Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Neil Hodgson put in a sensational lap to clinch pole position for Sunday’s WSB races.

David Garcia who, right up until Hodgson took to the track on his Fila Ducati 999, was sitting at the top of the timesheet provided the surprise of the day. The former GP rider put in an excellent lap on his privateer Ducati 998 and was obviously pushing his bike absolutely to the limit.

Hodgson was just over a 0.1-second slower on the first split than Garcia and yet, by the time his lap was finished, he was an incredible 1.088-second ahead.

“To be honest I think the Hodgson luck must be back,” grinned Hodgson, “because when before I went out on my lap I could see that the wind was blowing everyone around and yet, when I was on my flying lap, the wind seemed to have dropped completely.”

Frankie Chili, who had qualified fastest prior to Superpole, also relegated Garcia a further place by taking second on the grid. But Garcia was nonetheless understandably pleased with his performance; “This was my first-ever Superpole,” explained Garcia; his crash in pre-Superpole warm-up at Valencia wrecked his only bike so he was forced out of Superpole at the first round. “So I am happy to be third on the grid for Sunday.” Garcia, who test rides for Kenny Roberts’ Proton MotoGP team, seems to have settled quickly into the WSB groove. “I like it here in WSB, for me the ambience is better than in MotoGP. I also love my Ducati, I have a good feeling with the bike, the engine is good and the chassis is perfect.”

There’s one weak link in Garcia’s game plan – tyres, “We are not supported by Dunlop, we are a customer so we don’t get the best tyres. I hope that because of today we will get good tyres for the race.”

HM Plant Ducati rider Chris Walker took the final front row position. Hodgson’s teammate Ruben Xaus didn’t make it to the end of the lap, instead cementing his reputation as a crasher by throwing his bike away on the lowside in the Hayshed. He, and his team, were obviously very disappointed to see Xaus drop to the back of the second row.

World Superbike Championship
Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia
Superpole result:

1. Neil Hodgson, GBR, Ducati, 1:33.030
2. Pierfrancesco Chili, ITA, Ducati, 1:34.118
3. David Garcia, ESP, Ducati, 1:34.184
4. Chris Walker, GBR, Ducati, 1:34.211
5. James Toseland, GBR, Ducati, 1:34.329
6. Troy Corser, AUS, Foggy Petronas, 1:34.512
7. Gregorio Lavilla, ESP, Suzuki, 1:34.585
8. Ruben Xaus, ESP, Ducati, Crashed
9. Steve Martin, AUS, Ducati, 1:34.598
10. Regis Laconi, FRA, Ducati, 1:34.712


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI CORSE PRESS INFORMATION

SECOND SUCCESSIVE POLE FOR HODGSON (DUCATI FILA) AT PHILLIP ISLAND – XAUS EIGHTH AFTER SUPERPOLE CRASH

Neil Hodgson (Ducati Fila) stormed to a second successive pole position in blustery conditions at Phillip Island with the factory Ducati 999. Crowd favourite Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati) will line up alongside for tomorrow’s two 22 lap races, while NCR Ducati’s David Garcia, in his second ever World Superbike race, and HM Plant Ducati’s Chris Walker will join them on the front row.

With Garcia setting the benchmark at an impressive 1:34.185, Hodgson and Chili had it all to do as they set off in that order on their one-lap dash. Despite not running a perfect lap, Neil’s time of 1:33.030 was a full second quicker than the Spanish rider while Chili just edged Garcia out for second place.

“I think I was lucky because the wind wasn’t there for my Superpole lap” joked Hodgson after the session. “Seriously though, I had a couple of moments so it wasn’t perfect. It’s always windy when you come here so it’s really difficult to be consistent. I wasn’t relaxed on the qualifying tyres at all because I’ve done so many laps this weekend on race tyres, and when you put one on it provides you with a lot of grip and the front was moving around so much, so that’s why my lap looked more ragged than it should have done. I’m happy with the set-up and I did a race distance on a rear tyre this morning and it looked fine so I’m feeling really confident because the tyre has done the distance even though Phillip Island is a circuit where conditions can change really quickly.”

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Fila) crashed out for the third time this weekend when the front of his Ducati 999 slid away from beneath him during his Superpole lap and he will line up on the outside of row 2 in eighth position. “I’d like to apologise to the team for this, the guys have worked hard all weekend and it’s all my fault” declared Ruben. “The crash was the same as the one this morning. With the riding style I have, I came hard into the corner, braked too late and the front end just went away from me. Despite this, I have a good set-up on the bike, I did a good race pace on my long-run, and I feel confident for the races tomorrow.”


More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist:

2003 World Superbike Championship
Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia, Saturday 29th March, Final Qualifying
Circuit: 4.450 kms, Weather: Dry, mostly sunny 23 C.

SECOND ROW FOR TROY
Troy had a slightly disappointing Superpole – by his high standards – and ended the day sixth quickest and will start tomorrow’s pair if races from the second row of the grid. After Valencia’s stunning performance when he qualified the new Foggy Petronas on the front row of the grid, expectations were high here today. The engine in Troy’s number one bike didn’t feel strong in the final untimed session, so Troy tried his number two bike for a few laps. But that felt marginally worse; so Troy had to use his number one instead. His Superpole lap time was almost a second slower then his best time in qualifying and that was enough to push him on to the second row. Series leader Neil Hodgson (Ducati) took Superpole, with a time of 1:33.030, with fellow Ducati riders Pierfrancesco Chili, David Garcia and Chris Walker alongside on the front row of the grid.

TROY – 6th, 1:34.512
I suppose expectations were a bit high – after Valencia – and this is my home track. Before the season started, nobody expected us to be so competitive so soon and now everybody is asking when we’re going to win a race! The engine in the bike I used in my Superpole lap just didn’t have the legs and I couldn’t go as fast as I had done in practice. I’d ridden it pretty much all weekend and it was the same one that’d done two races. It’s a shame, because it would’ve been good to be on the front row here at Phillip Island in front of my fans. But the whole package is working well and I’m really happy how it’s all going. The team are going to work on the mapping a bit more and make the bike a bit easier to ride, but in terms of chassis etc, it handles really well. I’ve chosen which race tyres I’m going to use and now all I need is a good start, get up with the leaders and see what I can do. Of course, I’m shooting for a podium and if all goes well, then it could happen.


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

Front row start for Walker

Chris Walker qualified on the front row of the grid after a blistering Superpole lap at Phillip Island for the second round of the Superbike World Championship. He completed the 4.445km circuit near Melbourne in a superb time of 1:34.211, only 0.118 seconds ahead of his HM Plant Ducati team-mate James Toseland. Ducati Corse’s Neil Hodgson completed a good day for the British riders by taking pole position for the second consecutive event.

Walker had qualified for Superpole in fourth position, but unlike the last round at Valencia, he kept his cool for the nerve-wrecking one-lap qualifying session. “I was really disappointed with how Superpole had gone in Spain, so I was determined to do myself justice,” said the Nottingham rider. “Thankfully everything went according to plan and I can look forward to starting on the front row of the grid.

“I’d like to thank the HM Plant Ducati team who have worked tirelessly with me all weekend to find the best race set-up for this superb circuit. I’m really getting to grips with the bike and it makes such a difference not having to come and learn these tracks like I did last year. Hopefully I’ll be able to get two of my trademark good starts and blast off the line with the leading pack – it should be excellent viewing.”

Toseland thought that he had done enough to join his team-mate on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s two Superbike races, but there was a surprise in store. “I guess I’m a little bit disappointed not to be in the top four, but to be honest I gave it my best shot. I think we were all surprised by Garcia’s fast lap in Superpole and that was the difference between fourth and fifth for me.

“After analysing my performance on Friday, I knew which parts of the circuit I had to focus on. Thanks to my technicians I’ve been able to shave over half-a-second off my time and it’s looking good for the races. I’ve got a feeling that Chris and I may be battling for podium positions again tomorrow and I hope that we can carry on where we left off in Valencia.”