Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

RC30 can be tha t fast:' ttiey cried. "How come RC30s don't win anywhere else in the world?" they complained. If those doing the whining had bothered to look at the track record of the 22year-old, the n they p robably wouldn't ha ve bee n asking questions. Corse r has been winning motorcycle races from the very first time he sat on a two-wheeler. And if they bothered to look at Corser's performances on the well- prepped Honda RC30 throughout the '93 season, th en they soon should ha ve r ealized there was a lot more to Corser 's racewinning rides than sim ply a six-yea r-old motorcycle with a factory HRC engine. In fact, that factory-supplied engine the Per racct team - bu t as Corser explains, he didn't have much choice. "It all started to hap pen around September when I was first asked to test the Ducati," Corser said. "Honda had invi ted me to race at Sugo on the RVF, so I couldn't make it then. I spoke to Clyde (Wolfenden - Corser's crew chief) and let him know what was happening, but HRC never really gave me an answer on its pla ns for 1994. I asked about the possibility of doing the Suzuka 8-Hour and the 200 km races, b u t HRC still didn' t offer anything. The Ferracci thing was a good chance to get over to th e States an d learn, a nd w hen I learned that Ho nda had tried to get Daryl (Beattie), (Left) Troy Corser at speed on the Ferraccl Ducatl. (Above) Barry Sheene (center) accompanied Corser to the Daytona test session where they met Eraldo Ferraccl. didn't come together until the final two rounds of the ll-round championship, by which time Corser and his close-knit team were sick and tired of the cheating accusations. Until then he'd been using a cu stomer HRC race-kit in the RC30, but the full factory s u p po rt added a much needed 6-8 mph to th e top-speed of his Honda - and it was an advantage he didn't let slip. The protests continued and even now Corser' s title has ye t to be confirmed , with an ap peal pending the res ults of the final round back in October at Eastern Creek. First it was the chas sis, then it was the capacity, the angle of the V-four cylinders, the crankcase material, the carburetor size, the cylinder head castings, the fuel used, and so on ... Since that final championship round at Eastern Creek, though, Corser's lap time has been put in perspective. Sure his 1:34.67 lap record was impressive, but when reigning World Superbike Champion Scott Russell ventured to Australia with his Muzzy Kawasaki for testing, he reeled off a 1:33.89 in his very first visit to the Sydney circuit - .78-0f-asecond better.than what Corser could muster on his home track with his exotic full-house HRC engine. It was disappointing for the Winfield Honda team when they lost Corser to there really wasn't any other option for me. The Cagiva deal is a good opportunity . I get to race at Daytona , and then do the first World Superb ike ro un d a t Donington and see w ha t ha ppens from there. If I go oka y, I may get to d o the full World Superbike season." Of course the big carrot for Corser is th e possib ility of a test on one of the Cagiva 500cc GP bikes at season's end... If that happens, it will be a dream come tru e for the 22-yea r-old - something tha t see me d u nimaginable seven years ago when Corser watched his first road race. "I was 15 yea rs old, b ut I can still remember it vividly," Corser sai d. "I was at Oran Park and it was guys like Wally Campbell, M ick Dooh an a n d Peter Goddard . The s peed a n d the excitement of that race was what struck me, and I was only watching fro m the fence - let alone being out th ere on a bike and doing it. After that ra ce was the first time I seriously thought about having a go at it. I was talking to a few people and Wayne (Gardner) said that you want at least 12 months of dirt track under your belt if you've got any idea of going road racing." Corser was in. He was already one of the country's top juni or dirt trackers and had therefore unknow ingly honed th e skills he would take onto the road race circui t. H is firs t road race was on his Honda CR125 motocrosser in mid 1989, but he soon g r ad u ated to a Suzuki RGV250K and into the hot-bed of Austr alian racing - the 250cc Producti on class. In his first full season of road racing, he won the National 250cc Prod uc tion Series in 1990 and caught the notice of the high-profile Peter Jackson Yamaha team - he was signed to ride a TZ250B in the 1991 Australian 250cc Championship . The 19-year -o ld received a $16,000 sign-on fee - becoming the first non-Superbike rider in th e country to get contract money, making his selffu nding priva teer competitors a little envious. He finished the season in sixth pla ce, finishing seco nd three times in the 12race series. Corser d oesn't agree that the $16,000 pay packet was a "bad mo ve " for a s till raw 19-year-old, or that it may . have taken away some of his focus and disc ipline. "At the time I was trying to finish my air-cond itio n ing apprenticeship and race bikes, and it was hard to do both at the same time," Corser explains. "I gave up my job to concentra te on the racing, and I wouldn't ha ve been able to do that otherwise." For 1992, Corser was moved up to the supe rbike class by the Peter Jackson hierarchy as Scott Doohan's teammate, although his sign-o n fee was dropped to $12,000. He finished his debut superb ike season in fourth place behind Mat Mladin, Roy Leslie and Doohan. It was a pretty gritty result for Corser, who more often than not had to battle a cantan kerous OWOl which would wiggle and wobble aroun d comers. As he's said though, it was another step in the learning process. The highlight of his seaso n was when he became the first rider to beat MIa din in the 13-race series, his win coming at Perth's Wanneroo Raceway. Corser ad mits that he h ad a lit tle more focus and de termination in 1993. "When I first started racing it was just like going out for a ride," he sai d. "It's sort of still the same, but at the end of 1992 it pissed me off w he n Yamaha didn't re-sign me. They wer e s tu ffing me around big and would n't answer my phone calls. "I thought I'd been rid ing better and better, and I was really looking forward to the new Yamaha for 1993. Things did ' seem to come a little easier in the last 12 months. I didn't hav e a bad meeting all year, other than my making mistakes at Phillip Island's 2 plus 4. I was aware of all that eligibility shit during the season, but I didn't want to know about it. [ tried not to worry about it, and left it to Cl yde. I told him if it's illegal then change it. When Clyde said there was nothing wrong w ith the bike, I just said, 'Let's stick it up 'em'. And stick it up 'em he certainly did so much so that he's landed one of the top superbike rides in the world. "I don't th ink I've ma d e any ma in d ecisions a long the way which have affected things. I've just taken the oppo rtunities as they came along." This la te st o pportunity has been helped by a friendship Corser has develop ed with Barr y Sheene - television commentator, two- time World Champion, and friend of the Cas tiglioni brothers, the owners of Cagiva. "Barry contacted me about halfway through the year and offered his help if I needed it - or any advice," Corser explains. "He's been really good and has given me ad vice on contracts and so on . He came with me when [ first tested with Ferracci, so I guess it's another one of those opportunities." On March 13, Corser takes the next step in his climb up the road racing ladder when he lines up on the Fast By Ferracci Ducati in the Daytona 200. The way things are go ing, there's a good chance that Corser won't have to pick up tha t unfinished air-condi tioning apprenticeship. O'l U

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