2000 World Superbike Championship - Round 7, San Marino (at Misano)

MAJESTY IN MISANO

"All season, I've been looking forward to Misano. It's a track where we've tested a few times and so we had an idea of a good bike set-up before we started the event. On Friday we found a good base set-up and from then we hardly touched the bike - all we did was change the tyres and put gas in the tank! The Aprilia hardly skipped a beat - it ran perfectly all weekend. The result and the great feeling and joy it gave is probably as important to me as winning in Australia."

Troy's comments belied the his total domination at Misano. He was fastest in all qualifying sessions. He was fastest in Superpole. He set the fastest laps in both races and he won both races. As he said - "a perfect weekend." But the success didn't come easy. It came about because of the enormous amount of hard work put in by Troy and the whole team - the mechanics, the Ohlins suspension and Michelin tyre technicians. For Aprilia, a double win in their home country was more then they could have dreamed of - but no so for Troy. Before the race he said, "A win here is possible - but two would be great".

On Saturday in Superpole qualifying, Troy knew that it would be vital to get a front row grid position, but after regular qualifying that didn't seem a problem. But Troy was not content with just a front row position, he wanted pole. Two of his main rivals - Colin Edwards and Frankie Chili crashed in Superpole and when Troy started his warm-up lap, the rider to  beat was Noriyuki Haga. Troy was the last rider to go. His first two split  times were down on Haga and it looked like Superpole was slipping away. 

But, in the last section, Troy absolutely flew. It wasn't ragged. It was smooth and very, very fast. As he approached the last two turns, the monitors showed he was in with a chance as long as he didn't make any mistakes. The flag dropped and Troy had done it - by an amazing three
tenths of a second!

Race day saw over 57,000 fans pile into Misano. The conditions were perfect - dry and sunny - and the fans expected a show. They got it! Troy led the first race from start to finish and nobody - except Haga briefly - got a look in. Troy was so smooth, he almost looked slow - butnobody overtook him! Through the fast flowing turns and slow corners Troy was in a class of his own and he took the win by a massive eight seconds. 

To win one World Superbike race is something, but to win two on the same day is a hard feat to accomplish - especially on a bike only in its second race season. But nobody told Troy that it was a hard act to do and he believed a remarkable double was a possibility. There was a little set-back at the start of the second race when Katsuaki Fujiwara led off the line and across the finish line at the end of the first lap. It didn't last long!

Fujiwara was soon swept aside by Troy and as soon as he was in the lead the result was never in doubt. It wasn't even if the other riders were  underperforming, it was just that Troy and Aprilia were in total command and the rest could do nothing about it. Towards the end of the second race, Troy eased the pace, but he still took the chequered flag by a comfortable margin - this time nearly six seconds.

As Troy went round the track on his cooling down lap, the vast hordes of spectators lining the back straight were treated to one of his trademark one leg off the bike standing up wheelies. The crowd went wild. Troy had dominated Misano, had put a tremendous show and everybody loved it - except maybe his competitors!

Misano was very special for Troy. The Italian fans had come to Misano for a great day's racing and were not disappointed. Troy's performance at Misano was probably his best ever and it will be one remembered by all present for years to come. Troy - majesty in Misano.

Text written by Kel Edge - Photos by Alex Photo