SUPERBIKES: Full throttle!

KING Carl Fogarty has revealed his naked ambition for Sunday's Brands Hatch spectacular - to perform the Full Monty!

The Blackburn superstar stopped short of a full strip in front of 85,000 ecstatic fans last year, and that was after a second-placed finish.

Even so, Fogarty flung his helmet, gloves and his boots into the packed stands to celebrate his rejuvenated challenge for a third world title.

(And the routine was taken a couple of stages further at a charity gala later that night!)

This year, with his Ducati bike white hot and his rekindled ambition burning even more fiercely, those supporters will be demanding victory and another giant step towards an unprecedented fourth title.

"The crowd were going mad so I just reacted to that, throwing them my helmet and what have you.

"If I do the double this year it could be the Full Monty!

"I rode well in that second race. I had a problem with the bike but I was really pleased with the way I rode.

"Well, I was pleased at the time, but a day after I looked back and thought I should have won that."

Fogarty was fourth in the first race of 1998 having suffered tyre problems but, having disposed of one his least favoured tracks in the previous round at Laguna Seca, Fogarty is looking to return to winning ways on familiar territory. His record at the track is good, having won both races in 1995 and enjoyed another victory in 1997.

That, too, looked like a double success until Fogarty crashed in the second race.

The bruises may have disappeared but the hurting remains acute two years down the line.

"I was winning the first race when they stopped it.

"Then they restarted and I didn't get a very good start so I was panicking a bit in third place and not getting passed.

"There was a gaggle behind and I tried too hard round the top bend and fell off and brought Simon Crafar down with me.

"I won the seocnd race but I was devastated after the first," recalled Fogarty sombrely.

The fact that he expects success at Brands is as much down to the atmosphere generated there as the technical demands that hand an advantage to the best riders.

Foggy explained: "There's not one particular thing about Brands that suits me.

"There are a lot more corners. That's usually better for me because the more corners there are, the more areas there are to pick up speed. "Brands is a lot more technical. There are a lot more elevations and more blind corners but the surface is a lot better than some as well.

"But the reason for me to go well at Brands is because it's home. If Brands was somewhere else in the world it would probably be one of the tracks I wouldn't really like.

"You tend to like your home tracks anyway and, riding-wise, I think Donington is a better circuit for a rider.

"It's safer and a better surface and as bit easier. Brands is a bit more dangerous, there is not as much run-off."

The level of Fogarty euphoria, however, can also serve to motivate the other riders.

And Fogarty pinpoints last year's winners, team-mate Troy Corser and Castrol Honda's Colin Edwards, as the major threats this time round.

"The two guys that are behind me in the championship are the two guys that won the races last year," he said.

Edwards, though, has just returned from the gruelling Suzuka 8-hour Endurance race in Japan last weekend - where he finished second with colleague Aaron Slight -and will not be as fresh as the Ducati boys, who did not make the trip.

That said, Fogarty's own recent schedule has been punishing enough.

There has been a constant stream of reporters from national newspapers visiting his Mellor home after a tough motocross training session in Wigan last week. And Fogarty has had to deal with constant requests for tickets from the likes of former Wham star and motorsport fanatic Andrew Ridgely.

He also attended a charity function along with injured stunt star Eddie Kidd in Chesterfield before finally setting off for Kent on Wednesday, whisked south in the helicopter of a family friend in advance of today morning free practice and afternoon qualifying practice sessions.

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER EIGHT OF 13 ROUNDS: 1 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 317, 2 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 268, 3 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 218, 4 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 196, 5 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 194, 6 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 144, 7 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Yamaha) 119, 8 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 103, 9 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 93, 10 Vittoriano Guareschi, Italy (Yamaha) 67.

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