With Laguna Seca thought of as a Dunlop track, three-time AMA champion Mladin took pole position with his GSX-R1000. Team-mate Yates was fourth, separated from the Australian by the 998RS machines of Régis Laconi and Frankie Chili. The factory Ducatis of Rubén Xaus and Neil Hodgson were on the second row, but behind the Dunlop-shod bikes of Gregorio Lavilla (Suzuki) and James Toseland (Ducati).

Eric Bostrom’s Kawasaki was tenth, behind Chris Walker and ahead of Steve Martin and Giovanni Bussei. The Italian was on row three for the first time, having transferred from UnionBike’s Yamaha R1 to a Ducati Austin mount. The usual suspects completed the grid, with Troy Corser fourteenth and James Haydon twentieth on the Foggy Petronas FP1 bikes.

As they lined up for the start of race one, Toseland’s HM Plant Ducati was missing. James had managed to stall it on the sighting lap, but ultimately this wouldn’t matter too much. When they got going, Laconi went to the front, but all sorts of chaos was about to break out. At the inside of turn two, Yates triggered a pile up when he hit Chili. Both Bostrom and Hodgson were involved, and the red flag came out to stop the race while everything was sorted out. For the restart, Toseland was present on the grid, as was everyone else bar Bostrom.

This time Laconi led away from Mladin, Lavilla, Chili, Xaus, Toseland, Hodgson, Walker and Corser. On lap two, Xaus made up a place when got past Chili. He did this at the turn two left-handed hairpin, cutting in tight as Frankie took the normal line to set up for the next stretch. After the original accident, there now came the first of a series of crashes - this one involving both Haydon and Ivan Clementi. It looked as if they’d just slid off the track in sympathy with one another.

Mladin was attacking Laconi’s lead and, behind, Xaus was the fastest man as he caught up to Lavilla and moved clear of Chili. The Italian rider was now being pursued by Toseland and Hodgson. When Laconi had a bit of a ‘moment’, it let Mladin take the lead. Moments later, Xaus repeated his earlier audacious move, this time to overtake Lavilla as he had Chili, by nipping into a pretty small gap at the second corner. His charge continued as he got by Laconi at the outside of the final turn.

With Chili and then Laconi setting fastest laps, it didn’t look all over, although Mladin and Xaus had made themselves a gap over the Frenchman. Now Chili was fourth, with Lavilla just behind him. Mladin’s ‘home’ advantage disappeared when, yet again, Xaus went through with his exclusive pass at turn two. He then proceeded to up the pace, leaving the Suzuki man to fend off the Ducatis of Laconi and Chili. Hodgson had now progressed to P5, while Lucio Pedercini became another faller.

But if this was beginning to look like a third straight victory for Rubén Xaus, there now came a big shock. The lanky Spaniard slid out of the race at the final corner, into the gravel, gifting the lead back to Laconi. Martin was yet another casualty at this stage. Now the first four were together, with Laconi heading Chili, Mladin and Hodgson. Toseland was a little way back in fifth, but catching. The next men were Lavilla, Walker, Yates and Bussei. Mladin’s early surge seemed to wilt as the two 998s stretched their advantage.

Was this going to be Laconi’s day? Not likely, as his bike folded down underneath him at turn one, adding another name to the retirements list. Chili was now in front, and Mladin regained second place, but was under attack from Hodgson. The Ducati 999 seemed to have the better speed, as Neil moved ahead over the start line, and chased after Frankie’s PSG-1 machine. The 39-year-old veteran was right on the limit, with a sixteenth career victory in his sights. Meanwhile, Toseland was now catching Mladin.

Indeed, James was soon on the offensive, and took his orange mount through for third, on the inside for a tight left-hander. With five laps remaining, it seemed that Chili had Hodgson covered, taking his gap out to around two seconds. Toseland seemed equally secure, having put some air between himself and Mladin. Yates was now catching Walker for fifth, with Lavilla yet another man to drop his bike for a no-score. Further back, Corser had Mauro Sanchini and Bussei on his case.

And so Frankie Chili achieved a popular victory, mounting the rostrum for the 51st time. Hodgson was second, from Toseland, Mladin, Walker, Yates, Bussei and Corser. The remaining points went to Sanchini, Marco Borciani, Juan Borja, Walter Tortoroglio and Luca Pedersoli (now on the second Pedercini Ducati).

For race two, Mladin apparently decided he could live without another fourth place, and decided to sit it out! Also playing a reduced role was Martin, whose DFX Ducati was left on the grid as the rest accelerated away. Once again it was Laconi that led initially, this time from his inherited pole position. He seemed to be setting a hot pace right off, leaving the rest trailing, and this was enhanced even further around the back of the circuit. Second man Chili was highsided on the way up the hill, and he truly experienced the highs and lows in one day.

This left Toseland second, from Yates, Xaus, Hodgson, Walker, Lavilla, Corser, Borciani, David García, Sanchini, Bussei, Borja, Pedercini and Clementi. Even after a single lap the field seemed to be spreading out evenly, although Xaus then set the fastest lap as he hunted down the first three. Yates was making up for Mladin’s absence by passing Toseland before the Corkscrew turn, and then going inside Laconi at the last corner.

This put the American in the lead, and also served to block the French rider’s momentum onto the finish straight. As a result, Toseland and Xaus were able to go past on either side, taking second and third, respectively. Rubén made more progress as he passed James on the inside of a left-hander, and his task was complete as he next out-powered the GSX-R over the line.

As in the earlier race, this one included its fair share of incidents. Haydon was the casualty when Tortoroglio hit him, and both bikes went down and out of the race. A similar fate befell Jiri Mrkyvka. Now Xaus had stretched a lead, with Yates, Toseland and Hodgson together behind him. Walker had moved up to fifth, and Lavilla soon joined him ahead of Laconi. Eighth placed Corser now led Bussei, Borciani, Borja and Sanchini.

Toseland was looking aggressive behind Yates and, indeed, both he and Hodgson managed to pass him out of the last turn. Hodgson’s run on the inside got him ahead of both rival machines, making it a 1-2-3 for Ducati. James continued threatening his former team-mate, whilst Aaron fell into the clutches of Walker, Lavilla and Laconi. The Spaniard was the first man through as the local rider dropped another position. Further back, Bussei had overtaken Corser.

Xaus was still the fastest man on the track, moving out on his own and sliding his 999 in some places. And the two men behind seemed more concerned with one another. Toseland went to the outside of Hodgson in one corner, muscling through as they switched directions for the next. Meanwhile, Walker found his way past Yates, and then set his sights on Lavilla and the other Suzuki. Laconi was also getting back on terms with Yates, but Corser was, at this stage, forced to withdraw his Foggy FP1 to the pits.

Toseland’s determination had paid off in taking him clear of Hodgson, but then he managed to go down and could not restart the Ducati. The same incident forced Hodgson to run off the circuit, and he rejoined fifth. Now he found himself battling Yates again, for the time being. Walker moved up to second by passing Lavilla, and then the next pair loomed up behind the Spanish rider. With Yates managing to block Gregorio’s path as they went into the Corkscrew, both he and Hodgson passed at this stage, and both Laconi and Bussei were now next in line.

With time running short, Xaus had built an impressive fourteen-second lead. Walker’s second place did not look so secure, after Hodgson passed Yates on the straight. Indeed, the Suzuki seemingly had some kind of gearbox problem, and Aaron was to lose the bike in a slide at the last corner. Just before this Neil had attacked his former BSB rival, slipstreaming past Chris over the start-finish line.

With two laps remaining, there were only eleven men left running. Walker was comfortably clear of Lavilla and Laconi, but the Caracchi NCR rider was pushing his Suzuki rival. On the final lap, Régis went past on the inside at turn two, and that settled the final positions. Xaus won from Hodgson, Walker, Laconi, Lavilla, Bussei, Borja, Sanchini, Borciani and Pedercini. Clementi had been a late retirement.

In the end, Hodgson and Walker had been the only leading riders to finish both races, and so the championship lead was extended by fifteen points. Xaus may have wrecked his own chances for the double win, but at least he gained some ground on Toseland overall. Chili picked up his best result of the season, and Walker equalled his own.

Standings after sixteen races: Hodgson 355; Xaus 233; Toseland 201; Laconi 187; Lavilla 166; Walker 156; Chili 143; Martin 95; Borciani 93; Pedercini 91.

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