Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ INTERVIEW AM! National Snperlrike and Snpenport Champion Jamie James for a couple of weeks," James said. "The new bikes are supposed to be here tomorrow, so we've got our fingers crossed. Hopefully, the- plane won't crash; that would kind of mess us up." Bu t don't think Daytona will be James' first outing on an Ita lian twi n. He and Ferracci recently madethe trek to Talladega Gran Prix Raceway in Alabama where James rode the 1989 ex-Dale QuarterIey 851. What was it like riding a twin for the first time? "I think it's going to -be a little bit nicer than the four-cylinder," James, who groomed his career on fourcylinder Suzukis, said. "The torque off the corners is great and the bike 's reall y narrow and light, It just feels a lot better - it 's easy to ride." e "When I sat up I didn't even have a leg to look at, it was flipped under my back. It justput the fear of God into me. It took about a year before I could get over that.' , Different bike, same goal By Pau l Carruthers any a fan will , more than likely be subject to a good 01' eye rubbin' . when Jamie James comes a roarin' into turn on e during Camel Motorcycle Week '90 at Daytona International Speedway. Why? Because the defending AMA National Superbike Champion will be aboard a fire engine-red Ducati 851, and not the more familiar blue-and-white Yoshimura Suzuki he rode to the championship a year ago. The mere thought of the Louisianan on a Ducati is enough to send shivers up any good 01' boy's back. It'll be like watching Richard Petty drive a Ferrari. You can hear 'em now . " H ide the Confederate flag, Billy. Jamie's ridin ' one of them Italian jobs." For the 28-year-old James (he'll turn 29 two days before the Daytona 2(0) M 20 riding the Eraldo Ferracci-tuned Ducati 851 Superbike is all part of the master plan. A plan that he hopes will see him become the first rider since Fred Merkel (who won three straight) to repeat as AMA Superbike Champion. You see, Jamie James is no dummy. The move to Ducati was a bus iness decision. " I' d spoken to Mr. Ferracci (James is not only a southerner, but a polite one at that) a couple of times during the season , and I liked him and the way he did things, " James said. "I also kept up with the World Superbike stuff, and the progress they (Ducati) were having with the bike in that series. 1 felt like they were going to have a strong effort." With that strong effort in mind, James waived the second -year option he had with Yoshimura, and inked the Ducati deal. "They (Yoshim ura) had to meet or beat any offer I got," he said. Although he is extremely confident in Ferracci's engine-building talent and in the bike 's promising future, it hasn't taken long for James to realize that things don 't ha ppen as qu ickly in Europe as they do in Japan. Case in point - James and Ferracci were , patiently awaiting the arrival of the new bikes as this interview was being conducted, on February 19 - less than three weeks before the start of the Daytona 200 and the 1989 Superbike season. "We've been here (at Ferracci's shop in Willow Grove, Pen nsylvan ia ) now As if switching bikes wasn 't enough, James was a victim of Michelin 's pullout from U.S. road racing. Not one to panic, the friendly James went out and found new rubber - Yokohamas. What the heck, everything else had changed. "We're going to go with Yokohamas," James said. "T hey seem to be more dedicated to the sport here in the U.S. than Michelin was. We tested their slicks at Talladega, and we feelP like they can get the job done. They were working pretty well there (at Talladega). The front tire is reall y good, and the soft rear works really well. We just need a little improvement in the medium-compound rear, and then we'll be rig ht there. They are committed to making a good tirefor us, so you can't ask for anything more than that." In a dditio n to the Superbike National Championship, James will also be trying to win the AMA Pro Twins GP I title aboard another Ducati, " Billy, now that darn Jamie's beatin' them HarIeys on that Italian job." James sees it as another way of helping him with goal number one repeating as Superbike champion. " Wha t's nice about it is I'll be using basically the same motorcycle," he said. "I t's kind of like the deal with Dal e (Quarterley) last year - you get a lot of testing in during the Twins race because you're staying on the same tires an d basically the same bike. You can kinda fine tu ne your riding." When asked if he'll miss having the opportunity to defend his 750cc Supersport Championship, James pulled another surprise out of the hat, " We're looking at doi ng the Supersport race as well ," he said, matter-offactly . "That's something we'll know after tomorrow, maybe. It depends on which bikes they are going to let us use, and exactly what the ru les are goi ng to be. There's a possibility of us doing three classes. We'd like to, an d I know that Yokohama wants us to..It would be good if we could use thei r DOT tires, too." James' career started at the end of the '84 season with two Yamaha RZ Cup races. It was the start of a road race career that would almost come to a premature end a year la ter. It was at the end of the 1985 season that James broke his femur at Oak Hill Raceway

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