NUMBER one Carl Fogarty has won two out of three key battles in his bid for a fourth World Superbike title.

After the stunning double triumph in Italy two weeks ago, his opponents are dispirited and demoralised.

They know that Fogarty, on this form and on this bike, is unbeatable.

And, after breaking his duck at Misano, Fogarty has convinced himself that there is no such thing as a bogey track.

But Blackburn's world champion now faces a third threat - the unknown.

Laguna Seca always attracts a strong field of ambitious local riders who are capable of springing a surprise.

This being the only round to the West of the Atlantic, it is their only chance to shine on the world stage.

"There'll be some really handy local riders out to prove something in their one chance of the year.

"But I'll be right there."

Last year's races at the Laguna circuit were won by Fogarty's team-mate Troy Corser and Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga, who crashed out in Misano while challenging the Ducati supremacy.

Corser also set the pace in last year's Superpole, with a lap time of 1m 26.325 secs, but the racing lap record, set by Wataura Yoshikawa on a Yamaha, has stood for three years.

For Fogarty, last year's California trip was a disaster with a fifth-placed finish in the first race before pulling out of race two with fuel pipe problems.

He reflected: "There was a bit of confusion at the start of the first race, but I got up to fifth before it was stopped for the second time - bit of a mess really.

"The second race was a disaster even before the start! On the inspection lap the bike didn't feel right and there was petrol leaking out, so we wheeled it off the grid and I got on the spare bike and began the warm-up lap from the pit-lane.

"The start wasn't so bad, and I got up to third when it started running unevenly. I kept going, but it got worse, so I had to pull in and stop.

"It was really disappointing and ruined all my chances of moving up to second in the championship. It was even more frustrating to find out that the problem was the same as Troy had in South Africa that year - splits in the petrol pipe!

"It's a part that costs practically nothing, yet failed twice on me in one race."

This time round, though, Fogarty enters round eight knowing that his bike is running like a dream and confident of stretching an already imposing lead of 55 points. HOW THEY STAND Championship points

(after seven of 13 rounds)

1 Fogarty...293

2 Corser...238

3 Edwards...194

4 Slight...179

5 Yanagawa...174

6 Chili...119

7 Haga...113

8 Lavilla...91

9 Fujiwara...83

10 Guareschi...67

Manufacturers points

1 Ducati...327

2 Honda...255

3 Kawasaki...189

4 Suzuki...142

5 Yamaha...140

6 Aprilia...58

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.