For Troy Corser, last year's race (2000) was his first on the Aprilia RSV 1000 and the team had no idea of what lay ahead. Expectations were low - a new bike, a new rider surely a good result was out of the question? But, Troy caused the first sensation of the season by putting in the fastest lap of Superpole!  That lap, a 1m42.471s was four tenths of a second faster then any other lap in regular qualifying and nearly a second quicker then the lap record set by Carl Fogarty in the second race.  On race day, Troy nearly got on the podium at his first attempt, but in the end was content with a pair of fourth place finishes.  

Second in the 2001 points standings is Ducati's Troy Bayliss, the Australian lies 10 points behind Corser and 13 ahead of Kawasaki's Gregorio Lavilla with Edwards four points adrift of the Spanish Kawasaki rider.

GSE Racing’s Neil Hodgson and James Toseland are looking forward to Kyalami.  Hodgson was fastest around the 4.263 km circuit at the official SBK winter test (1m41.477s) - "I’m really excited about going to Kyalami again after the pre-season test," said the 27-year old current British Superbike Champion. "Although I’ve been there before in 1998, it will be a new experience racing the GSE Ducati. All bikes lose a certain amount of power at high-altitude tracks but this doesn’t seem to affect my style and I can carry quite high corner speeds. This gives a big adrenaline rush - it feels fast! “We may have been the fastest in the test, but that won’t mean that there’ll be much complacency in the GSE Racing pit. In fact, quite the opposite! “I love going to South Africa. It’s a great place to stay and relax after a day at the track. The climate’s perfect for racing at this time of year: quite warm with low humidity. All I want now is to be in a position where I can battle for the lead. If I’m in the ballpark and riding well, then you’ll certainly see a big smile on my face!”

Twenty-year old Toseland also had a mixed start to the season - at Valencia he qualified 12th in his first-ever Superpole, and then was taken out twice in the first race, but made a sensational return in the second leg to finish ninth. “I’m really looking forward to racing at Kyalami,” said the British rider. “Apart from the fact that I achieved my best-ever result in the 1999 Supersport World Championship there (sixth) I like the track because it’s fast, flowing and much more exciting than Valencia. “The circuit is 5,000 feet above sea-level, so I’ve been working hard to increase my fitness levels by doing more cardio-vascular exercise, so I will be strong and competitive for the two, 25-lap races that lie ahead of me.”

Team Suzuki Alstare are also looking forward to the second round as Kyalami is a favourite track for both riders.   In 1998, the first year that a Superbike World Championship race took place at Kyalami, Suzuki rider Pierfrancesco Chili notched up two wins. Last year, in the opening races of the season, he took a hard fought-for third and fifth places.   "Kyalami has been quite good to me in the past, so I'm hoping for some good results again. We went quite well there in the pre-season tests and I think we can finish higher up than we did at Valencia in the first round. Valencia was frustrating, but it's a tight, twisty track and not the kind of circuit I like anyway. Kyalami should be better, because it flows much better ­ except for the terrible chicane just before the last corner!" said Chili.

Stephane Chambon - "This will be my first time racing at Kyalami on a Superbike. Previously, I've been here on the 600 Supersport bike and I've won a race and come second in the other. A Superbike round here will be a much bigger challenge and I'm sure we can improve on Valencia. I feel I'm still learning about the bike and all I want to do is to get to know it well, so that it feels comfortable to ride. When that happens ­ hopefully soon ­ I can really push it hard. The start of a season is always tough and it's harder for me this year, because I'm on a Superbike and because there's three tough races ahead ­ Kyalami, Phillip Island and Sugo. It's certainly a baptism of fire!" 

Defending World Superbike champion Colin Edwards is in confident mood and is fourth in the series after the opening round in Spain two weeks ago but the Castrol Honda star is confident of a repeat of his 2000 display at the Kyalami circuit where he won both races and the 27-year-old from Conroe, Texas is looking for the same return this year. "We're heading to South Africa after a disappointing time in the opening round but this championship is 13 rounds and 26 races, we've hardly got started," said Edwards. "I like Kyalami and in pre-season testing I did more laps there than most so we know what works there. "Michelin provided us with a lot of new race and qualifying rubber for the Kyalami test two months ago so we're heading there pretty confident and knowing what lap times are possible on each of the rear tyre options we have."

Edwards' Castrol Honda team-mate Tady Okada is chasing two solid, points scoring rides at Kyalami after a disappointing first round. The talented Japanese rider was forced out after six laps of the opening Valencia race with an electrical problem and crashed at the second corner of race two. "I have a lot of work to do at Kyalami," admits Okada. "I know I can't make up the gap to the top of the championship in one round but Kyalami is where my season starts properly. I rode the circuit for the first time in the test two months ago and I really like the layout. "In Spain I was still getting used to the VTR and I was happy with qualifying and Superpole and I'm confident I can win races this year - hopefully starting on Sunday."

Australian's Steve Martin, Marty Craggill and Broc Parkes will be eager to improve on their round 1 performances.

The World Supersport boys do not race in South Africa, their series resumes at Phillip Island on April 22.

As discussed is our interview early in January, Peter Goddard will not be making the grid onboard the Benelli for the first few rounds.  

Last year at Kyalami (2000)

2001 Race Coverage

Race 1 Report  -  Race 2 Report  -  Quotes  -  Race Images