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)