Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Michelin's Oa .ona tire 'test 58.19. He did some 5s when he was behind me. I did all my lap times by myself." . A member of a rival team who was timing the riders said that Picotte was nea'rly 1.5 seconds faster than anyone el e through the infield. The Suzuki GSXR600 showed that, for an all-new bike, it was ready to run. As im pressive were the strides the team made on the GSXR750 which, each team member said, went a long way toward: explaining their improved times. Chandler ran his 1996 ZX7R at the test, a bike which he chose not to race in March because it wasn't sufficiently developed. After a season's development, Chandler said it was a "far superior" bike. And he also said the next one will be even better in March. fN J By Henny Ray Abrams (Right) Yamaha's main man - Tom Klpp. (Below) Kipp was joined In the tests by AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion and 600cc Supersport upstart Rich Oliver. - ...... .. ~ -. "'"-, y ~ ,.. - . - ~ , .. .r,,· ~ DAYTONA BEACH, FL, DEC. 9 ichelin's December tire tests at Daytona Beach were considerably more low-key than its . predecessors. Last year the French tire giant had a number of riders, including Promotor Ducati's Troy Corser and Mike Hale, and Lucky Strike Suzuki's Scott Russell testing the rubber that they'd use in March.. This year, because of changes in a number of teams and the choice of others to skip the 200, it was left entirely to the newest recruits on the Fast by Ferracci Ducati team to fly the Michelin flag. And they had to do it in a hurry. The first day of the two-day test was rained out and their makeup day was cut a few hours short because many of the team members, along with Michelin's point man, had to leave Daytona early. "It's tough when you get rained out on your first day," said Michelin's Jean Herisse. "The first day is to get the teams up to speed. You get your best results on day two. We were able to share some track time with Dunlop Monday so we got nearly two days on track." Compounding their problems was a number of machine gremlins on the FBF Ducatis, as well as one which arrived late due to a shipping error. Four machines were brought to the test, one with the new spec 1997 motor, and by the end of the test three had mostly quit running. Unofficial lap times from Dunlo test SUPERBIKE Doug Chandler Pascal Picotte Aaron Yates Miguel DuHamel TomKipp Larry Pegram Steve Crevier Ben Bostrom Tommy Hayden Team Muzzy Kawasaki Yoshimura R&D Suzuki Yoshimura R&D Suzuki Smokin' Joe's Honda Factory Racing Yamaha Yoshimura R&D Suzuki Smokin' Joe's Honda Zero Gravity Honda Team Muzzy Kawasaki 1:49.94 1:49.96 1:50.11 1:50.96 1:51.04 1:52.14 1:52.26 1:52.74 1:53.88 1f 116.573 mph 116.551 116.393 115.501 115.418 114.286 114.164 113.677 112.540 (Promotor Ducat!'s Troy Corser qualified on the pole for the 1996 Daytona 200 with a time of 1:49.387.l 600cc SUPERSPORT Pascal Picotte Yoshimura R&D Suzuki Jamie Hacking Miguel DuHamel Todd Harrington Tommy Hayden Aaron Yates Ben Bostrom Tom Kipp Steve Crevier Rich Oliver Larry Pegram Eric Bostrom Team Kinko's Kawasaki Smokin' Joe's Honda Team Muzzy Kawasaki Team Muzzy Kawasaki Yoshimura R&D Suzuki Zero Gravity Honda Factory Racing Yamaha Smokin' Joe's Honda Oliver Racing Yamaha Yoshimura R&D Suzuki Zero Gravity Honda 1:55.89 1:57.13 1:57.53 1:57.59 1:57.69 1:57.78 1:57.98 1:58.07 1:58.26 1:58.32 1:58.41 2:00.00 "We expect a little trouble when we come to Daytona. It's three months in advance of th.e Daytona 200," Ferracci said. "This time, we had more trouble than what we needed. We had four motorcycles and we had lots of trouble with two of the bikes. This slows you down because you want to do things on the track and you end up working on the bikes. It's also hard for the riders to switch from one bike to another. (Mat) MJadin rode three different bikes while we were here. Of the new teammates, former Yoshimura Suzuki rider MJadin was the faster, clocking a single best lap of 1:51.00, though he told friends he did it on a qualifying tire. In his first outing on a superbike, and first time on Michelins, Gerald Rothman Jr. was able to lap at 1:52.96, a time he knows he can improve on and one which wasn't far off the times that Larry Pegram ran in his FBF debut last December. "1 think Eraldo (Ferraro) seems pretty happy and Michelin's pretty happy because the track's pretty green and my first time on the bike and a few dramas, so the first time wasn't really that bad," the 24-year-old Mladin said. "I think Corser qualified mid-49 (1:49.387) so I'm sort of one and one half seconds off, so that's not too bad really. We'd be in the top five. I'm sure with another day, a bit more rubber on the track, I'm sure we would have gotten there." .Since he's raced against the Ducatis for the past few years, both here and in his native Australia, Mladin had some idea what to expect. 110.588 109.417 109.044 108.989 108.896 108.813 108.629 108.546 108.371 108.316 108.234 106.800 "Basically, anything about six and half thousand and it's time to go sort of thing. Whereas last year, anything .under 11 thousand, nothing was happening," MJadin said. "To put it in perspective, it's a totally different designed engine and everything. Just because the Suzuki never done anything under 11 thousand doesn't mean, 'because the Ducati does it at six thousand that it's so much different. Definitely the acceleration is better, there's no doubt about it. "I wouldn't say hard to get used to, it takes a different approach and with the Michelin tires, th.e riding style is a little bit different and it's something I'm going to have to adapt to within the next few days of testing wherever we go. It's absolutely no use to me to go out there and try to break Troy Corser's qualifying lap record. It's totally pointless. As long as we're ready to go, and comfortable on the bike by mid-February, that's all that matters," Mladin added. MJadin had a signed contract at Daytona. Rothman, who rode for Moto Liberty last year, was in the strange position of having a verbal agreement, bu t nothUlg signed. Still, he was pretty sure that if his times were competitive he'd end up in Ferracci colors next year. "We did some respectable times. We (himself and MJadin) were progressing at about the same rate," Rothman said. "He was about 10 laps ahead of me becau'se my bike just wouldn't fire up. Once I got it going, we started progressing pretty well. I was happy that he wasn't much, much faster right away. "The first thing I noticed from riding it, when you're riding on the banking you've got to really pay attention to where you're going. If you turn it in early and don't wait for the first banking, you can't turn it and you'll g\?t yourself into'the wall and you'll have to back out of it. You really have to watch your line on both bankings. At the same time, trying to stay tucked under the shield and do that. It's real tough." Last year Ferracci doubled his win total from 1995 from one to two. But both races were won by Italian Alessandro Gramigni, who wasn't in the title hunt and who wasn't asked back this year. In 1995 Ferracci had three riders, with veterans Freddie Spencer and Mike Smith, and Takahiro Sohwa. He went with youth in 1996, Larry Pegram and Shawn Higbee. Pegram was on the podium a number of times, but neither he nor Higbee were serious title contenders and Ferracci wants to win another title. He's under more pressure this year since the changes in ownership t-.. of the Cagiva/Ducati concern and the ~ emergence of Vance & Hines as a sec- r l ond Ducati effort in the United States. V&H won't likely challenge for ~the title this year since equipment availability problems means they'll likely skip the first two races. So Ferracci has to be there from the start, and he thinks he has the riders to do it. "I chose MJadin because I know him from when he was on a Cagiva (racing

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