s thrilling opening race of round four of the World Superbike championship here at Sugo in Japan.

Edwards, starting from fifth place on row two of the grid, was third into the first corner. He took second place from Neil Hodgson at the chicane on lap two before taking the lead from Honda wild card rider Makoto Tamada at the end of the back straight on the third lap.

Edwards briefly lost the lead to Noriyuki Haga but took over on lap nine and was never headed again in the 25-lap race as he took the 21st World Superbike win of his career and his first since the Oschersleben, Germany round in September last year.

Edwards’ victory was the first by a non-Japanese at the Sugo circuit since 1995. He was tailed in the closing stages of the race by Tamada as Honda celebrated its first 1-2 with the new SP-2 machine.

“I was confident of being able to win but when you¹ve got a couple of Japanese riders like Tamada and Haga tailing you it’s never going to be easy,” said Edwards.

He continued: “Since Friday here we¹ve known that we were in good shape as far as race set-up went. Michelin have really done their homework since the races here last year and it’s credit to them that I was in a position to win today.”