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/127869
ROAD RACE J j . ( Ducat; Corse Preseason Test r - Fe - - By Paolo Gozzi Photos by Fabrizio Porrozz! ALBACETE, SPAL\J, NOV 17-20 ~ efeat b y H ond a ha s forced Duca ti to increase its efforts in a n a tte m p t to get th e World Su perbike Champioos h ip titl e back in 1998. The development program of the 916, which won the title for three yea rs but was dethroned by Honda and John Kocinski in 1997, has gotten und er J) way much earlier than in years past. Just one month has passed since the fina l round of the series, and a full 17 weeks remain before the ope ning 1998 round in Indonesia. The scene for the Italian factory's first w inter tes t was Spain's Albacete circuit. The Ducati Corse squad was there with confirmed riders Carl Fogarty and PierFra ncesco Ch ili, as well as Australian Troy Co rser, the 'l 996 World Champion wh o has returned to Ducati after his aborti ve stin t with the Prom otor team that collapsed halfwa y through the season. Engineers from Ducati's research-anddevelopment d epartment , led by technical dire ctor Claudio Domenicali, organized the tests to analvze the behavior of the '97 version of its f~ctory superbike in extreme conditions, attempting to discov er the ori gins of the handling problems that Fogarty and Chili complained of throughout the seaso n. The aim was to analyze useful data in order to chann el the development of the '98 bike in the right direction. While work in Spain concentrated principally on the bikes used during 1997, a new version was brought .to Albacete and tested by Chili . The choosing of Albacete as a testing venue was not entirely casual. Ducati re turned to the circuit w here the team had the worst problems last year - Fogarty fell twice at the late-season round , vir tually ha nding the championship to Kocinski and Honda. The test s, whi ch began on Mo nd ay , November 17, and which concluded three day s later, were, however, hit by bad we ather. During the week, the area of La Mancha -Castilla that surrounds the track saw heavy rain, high wind s and e arly-morning fog. Riders and engineers therefore had to work in somewhat les sthan-perfect conditions. Fro m a spo rti ng poin t of vi ew, th e most interest revolved around Corser's return to Du cati and World Superbike racing. It w as a trau matic re tu rn, with r-, 0\ 0\ ,.... o ,.... ... Q) .0 E Q) u Q) c 10 Corser havin g crashed after just five laps and slig htly in juring his right hand, an injury that prevented him from continuin g Monday' s testing program. Ducati tried to cover up the incident, counting on the fact that the test was takin g place behin d closed d oors - but th e n ews leaked out anyway. Corser returned to the track the next day, completing jus t 18 laps before rain interrupted the sessio n. On Wednesday, the bike> rema ined in the gara ge> until I p.m., du e to high winds. Corser then did 21 laps, setting a time of 1:34.27. His per formance improved on Thursday, with <1 1:32.50 - a time whic h was a lon g way from his own lap record of 1:31.714 set on a Ducati in 19Y6, during his victory at the Spanish ro und . carl Fogarty and the Ducati factory racing team led by Vlrginio Ferrari began the winter test program early this year. Fogarty (above) was fastest at the test session in Albacete , Spain. They were primarly trying to find the source of the handling problems suffered by the team this year. (Left and below) Yamawho?: A smiling Troy Corser took part In his first test of the Oucati superb ike. it could have gone better ยท he crashed, unhurt, after five laps on the first day of the test. This fantastic time was not even bettered by tw o-lime winner Kocinski this year. The Honda rider's fastes t time was I :32.334, while the fastest race lap went to Simon Crafar, who turned a 1:32.258. "1 w asn't riding at 100 percent because the wind and th e col d caused too many pr oblems," Corser sa id , "but I could see that we could ge t down easily to the 1:31 mar k. I tried a number of different setups and gear ratios, and managed to ge t dialed into the bike. In these pa st few months' layoff, I kept fit, but no trai ning can substitu te actually get- ling on a bike. In the next few weeks, I'll be getting a production 916 in Australia and I'll be practicing near my hom e." Fogarty was the quickest at the end of eac h da y and covered 173 laps. Th e British ace set a superb 1:32.10, a lim e