Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Hodgson on pole

Neil Hodgson ignored the heat to take the pole position once again in the 2003 World Superbike Championship.

After his by-now-familiar slow start to the weekend Hodgson scorched his way to the front on his Ducati Fila 999. The runaway leader of the Championship was the only rider to break into 1:34 laps.

While Hodgson’s a very familiar sight on the podium, young Vittorio Iannuzzo is definitely a newcomer to front-row life. He qualified fourth, just behind James Toseland in third and Frankie Chili in second spot. It’s all the more amazing when you bear in mind that the young Italian isn’t riding a full-factory bike like Gregorio Lavilla, but a Yoshimura Suzuki. The situation is forced upon the team because of lack of parts for the full-factory specification machines.

Steve Martin, another rider bringing out the surprises this weekend, was just pushed back into fifth. Regis Laconi, Juan Borja and Troy Corser join him on the second row. The Petronas doesn’t seem to be struggling with the heat as much, despite the temperatures being probably the highest witnessed all season.

Superpole Results:

1. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 1:34.586
2. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:34.920
3. James Toseland, Ducati 998F02, 1:35.124
4. Vittorio Iannuzzo, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.261
5. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:35.286
6. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 1:35.297
7. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:35.808
8. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:35.835
9. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.808
10. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:36.140
11. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:36.165
12. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 1:36.227
13. Chris Walker, Ducati 998F02, 1:36.496
14. Giovanni Bussei, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:36.564
15. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:36.572
16. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:36.877

The rest of the grid:

17. Paolo Blora, Ducati 996RS, 1:36.623
18. David Garcia, Ducati 998RS, 1:36.780
19. Nello Russo, Ducati 998RS, 1:36.796
20. Alex Gramigni, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:37.291
21. Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:37.675
22. Serafino Foti, Ducati 998RS, 1:37.843
23. Luca Pini, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.164
24. Walter Tortoroglio, Honda RC51, 1:38.228
25. Christian Zaiser, Aprilia RSV1000, 1:38.350
26. Giuseppe Zannini, Ducati 998RS, 1:38.796
27. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, 1:39.099
28. Redamo Assirelli, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:39.936


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI CORSE PRESS INFORMATION

HODGSON (DUCATI FILA) UNBEATABLE IN SUPERPOLE WITH SIXTH POLE OF THE SEASON AHEAD OF CHILI (PSG-1 DUCATI) – THIRD ROW START FOR XAUS

British rider Neil Hodgson (Ducati Fila) once again crushed the opposition in a World Superbike Superpole session.

Pole #6 of the season for the championship leader came at Misano Adriatico, when he went half-a-second quicker than Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) in the one-lap dash and then watched in the garage as local hero Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati) just missed out in front of his home crowd.

“I really had to go out and beat James’ time today” declared Hodgson. “I’ve not been concentrating on qualifying tyres at all so I was a bit rusty and that’s why I was slow in the first split. I had to be more aggressive on the second and third parts so I just turned the throttle up. I thought Frankie was going to beat me, but he didn’t.

“Before I would have used about 15 qualifiers, end up fastest but have no race set-up but now I concentrate on getting a good race set-up and then concentrate on Superpole. It looks like I’ve got a slight advantage on the race tyres, but it’s going to be hard work out there tomorrow because of the heat” he added.

Team-mate Ruben Xaus slipped down from fifth after the two qualifying sessions to an eventual 12th place after a disappointing Superpole lap.

“I did a bad Superpole and that cost me a lot of places on the grid” said Ruben. “I’m so angry with myself because the first split was so bad and all weekend I was so good there, losing eight-tenths of a second. A lot of riders are going well but I noticed they didn’t do that many laps, it’s just Neil and Laconi doing a good pace on race tyres. I’m able to be there as well, I just have to get a good start in the races.

“This afternoon we made a few changes and I wasn’t entirely happy, so tomorrow morning in the warm-up I’ll revert to the settings I had in the morning and then I’ll be ready for the race” he added.


More, from a press release issued by HM Plant Ducati:

Toseland on the front row!

James Toseland and Chris Walker will start tomorrow’s two Superbike World Championship races at Misano circuit from third and 13th respectively on the grid following a Superpole session that took place in scorching conditions. Former HM Plant Ducati rider Neil Hodgson took pole position, with Pier Francesco Chili and Vittorio Iannuzzo joining Toseland on the front row of the grid for round seven of the 2003 series.

Toseland recovered from a horrific crash during Superpole warm-up (in which he destroyed his number one HM Plant Ducati) to post a superb Superpole lap of 1:35.124 and go third on the grid.

“That was one of the scariest crashes I have ever had,” said the 22-year-old Yorkshireman. “I had a coming together with another rider at turn two at about 120 mph and he left me with nowhere to go but off the track. I was lucky to escape injury but I was badly shaken up and it took me a while to get myself together for Superpole. I got my head down though and produced my best time of the weekend. I was on provisional pole for a while and only Neil Hodgson and Frankie Chili have bettered my time, so I’m feeling confident for tomorrow’s races.”

His team mate Chris Walker was unable to improve on his best time set yesterday (1:36.066) and posted a Superpole lap of 1:36.496 . This puts him in 13th place on the grid for tomorrow’s two 25-lap races at the Autodromo di Misano circuit.

“I’m disappointed to be this far down the grid because my Superpole lap was almost half a second down on my second qualifying session time. I made a mistake coming onto the straight when I missed a gear and at this level you get punished for it. It cost me a lot of time so I just had to make sure the rest of the lap was as tidy as possible. I won’t be giving up though and will be looking to make a couple of my demon starts tomorrow!”


More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Second row start for Corser and Foggy PETRONAS Racing

Troy Corser will start tomorrow’s races for round seven of the World Superbike championship at Misano from the second row of the grid after an encouraging day for Foggy PETRONAS Racing.

Following yesterday’s team difficulties, Corser provided a welcome boost in achieving his highest qualifying position since the third round of the series in Japan. Having qualified ninth fastest in a time of 1:36.050 in the morning qualifying session, the Australian went one better in Superpole with his fastest lap of the weekend of 1:35.835.

Corser said: “That has been our best day for a while and the bike is handling great. This is where I thought we could and should be at the start of the day. There are a few more corners at this circuit where I can make up a bit of time. But it is going to be a hard race because it is difficult to pass other riders, even when I have a tow down the straights. The front Michelin tyre is great and I have done two-thirds of a race distance on the rear, and the lap times were not too bad. So I think the top ten will be a good and achievable result.

“I have changed the internal gearbox from yesterday, making second longer and that was definitely better. It was also good to have three bikes available, as I could try two slightly different set-ups on my own bikes, with two or three differences on the third. So that made it easier to get through everything we needed to try within a few laps. The bike was also running cooler than it did for qualifying at Silverstone. And the team has also been working on the mapping, resulting in the throttle connection being the best it has ever been.”


More, from a press release issued by Scuderia Caracchi NCR Nortel Networks:

Laconi in seconda fila nella battaglia di Misano

Regis Laconi on the Ducati 998RS Caracchi NCR Nortel Network will start tomorrow from the second row in the seventh round of World Superbike here at Misano Adriatico. Fourth fastest after the two qualifying sessions Laconi had some riding uncertainty during the Superpole “all or nothing” lap and lost the possibility to start from the front row tomorrow.

“I’m really disappointed because in the first part of my flying lap I’ve lost a lot of time and so un the fastest line I’ve been actually not fast too.” – commented Regis back at the pit garage after the Superpole – “Then in the second slip I recovered a lot, but at that point my gap was too heavy. Despite that my Superpole laptime has been the best of the two practice day. The tyres worked well and the bike in race set up look to be OK. Today the track was very slippery for the hot temperature and if weather conditions tomorrow will be the same we’ll have a very hard race and we’ll take care how to manage the tyres.”

David Garcia has been faster in the final qualifying session, recording the 18th fastest. The Spanish rider will try during the morning warm up tomorrow his fitting and will take a decision about the race start.

“This morning I’ve been really faster and I missed by a whisker the Superpole admission. Unfortunately the practice session has been stopped by red flag less at ten minutes to go and at the restart I hadn’t any time for a new last assault. Today we tested a new rear arm in magnesium, realised by the team and that should have a better twist characteristics. But at the moment I’m not able to give a correct evaluation because I can’t push hardly, but today’s test has given however interesting results.”


More, from a press release issed by Team Suzuki News Service:

IANNUZZO ON THE FRONT ROW! LAVILLA NINTH

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Team Alstare Corona Extra at Misano today. Vittorio Iannuzzo grabbed a superb front row grid place in the Superpole shoot-out, but regular Alstare Suzuki rider Gregorio Lavilla had a heavy fall in the morning session and was run over by another rider. He was nowhere near fully fit, but still managed to take part in the afternoon untimed session and Superpole, finishing a very creditable ninth. Iannuzzo is a ‘wild card’ here at Misano and surprised everybody by having the audacity to lead the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out until Neil Hodgson (Ducati) and Frankie Chili (Ducati) went quicker in the final moments. Chili had been the fastest in normal qualifying, but Hodgson once more pulled one out of the bag to take his sixth pole position of the season. Chili ended up second, with James Toseland (Ducati) third and Iannuzzo a well-deserved fourth.

GREGORIO LAVILLA ­ 9TH, 1: 35.892
In the morning session, I had a very slow speed fall ­ a bit like the one I had at Silverstone last week ­ and then my head was run over by another rider. I don’t know why I crashed, ­ the front just tucked in and I couldn’t do anything about it. Unfortunately, somebody’s front wheel (Gramigni maybe?) ran over my head. I went to hospital for a check-up, but I was OK, so I carried on this afternoon. I must say that I didn’t feel quite with it and there seemed to be an empty space where my head should be. Obviously, I couldn’t push my hardest and I finished as best I was able.

VITTORIO IANNUZZO ­ 4TH, 1:35.261
I am so happy to be on the front row of the grid! Especially after my crash last week in Silverstone, because I was disappointed with my race results. Today has gone a long way to a making up for that and it is great to be on the front row ahead of so many regular riders. Of course, the races tomorrow may be different, but I am looking forward to them so much. The tyres are probably going to be a problem towards the end, and I’m sure they’re going to be sliding around a lot, but it’ll be the same for everybody. At the start of the season, I said I’d be happy to get top ten finishes in my ‘wild card’ rides this season, but if I can get a top six this weekend, I will be so happy.