Kocinski to defend title at World Superbike C'ship

JAKARTA (JP): American John Kocinski is set to defend his title at the World Superbike Championship at Sentul, near Bogor, Oct. 11 and Oct. 12.

Kocinski, on a Ducati, is expected to be challenged by 17 other riders, among them: Carl Fogarty (Ducati) of England, Aaron Slight (Honda New Zealand), Pierfrancesco Chili (Ducati Italy), Scott Russell (Yamaha US), Simon Crafar (Kawasaki New Zealand), Akira Yanagawa ( Kawasaki Japan) and Neil Hodgson (Ducati England).

Kocinski has 364 points after the Spanish race. He is followed by Fogarty (312), Slight (285), Chili (203), Russell (201), Crafar (198), Yanagawa (188) and Hodgson (126).

The American rider won the 1996 championship on Aug. 18 at the Sentul international track.

Riding a Ducati 916 last year, Kocinski clocked 37 minutes and 10.159 seconds.

Slight was in second place with 37:14.854 and Fogarty in third with 37:15.417.

Sentul circuit director Rio Sarwono said yesterday that the winner of this year's superbike championship would receive an additional 50 points.

"If Kocinski wins the race, he will get a total of 414 points. The runner-ups will also get additional points but it has yet to be decided," Rio said.

Rio added that three local riders from the Gajah Tunggal team would also compete in the world championship. They are Simon Kusumah, Dodi Gozali and Affendi Bar.

"Simon, Dodi and Affendi are expected to show their best performance although it will be a tough competition. The riders will race for 25 laps," Rio said.

Rio further said that apart from the superbike series, there would also be the supersport world series. Some 19 foreign riders will take part in it.

Among the 19 foreign riders are Italians Favrizio Pirovano, Massimo Meregaili, Vittoriano Guareseni, Paolo Casoli, Mauro Lucchiari and Roberto Panichi, Wim Theunissen (Netherlands), Fred Bayens (Australia) and Peter Koller (Germany).

State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman and several cabinet ministers are expected to watch the final race tomorrow.

Tickets for the two races are Rp 50,000 for the tribune and Rp 5,000 for the festival.

Fans who still hold tickets for the Indonesian Grand Prix held last week may use them to see the practice round today, and tomorrow's races, an official said.

The Oct. 11 race is for the pole position, and the Oct. 12 race is the final one in both the superbike and supersport competition.

"We will provide Giri Indah buses for the spectators at four bus terminals in Jakarta. The spectators do not need to pay fares since the buses will also bring them back to the terminals," the official said, adding that some 50,000 people were expected to watch today's and tomorrow's races. (lnt)