BLOODSHOT eyes, tousled hair and whiffy slept-in clothes, the passengers on the Monday morning flight from party island Ibiza to Manchester were a broken and sorry bunch.

Two, however, boarded the plane looking relaxed and refreshed.

Carl Fogarty and wife Michaela had spent the week recharging their batteries on the quiet side of the island and not battering the dancefloors of San Antonio's notorious clubs.

For Fogarty, the last month has meant intermission, not Manumission, Ibiza's hottest of hot spots.

But, a month on from the heat of Brands Hatch and a week after leaving the searing temperatures of the Mediterranean, Foggy is playing it cool in his bid for a fourth World Superbike title.

A gruelling schedule of three rounds in three weeks starts in Austria this weekend with Fogarty holding a convincing, but still vulnerable, 48 point lead.

And his Ducati team and their Michelin tyre advisors are hoping that the lower temperatures of the A1-Ring, and then Assen and Hockenheim, will suit their riders' bikes.

A track temperature of 40C contributed to the severe tyre problems which ruined Fogarty's showpiece event at Brands, a circuit which is hard on the tyres at the best of times.

Temperatures in Austria can soar, but that kind of oppressive condition is not expected, and the flat circuit is also easier on the softer rubber compound that Ducati prefer.

The long straights of the A1-Ring, however, will suit the faster Castol Hondas of Colin Edwards and Aaron Slight, who both made ground on Fogarty and team-mate Troy Corser at Brands.

Fogarty is hoping that the practice sessions of tomorrow and Saturday will provide vital clues for Sunday's two races.

And he is determined to make up his own mind on tyre choice, after being badly advised in round nine.

He said: "I need to make my own decisions. If we had gone with what I wanted at Brands I don't think we would have had the same problems.

"I am a little bit worried about it, because it is not clear whether there will still be a problem with the tyres.

"It can be hot in Austria but Brands is a hard circuit because you are accelerating a lot on one side of the tyre.

"In Austria you are upright and then there are 90 degree corners. It is pretty easy for the riders as you have got a lot of time to rest on the long straights.

"I cannot see it being as big a problem as we had at Brands so I think everything will be as it was with the bike.

"The bike's not bad, we just need better grip from the rear."

Edwards, who won both races at Brands to close his gap to Fogarty to 62 points, has reservations about his own bike.

He said: "I'm no engineer but I think we'll start breaking things if we go any further with the engine.

"I wish I could say we were going to Austria with an extra 20bhp, but it just won't happen.

"We can improve things like suspension, but the motor's about wrung out."

Fogarty has a decent record at the circuit. He won one race in 1997 and was on the podium for each of last season's races.

Worryingly, tyre problems hampered his first race when he finished third but, with the suspension altered for the second race, Fogarty had a ding-dong battle with eventual winner Aaron Slight.

Fogarty's team-mate Troy Corser holds the lap record of one minute 30.27 seconds.

Championship standings: Fogarty 330 pts, Corser 282, Edwards 268.

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