CARL Fogarty's style was cramped by two third place finishes in the World Superbike Championship fourth round in Spain, writes NEIL BRAMWELL.

But he still managed to extend his lead at the top of the standings to 38 points as his rivals failed to find that level of consistency at the windy Albacete track.

Fogarty was hampered in the first race and the opening laps of the second by cramp in his right leg.

And, though he managed to stay in touch with race winners Colin Edwards and Noriyuki Haga, the Blackburn ace was never really in contention as the faster bikes were able to power out of the corners.

A change of tyre width for the second race improved his performance but was not enough to improve on his opening race position.

Fogarty said: "I had a few problems with cramp in my right leg.

"In race two I went for the 16.5 inch rear after opting for the 17 inch in the first race.

"Things went a lot better but I was never in a position to pass the two riders ahead of me.

"This was mainly due to the characteristics of the track which is hard to ride and has a lot of changes of direction but, above all, very few places where you can overtake. "I was a bit doubtful about the choice of gear ratios but I think I made a good compromise."

Haga won the opening race, grabbing the lead from Edwards, who

retired with electrical trouble, on the opening lap to win from Kawasaki's Akira Yanagawa.

After the first race disappointment, Edwards hit back to control the second of the two 26-lap encounters.

The 25-year-old Texan was overjoyed with the fifth victory of his career and the second in 1999.

"Not being able to compete in the first race was a bitter blow but I couldn't do any better than go out and win the second," said Edwards.

Yanagawa took second place once more but the challenge of first race winner Haga disappeared when, at the halfway point, he ran wide and into a gravel trap.

Results - First race result: 1 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Yamaha) 40m 09.482s, 2 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 40m 09.980s, 3 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 40m 15.654s, 4 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 40m 22.499s, 5 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 40m 22.573s, 6 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 40m 22.698s, 7 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 40m 41.255s, 8 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 40m 41.280s, 9 Vittoriano Guareschi, Italy (Yamaha) 40m 49.582s, 10 Peter Goddard, Australia (Aprilia) 40m 49.664s.

Second race result: 1 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda), 2 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki), 3 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati), 4 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki), 5 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki), 6 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati), 7 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda), 8 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki), 9 Vittoriano Guareschi, Italy (Yamaha) 40m 49.582s, 10 Peter Goddard, Australia (Aprilia) 40m 49.664s.

Championship points after four of 13 rounds: 1 Fogarty 167, 2 Corser 131, 3 Edwards 122, 4 Yanagawa 106, 5 Slight 104, 6 Haga 75, 7 Chili 53, 8 Fujiwara 48, 9 Doriano Romboni, Italy (Ducati) 44, 10 Lavilla 41.

Next round: Monza, Italy - May 30

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