The Other Down Under

'Member Kyalami? It's been seven years since WSB was in South Africa and I barely remember the track from playing SuperBike2001 on my computer. With one major straight, and a number of changing radius and blind uphill/downhill corners this hilly ribbon of a track will depend heavily on rider skill not to mention correct bike setup. After varying results in the practice and qualifying sessions, Ben Spies filtered to the top in SuperPole, moving into first in the last seconds of the round. The usual suspects gathered behind him, with Fabrizio only 1/1000th of a second slower, a victim of Ben's last gasp charge, resulting in the smallest gap in WSB SuperPole history. Then came Biaggi 18/100ths later, recording highest top speed of the day, Haga another 8/100ths back, and the rest of the top 15 within a second of Spies. If you've been counting, Ben Spies has now equaled the all-time record for consecutive pole positions set in 1991 by another Texan, Doug Polen. The bad news for the weekend is that Regis Laconi crashed yesterday, breaking his C3 and C5 vertebrae, with a severe concussion and lung damage. Latest news was that he's in an induced coma, and may be for several days, while doctors in Jo'Berg wait for his condition to stabilize before operating. Even if things go well, it's likely he'll be completely immobilized for at least three weeks following surgery. Not good.