Champ Fogarty still hungry for win at superbike c'ship
Champ Fogarty still hungry for win at superbike c'ship
JAKARTA (JP): Though taking the unbeatable lead, defending
world champion Carl Fogarty of England is still thirsty for
victory in the penultimate leg of the World Superbike
Championship at the Sentul race track, Bogor, West Java tomorrow.
"How I can win is what's on my mind every time I find myself
racing in a circuit. I do not race for fun," said Fogarty.
Private station TPI will broadcast the race live tomorrow from
12 noon.
Up to the championship's 10th leg in Assen, the Netherlands,
on Sept. 10, the 33-year-old has been in the forefront with 420
points to retain his title.
His strongest rivals are Troy Corser of Australia who
collected 258 points and Aaron Slight of New Zealand who garnered
249 points. Each leg of the championship offer a total of 20
points.
The Blackburn-born crosser grabbed his first world crown last
year after collecting a total of 305 points. In all, he won 22 of
93 world superbike championship races.
For tomorrow's competitions, one-hour qualifying trials to
determine the participants' starting positions was started on
Friday and will be completed today.
The US$49,000 race, sponsored by cigarette company Gudang
Garam, will feature two races with 25 laps each tomorrow.
Despite his unchallenged lead, Fogarty, who has left Honda to
join Ducati, has a very down-to-earth attitude. He said he would
not boast and say he would win the 11th leg but he would do his
best.
"I think all of us have equal chances of winning and we all
are familiar with the race," Fogarty, who rides a Ducati-916,
said. He implied that encounters with old foes were to be
expected and that none of them were either easier or harder to
beat.
Fogarty is one of the championship's twenty-two participating
crossers coming from 10 countries including Japan, New Zealand,
Austria, Italy, Scotland and host Indonesia.
Indonesia is fielding national crossers Dudu Karnada (on
Yamaha), Bambang Sudarsono (on Suzuki), Eddy S. Otto and Rod
Scott (Kawasaki).
The championship's 12th and final leg is scheduled to take
place on Phillip Island, Australia, on Oct. 29. (arf)