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 Misano
is the second spiritual home to Ducati, the first of course
being Monza. But the two circuits could scarcely be more different
in character as Misano is far tighter and has many more elevation
changes. It's a circuit that favours agility over power and,
as such, should negate the advantage that the four cylinder
bikes seem to have this tear. Well, partly, anyway.
There's one thing about Misano, though. It's
hot. Very, very hot. And humid too. Now you may think that
because engines don't work so well in those conditions then
it'll be easier for the riders. You may think that, but you're
not in a leather suit. Well, maybe you are - each to their
own - but you're not wrestling the best part of 400lbs of
bike around for 25 laps. Not while you're reading this. Two
races become a real feat of endurance where only the very
fittest will prevail.
Qualifying,
just for once, turned up no surprises at all. Mr Superpole
put the Alstare Suzuki on the number one spot, with Chris
Vermeulen second and Regis Laconi third. Karl Muggeridge did
well to finish off the front row. Frankie Chili started his
250th Superbike race from sixth behind Kagayama and ahead
of Toseland while row two was closed off by Steve Martin.
What is it with Australians and qualifying, anyway?
Race day was, if anything, even hotter than
before.
Race one
saw Vermeulen take an early lead from Corser with Laconi in
third and Toseland dropping from fourth to fifth behind Muggeridge.
Then a huge crash on lap four saw the race stopped while injuries
and oil spills were attended to.
The restart was a true Italian farce as the
light controls were fumbled resulting in some riders jumping
the start, the leg having to be shortened while everyone messed
around and lots of people getting very hot and bothered.
 But
it happened eventually. This time it was Vermeulen and Muggeridge
who made the break with Laconi in hot pursuit. Kagayama and
Corser were next with Toseland knocking at the door behind.
Four laps in, though, and Laconi used the Ducati grunt to
get past Muggas, doing the same to Vermeulen just one lap
later to take the lead. A lead which, it's fair to say, never
really looked in doubt. Muggeridge, meanwhile, succumbed to
the pressure from Kagayama, Corser and Toseland in fairly
short order. Kagayama then threw away a great opportunity,
crashing hard, while Toseland fought his way past Corser to
a solid third place on the track. Sadly this was not enough
for the aggregate times, which saw the positions reversed.
Further back, new boy Lorenzo Lanzi had a
brilliant ride to fifth on his semi-privateer Caracchi Ducati
while Nori Haga, Frankie Chili and Chris Walker had a race
long scrap to finish in that order. Rounding out the top ten,
Fonsi Nieto made it a Good Day for Scuderia Caracchi, bringing
his Ducati in ninth, just ahead of bug-ridden Karl Muggeridge,
feeling way out of sorts.
 Race
two at least managed to run in a single leg, and turned
into a slightly surprising photocopy of the final race one
results. Laconi again took the top slot after fighting his
way up from fourth and then proceeded to, if not streak away,
at least create a little bit of clear air between himself
and initial race leader Vermeulen. The stranglehold that Suzuki
had on the season at first, while certainly not broken, looks
at least slightly less ironclad as Kagayama slipped down to
fourth overall, his race one crash having slowed him down
rather and resulting in a twelfth place finish. James Toseland
reprised his fourth place finish, this time ahead of Frankie
Chili who bested Nori Haga and a recovering Karl Muggeridge.
Steve Martin brought the FP-1 into a respectable eighth, fighting
off both Lanzi and Bussei whose Kawasaki rounded out the top
ten.
Lots of action, then, with Toseland passing
and repassing Corser at least three times in race one though
never managing to make enough of a gap to get onto the podium.
Laconi too, slicing through the field and the local heroes
on their semi Privateer Ducatis showing that the Bologna factory
may not be getting it all their own way this season but that
it would be a brave and, indeed, foolish person to write them
out of the running.
Corser is still looking pretty safe at the
top of the table with half the season now gone, but that gap
is shrinking meeting by meeting. Toseland and Laconi both
have a mathematically possible chance of winning, while Vermeulen
is a serious challenge though he needs to win everything from
here on to really do it.
Next round is at Brno in
the Czech Republic on 17th July. It's a great circuit and
should make for some interesting racing. It's also
 Race
One
1 Regis Laconi (Ducati)
2 Chris Vermeulen (Honda)
3 Troy Corser (Suzuki)
4 James Toseland (Ducati)
5 Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati)
6 Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
7 Pier-Francesco Chili (Honda)
8 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
9 Fonsi Nieto (Ducati)
10 Karl Muggeridge (Honda)
Race Two
1 Regis Laconi (Ducati)
2 Chris Vermeulen (Honda)
3 Troy Corser (Suzuki)
4 James Toseland (Ducati)
5 Pier-Francesco Chili (Honda)
6 Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
7 Karl Muggeridge (Honda)
8 Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas)
9 Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati)
10 Giovanni Bussei (Kawasaki)
Championship Standing
after six rounds:
1 Troy
Corser 254
2 Chris Vermeulen 181
3 Regis Laconi 162
4 Yukio Kagayama 148
5 James Toseland 124
6 Noriyuki Haga 88
7 Chris Walker 87
8 Pier-Francesco Chili 86
9 Andrew Pitt 70
10 Karl Muggeridge 65
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