Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127698
ยท INTERVI~W AMA Superbike National Champion Troy Corser By Henny Ray Abrams W ith very little notice, Troy Corser came to the US., signed on with one of the best teams in racin g, won a number of races - culminating in a championship - then, just as quickly, he vanished. He' ll be heard from again, no d oubt, if nowhere else bu t at Daytona. Bu t w ha t are we to make o f hi s year here? Was he as good as he loo ked or was it the bike? And what does that say abo ut the level of competition in America ? Th ere w er e times h e mad e it look mad deningly easy - Loudon and Phoenix co me to mind - an d there were tim es when he struggled a bit, bu t h e wa s never far off the pace. That the cha mpionship came down to the final race was the result of two factors: Two mechanical fai lures on the norma lly bullet -proof Ducati 955 and the unquenchable desire of Jamie James to win the title again. The man with the most knowl edge of Corse r is Era ldo Fe rracci, th e s ilve rh ai red Du cati vi rtuoso wh o b rough t Corser to the w o rld ' s eye then h ad a hard tim e keeping the wolves at bay. "We di scov er th e guy an d all of a sudde n everybody wants him," Ferracci says. As the year wen t on more would notice him . At Sep te mber's U.S. GP a t Laguna Seca, Corser was approached by Lucky Strike Suz uki team mal)ager Garry Taylor about riding in place of the injured Kevin Schwantz in Argentina. Because he was un der contract to Ducati, Corser knew it wouldn't happen, "but I w as happy they were look ing at me." At the seco nd Donington Park round of the Wo rld Supe rbike series, Cors er, who'd already sewed up the American title and wa s wai ting on a contract from Ducati, had a talk with Rob Muzzy. The Kaw asaki m an h ad seen h im race all year and h ad been impressed w ith the way that Corser wen t at the first World Su perbike race in Engla nd . Former World Cham pio n Barry Sheene eng inee red Corse r's appea rance at Doni n gton Pa rk, ag ai ns t Ferrucci' s counseL The first bike he would try was a p ro tot yp e 916, light in the fro nt end and w ith p lenty of mil es on it. Tha t m a ch in e wo uld b e written o ff w hen Corser cras hed it after it jumped out of gear and unloaded the front end entering a fast and twisty section o.f track. The second bike he was given was the spare of Te a m Du cat i Ta rdozzi's Fa brizio Pirovano, He qu alified third on that one and led the first race, un til a lat e-race error caused him to crash out of third with two laps to go. In the second leg he chose a rear tire that was too soft and had the rear rid e heigh t set too high. Though he was never a threat to the lead ers, he was still able to salvage a fourth place. Troy Corse r (19) and Jamie James (2), s hown here at Laguna Seca, ended up only a s ingle point apart in their battle for the AMA Superbike National Champions hip. 14