WSBK News

It is a good thing that no-one in the factory Ducati team has a weak heart because if they did, they wouldn't last too long in the pit garage this year. Emotions have gone from the highs of victory to the depths of despair and back again in a matter of months.

Yamaha's dreams of clinching the 2000 World Superbike crown may be in tatters with the suspension of Noriyuki Haga but they have good reason to smile about their future prospects.

1. Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati 14 laps. 2. Akira Yanagawa JAP Kawasaki 0.202. 3. Noriyuki Haga JAP Yamaha 0.748. 4. Colin Edwards USA Honda 0.799.

Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga was at his spectacular best at Hockenheim on Sunday afternoon, snatching victory away from Colin Edwards at the last moment to give both himself and his Yamaha team a much needed boost.

Japanese Yamaha star Noriyuki Haga has incurred the wrath of the International Disciplinary Court for failing two drug tests in the first five rounds of the 2000 World Superbike championship.

Colin Edwards put any lingering doubts over the sheer power of the Castrol Honda straight out of the window by dominating the time-sheets throughout Friday practice.

It has been all change in the Ducati camp ever since Carl Fogarty broke his arm at Phillip Island during round two of the World Superbike championship.

In 1999, Australian veteran Peter Goddard spent most of his time developing Aprilia's initially troublesome RSV1000 in the team's first factory assault on the World Superbike Championship.

Defending World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty was given a second brain scan recently after the Ducati star suffered a severe bout of headaches at his Blackburn home.

Yamaha's spectacular number one rider Noriyuki Haga is facing a possible three month ban from the World Superbike championship after he was twice found to be over the FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) limit for ephedrine, a dietary supplement.

Hockenheim, like Monza is a power circuit with long blasts punctuated with tight, fiddly chicanes. It is not uncommon to see a train of ten to twelve bikes towing each other around the 4.2 mile German Grand Prix circuit where keeping momentum is of premium importance.

Tragedy hit the British Superbike series last weekend, when a spectator was killed by a machine which flew into the crowd at Oulton Park.

Throughout practice and qualifying, the Honda of Texan Colin Edwards was the rider/bike combination to beat. Edwards turned in two stunning laps to take top spot in qualifying which he then translated into a third successive Superpole victory.

Superpole results.