Motor Racing: Slight shatters record despite slippery crash

Superbike ace Aaron Slight has stormed into contention for this year's world championship after a record-shattering test ride in Australia.

The New Zealander bounced back from an early crash on his Honda to slither around a newly resurfaced track at Phillip Island, Victoria, more than a second and a half under his own lap record.

The huge reduction in lap time made Slight the first superbike rider to break the 1m 34s barrier on the picturesque but demanding oceanside circuit.

Trackside talk had suggested such a time might be possible on the new surface but instead it proved very slippery before bedding in.

"It's led to a lack of grip for most of the riders here," said Slight, runner-up in last year's world title chase.

"I lost the front with no warning at all. It wasn't a big deal - I felt quite comfortable through the day although the bike was squirrelling around a lot."

Slight's time of 1m 33.961s was an important psychological break during the second official test of the year which started on Monday.

At any other time the laps of top Australian Troy Corser (Ducati) and Slight's team mate Colin Edwards (US), who were just over the 1m 34s mark, would have been lauded. Instead they have a couple more days to wrest back the Slight advantage.

"Due to the lack of grip we're looking at suspension settings we would never normally use," Edwards said. "I'm sure we can improve the feel of the machine and I can go quicker."

Corser's Ducati team mate and defending world champ Carl Fogarty, the only rider able to better Slight at last week's first test in South Africa, could manage no better than sixth quickest on Monday.

The Briton's pace was a comparatively pedestrian 1m 35.046s - a pole position time a year ago.

The first round of the 13-event championship is in South Africa on March 28. The Phillip Island round is held on April 18.

Monday's times: Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 1m 33.961s 1, Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 1m 34.027s 2, Colin Edwards, US (Castrol Honda) 1m 34.392s 3, Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 1m 34.846s 4, Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 1m 34.925s 5, Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 1m 35.046s 6, Hitoyasu Izutsu, Japan (Kawasaki) 1m 35.337s 7, Atsushi Watanabe, Japan (Suzuki) 1m 35.806s 8, Peter Goddard, Australia (Aprilia) 1m 35.940s 9, Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 1m 35.970s 10.

* The Auckland-based BSL motorcycle team hope to hear today whether they have gained a slot in this season's 500cc world championship.

All the selectors who saw the New Zealand-designed bike at Phillip Island and in Malaysia in the past two weeks were keen for the team to be included, but a French team which faces exclusion has mounted a legal challenge.

"Because of piston problems we were not able to achieve the lap times we wanted and the Tecmas team, which runs Honda V-twins, claim they should have preference because they are up to speed," team manager Dave Stewart said yesterday.

"We could have gone for a one-lap blast but that would have destroyed all the development we have done and Mark Willis looked after the bike brilliantly."

Stewart believes the International Roadracing Teams' Association will either reject the French challenge or create a 25th place in the approved field for the season.