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/127987
Castrol Honda at Laguna Seea (Left) Aaron Slight puts the Castrol Honda RC45 through its paces during a two-day test session at Laguna Seca Raceway. (Above) Colin Edwards II shows off his new helmet. Edwards crashed on the first day of the test In the Corkscrew and missed day two due to a bruised shoulder. MONTEREY, CA, MAR 16-17 aguna Seca Raceway was a disaster fQr the Castrol Honda World Superbike team last year. In the 1998 running of the race, there were 10 crashes among their four riders, but the cost was higher than that. Aaron Slight, who came to Monterey leading the World Superbike Championship, was involved in a start- 28 line pileup in the second leg and left with deep cuts in both lower legs, along with bruised feet. The psychic damage of losing the championship lead, which he would never regain, was greater. '1t was the turning point of the season for Aaron," said Neil Tuxworth, Castrol Honda's team manager. Slight added that the restart for the second race was the first World Superbike leg he'd ever missed. Colin Edwards II, meanwhile, crashed twice, nearly off an RC45. The Supersport team accounted for the most spills. Briton James Toseland, then 17, crashed four times, including once in the World Supersport final. Kirk McCarthy, his teammate at the time, crashed three times. So when the team needed a place to test, little more than a week before the season opener in Kyalami, South Africa, Tuxworth thought Laguna ~ca was the place. "Mainly, it's been a bad track in the past," Tuxworth said, adding that the wea ther was also a factor. "We've never come away with much, apart from John's (Kocinski) two wins in 1997. It was our worst, even last year." The trouble seemed to follow them to the test. Before it even got started, there were problems. A customs mix-up delayed the delivery of their fuel, which meant the Supersport bikes of Toseland and Spaniard Pere Riba sat out the first day of the two-day test. The Superbikes ran on (Left) Pere Riba is preparing for his first season of Supersport racing with the Castrol Honda team. Here, he talks with his crew chief, Christian )rold. _._ .. the "A" sample oi fuel which had been brought to Laguna Seca for a back-toback comparison test. Late on the first day of the test, Edwards crashed in the Corkscrew when the brakes in his front wheel dragged enough to cause his front wheel to lock while it was in the air. initially, there was fear that he'd cracked his right shoulder blade or damaged his rotator cuff. After an MRJ, and a visit to famed San Francisco surgeon Dr: Arthur Ting, the injury was diagnosed as a " deep bruise, and he's expected to race in South Africa. That left the bulk of the testing to Slight, though a Japanese test rider suited up in Edwards' leathers and helmet to turn a few laps. Slight was on the new RC45 and spent the test running through various combinations on a variety oi new parts. "We're testing some brake stuff, we're testing some new suspension," Slight said. "Just little things, just to confirm. Also, I've been testing other machines, so it's good to get back on the same bike. We don't know until the end of the day, when we put all of our eggs in one basket and see what it's like. 1 think if we find anything, it's going to be the front forks and just putting the bike in a better balance around here, which we always struggle with. It just seems to ride high. Last year 1 qualified fifth, which I thought was good, and the year before, I had two bad races, but in preseason testing, 1 did a 26.2 (1 :26.2); not many people have gone faster than that." Slight and Edwards both tried new Brembo brakes and those were the ones that put Edwards down. After that, Slight went back to the Ni sins. "(Laguna Seca) just seems to be the middle of the year, and last year we struggled with the brakes sticking," Slight said. "And in the first race 1 was . following around everybody with a brake problem. They couldn't pass me, really, because I would stuff it inside and then stick it coming out. [ felt last year that we could be on the podium in both .races if things had gone better with the bike." . ~ lnstead,.he tQok an eighth· in the first