The leading wildcard riders included former World Superbike regular Hitoyasu Izutsu, on a Honda SPW, Suzuki’s Atsushi Watanabe, and Noriyasu Numata on a 996 Ducati. Judging by previous years (see below), these men deserved to be taken seriously by the usual front runners. Watanabe looked the most threatening, qualifying fourth, but his wasn’t the leading Suzuki, as that honour fell to third placed Gregorio Lavilla.

Ducatis filled the top two slots, but the works bikes were absent from the front row. Pole went to Team Caracchi’s Régis Laconi, ahead of Frankie Chili on the PSG-1 machine. Row two was made up of Neil Hodgson, Chris Walker and James Toseland, plus Troy Corser’s eighth placed Foggy FP1.

Race one had a dramatic opening, thanks to an incident at the first corner. Corser and Ivan Clementi managed to come together as they accelerated away, and the Italian’s Kawasaki was forced onto the grass on the inside. Both riders then lost control completely, sliding back onto the tarmac as it bent to the right, and across the path of the field. Five bikes ended up going into the gravel trap on the outside, and only Lavilla was able to continue, albeit now back in fifteenth. Corser, Clementi, Chili and Walker were out on the spot, with the Englishman adding a second foot injury to the one he was already carrying.

The pack was thinned by the crash, with a gap behind the first three as a result. Laconi had converted his pole to the lead, ahead of Watanabe and Hodgson. Toseland was on his own in fourth, but was soon making inroads on the men ahead. Numata was fifth, from Rubén Xaus, Mauro Sanchini and James Haydon. Laconi recorded an early fastest lap, but was soon being pursued by Hodgson, who pushed Watanabe back to third. A fastest lap from Toseland helped him make it a four-way leading group, and meanwhile Numata was moving clear of Xaus.

Hodgson’s 2003 form had not deserted him, and it was somehow inevitable that he relieved Laconi of the lead. Watanabe tried to emulate the Englishman, but went too fast into the corner as he made his attack, and ran wide as a result. Toseland was on hand to take advantage, making it a one-two-three for Ducati. Xaus had now taken his 999 machine ahead of Numata’s 996, but Hodgson was the one setting fastest laps.

Watanabe’s GSX-R 1000 was the only non-Italian bike in the top six, but not for long. It seemed he might have some brake problems, and he ran straight off the track. He was forced to skirt round a sizeable gravel trap before he could rejoin, and it sent him right back through the order. Going the other direction was the Alstare Suzuki of Lavilla, whose pace reflected his grid position. After his early setback, the Spaniard had come through to sixth position, where he was behind only Hodgson, Laconi, Toseland, Xaus and Numata.

At this point, the first four were spread out, so Lavilla’s assault on Numata was the main battle. The local rider had to give way when Gregorio forced his way through on the inside for a right-hander. It was academic in the end, as Numata was a faller not long afterwards. Lavilla was not clear, though, as he now came under pressure from Izutsu, his ex-Kawasaki team-mate. The Suzuki seemed to miss a gear, letting the Honda catch up, and Izutsu made his pass on the inside for another right-hander.

With the race coming to a close, Watanabe was making good on his earlier mistake, and found his way past Haydon’s Foggy triple. At the same time, Walter Tortoroglio was retiring his Honda. But up front it was pretty much all over. Hodgson won it from Laconi, Toseland and Xaus. Behind them, Lavilla just sneaked fifth over Izutsu. Next came Lucio Pedercini, Watanabe, Haydon, Juan Borja, Sanchini, Giovanni Bussei and Marco Borciani.

The start for race two went much better for most of the competitors. Laconi was an exception, as the front of his 998 came up, and he was left trailing much of the pack. Pedercini was even worse off, crashing out almost immediately. This time the Suzuki pair were up front, with Watanabe leading Lavilla. Hodgson held third, ahead of Walker, Toseland, Chili, Clementi, Xaus, Corser, Izutsu, Laconi and Sanchini. Numata took himself past Steve Martin and Borja to run thirteenth.

Walker was struggling with his injuries, and soon found Toseland and Chili passing him as one. A little later Xaus joined them, and ultimately ‘the Stalker’ went down for another no-score. Having been third in the points, the Sugo round had proved a setback for him. Meanwhile, Lavilla made an impressive early pass on Watanabe, to lead the race on the only full-time Suzuki in the series. Hodgson also attacked the Japanese rider, and was quickly up into P2. Laconi’s race got worse as Sanchini’s 750cc Kawasaki went ahead of the former race winner.

With a gap forming between the first two, who had moved clear of the rest, it was third place that was now in dispute. Watanabe led Toseland, Chili and Xaus, and then there was another gap to Izutsu. Laconi began to make good on his poor start by moving up to eighth, ahead of Clementi, Corser, Borja and Sanchini. Haydon’s day came to an end with a mechanical problem that forced him into the pits.

But the big action now came with the lead battle. Hodgson had closed up to Lavilla and attacked him into turn one. The Spaniard was able to hold off the Fila machine, but a lap later Neil got it right. Even so, it was a long time before he was able to shake off the GSX-R, which remained threatening until fairly late in the race, when Hodgson sped up even more. Behind them, Chili was after another good result, following only one finish from the first five races.

Frankie duly passed Toseland to go fourth, and then set about attacking Watanabe. When he made it through, he was able go clear, and even start to catch the two in front, thanks to a couple of fastest laps. Eventually the gap stabilised, and the Italian realised he was going to have settle for third. Behind, however, there were more changes to come. Xaus took his works Ducati past Toseland’s 2002 example, and began to attack Watanabe.

The wildcard rider managed to repeat his race one error, running off and around the gravel. All his hard work had been in vain, but he had certainly made a point with his speed. There were no doubts about Hodgson, though, and he won comfortably enough from Lavilla. Chili was third, with Xaus and Toseland next over the line. The top ten was completed by Izutsu, Laconi, Clementi, Borja and Sanchini.

So Hodgson maintained his winning record, but his championship position was strengthened further by Xaus’ pair of fourth places. Lavilla was now third, and the only non-Ducati in the top ten.

Standings after six races: Hodgson 150; Xaus 106; Lavilla 75; Toseland 67; Laconi 63; Walker 48; Martin 42; Borciani, Chili, Corser and Pedercini 32.

Sugo’s wildcard winners:
3 · Makoto Tamada (Honda); 2001 races one and two, 2002 race two
2 · Hitoyasu Izutsu (Kawasaki); 2000 races one and two
1 · Yuichi Takeda (Honda); 1996 race one
1 · Takuma Aoki (Honda); 1996 race two
1 · Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha); 1997 race two
1 · Keiichi Kitagawa (Suzuki); 1998 race one
1 · Akira Ryo (Suzuki); 1999 race one

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