VOLUME 57 ISSUE 12 MARCH 24, 2020 P73
every time he gets on
the gas hard, he pulls
distance on us before
our bike responds, be-
cause they have better
power. That makes it
awful hard to get past—I
can out-brake anyone
on the Suzuki, but not
if I'm starting from 20
yards back, because of
the power deficiency."
All The Feel
Even at my slower pace on the Suzuki,
I could appreciate how well Kenny's
Suzuki kept up turn speed, with a good
feel from the Ohlins fork adopted by the
team midway through the 1999 season.
It was ideally set up to give lots of feed-
back from the 17-inch Michelin front tire
the team invariably raced with, rather than the
16.5-incher favored by other teams.
But lessons in maintaining momentum aside,
it was the braking from high speed that took the
most coming to terms with on the world cham-
pion RGV500—for sure, that's where I lost most
time. The previous year at Jerez this was the
one aspect of the bike
I felt able to criticize,
and indeed its lack of
stability under heavy
braking was also com-
mented on by some of
Kenny's rivals, including
the man he succeeded
as world champion,
Honda's Alex Criville.
At Phillip Island a
year later, this was the
single greatest obstacle
to a faster lap time,
especially in terms of
relearning all my Superbike braking points
to reflect the awesome effectiveness of
the Brembo carbon brakes. Manufactured
by the Italian firm from Mitsubishi compos-
ite material, which maintained heat longer
and so gave better feel at lower lever
pressures, as well as super-effective stopping at
higher speeds, these were also more durable.
"The Suzuki team has consumed just three
sets of discs per bike all season," said Brembo
technician Eugenio Gandolfi at the Phillip Island
test, "but we'd prefer them to use smaller 290mm
discs at Phillip Island, as they do at several
other tracks to help keep up disc temperature in
colder conditions. Only Kenny prefers the bigger
320mm discs for their extra performance at the
several points of heavy braking from high speed
in Australia."
Supreme Stability
The Suzuki's capable chassis proved just as
forgiving around a fast, fearsome track like Phillip
Island as at a slower, switchback one like Jerez.
It still changed direction so easily and felt beauti-
fully balanced driving hard over the bumps exiting
Siberia, shrugging off their effects effortlessly as
it drove hard up the hill, holding its line perfectly
as it did so.
Through the next fast right, though, it was bet-
ter to take it one gear lower than expected to stay
(Left) Like his
father with Kel
Carruthers,
Kenny Jr.
(pictured left)
relied on another
legendary
Australian to help
him to his title,
the late Warren
Willing (right).
Mission Control
for the Roberts
Suzuki. Compared
to a modern MotoGP
machine, this
looks positively
prehistoric.
