Edwards clinches 2002 world title in last championship round

Associated Press Imola, Italy

American rider Colin Edwards clinched the 2002 world title - his second in three years - by edging defending champion Troy Bayliss by 11 points after Sunday's last round of the World Superbike Championship at the Imola circuit.

Edwards pocketed decisive championship points, for a winning total of 552, riding his Japanese-made Honda to straight wins in Race One and Two of the Italian Round as his Australian rival twice finished runnerup, on a Ducati, after exciting wheel-to- wheel duels.

Edwards, a 28-year-old native of Houston, captured the title with an impressive winning streak in the last nine races of the 13-round competition.

Edwards, who trailed Bayliss by nearly 60 points by mid season, produced a sensational comeback in the second part of the championship.

Earlier, Edwards edged his Australian rival by 0.514 seconds in the combined time after the 21-lap race was stopped and restarted following a spill of British rider Neil Hodgson.

Edwards stretched his championship lead over Bayliss to six points - 527 to 521 - ahead of Race Two.

Edwards started from the pole position on his Japanese-made Honda and was leading Bayliss by 0.74 seconds when stewards waved the red flags to stop the race after 11 laps when Hodgson skidded on an oil spot and slipped off the track unhurt.

Edwards and Bayliss alternated in the lead as the race was restarted for the remaining 10 laps and the 33-year-old Australian crossed the finish line first, on a Ducati. However his lead too thin to snatch race victory from the Texan.

The thrilling duel between the two top championship riders excited fans at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, the traditional site of the San Marino Formula One GP.