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/128012
Racer Test P iergio rgioBontempi's World S upersport Yamaha R 6 Suzuki's Cha m bon for the title - the on lv rider to score two race w ins so far is second-placed poin ts scorer Piergior gio Bontempi. Unfortuna tely, however , the Italian former Kaw asaki World Su pe rbike rid er s u ffe re d a broken w ris t in Asse n and has all but handed the title to Chambon. 8 Still, the chance to ride his Belgarda bike at a baking-hot Misa no circuit just befo re th e three - ra ce Septembe r shootou t which will deci de the outcome of w ha t has been a th rilling World title series , was all the more timely. Is th e R6 really th at good - or is it o nly wi nn ing because of the skill of its riders? Thirty laps lat er, in sp ite of the s tifling 98-d egr ee heat, I had the ans wer. The Belgarda Yamaha R6 is th at rare thing: a bike that comes close to combining the performan ce of a custom er 750cc Superbike with the handling and agilitv of a 250cc GP racer . It's a bike vou feel one with . It's exhila ra ting , noi"intimidating, resp onsive, rat her than headst rong. You feel as th ou g h yo u can wri ng its neck a nd rid e it as hard a s yo u. li ke, within th e limits o f those treaded tires (arg uably bet ter than slicks of five years ago, thou gh >, and the R6 will work with you. It's so mu ch fun - and so genuine ly sati s fying - to rid e a bike that' s been seemingly so we ll sorted. Yet the basis for all this is available at a ffordable cost from yo ur friendl y local Yamaha dea ler, even if the one I wa s riding had received a little help from the Yamaha rac e kit, an d Bel g ard a te am m an a g er G u ilio Bardi 's ra ce engineers. Yel be cau s e ' o f th e s ho rt tim e b etw e en re cei v in g th e ir fir st R6 in November '98 and th e sta rt of the seaso n - plus th e se tback cau sed by th eir initi al decision to sw itch tire companies this season from Michelin to Pirelli (only to move back ag ain to Michelin after the fir st rac e in Kyal a m i, when Bel gard a becam e th e firs t of th e lead ing Su persport teams to dec ide Pirelli's new EVa tire jus t d idn't work> - the Italian learn has ru n the new bike in re latively stand ard tri m. T h e v e ve n u s e s tree t cams hafts w hile they work on developing their ow n race versions. at By Alan Cathcart Photos by Kel Edge . 0> 0> 0> ~ N N Q; .c E a rn G> 26 t' s a rare motorcycle that is as competiti ve in its debut season as Yam aha' s new R6 ha s been in the 1999 World Su pers p o r t C ha m p io ns h i p . Yam ah a has establish ed the new ben chm ark fo r thi s u lt ra-compe ti tive cl ass, straig ht off the drawing board - q uit e a feat for a mach ine d erived from a vo lume-p roduction spo rtbike, competing in th e world's mo st ho tly contes ted fou rstroke racing category. Par ad oxicall y, tho ugh, Yamaha w ill not end up winni ng the title in this ina ugural World Supersport Cha m pionship seaso n. Wh y? It's simp le really - the R6 is so good th at a ny num ber of tea ms have bee n able to w in wi th it stra ight ou t of the bo x - withou t the initial develop me nta l year th at , fo r ex ample, Honda's equally new u ltra short-stro ke CBR600 see ms to b e need ing a t wo rld lev el. The R6 has wo n of ten, bu t w ith d ifferent riders aboard , and non e able to m a tch the co ns is te n cy of Su zuk i' s Steph ane Cha rnbon. Yam aha mav ha ve the manufa ctu rers' title w rap ped u p early because of all th is, but what th ey reall y w ant is th e riders' crow n. But as the cha mpio nship comes down to the wi re, the only Yamaha man with a real ist ic sho t at bea ting