Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Gobert's Suzu id Yamaha's Anthony Gobert may ride the prestigious Suzuka Eight-Hours for the Japanese factory in July after a successful test at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia last week. The factory invited the Australian to join Yamaha riders Wataru Yoshikawa and Takeshi Tsujimura in testing the Eight-Hours machines. Also testing were the Kawasaki Superbike team, and John Kocinski. Kocinski was there to test Yamaha's new four-stroke GP machine - the YZR-M 1. "Yamaha asked me to go over there and have a ride, so I went over and had a ride," said Gobert, who rode a machine similar to his AMA Superbike, during a break at the Road Atlanta test. "I don't know if anything's going to come of it or not, but it was a bit of a try-out, see how I went, maybe ride the Eight-Hour." Yamaha's Keith McCarty and Tom Halverson made the trip along with Gobert. McCarty said that Gobert was invited "to help them go through the test, They wanted to do a simulated race and they wanted an extra rider, They did two race-length tests. Each guy did two stints instead of three or four," The test was plagued by rain, with only a day and a half of dry track time, and even less on-bike time for Gobert who had to share the motorcycle. "Because we were sharing bikes, I didn't really get enough time to show them what I could do," Gobert said. "On the last day in endurance testing, I got the quickest time. At the end of that day I was going to go out with my set-up to see if I could put a time in, but It started to rain, so I didn't get a chance. On their set-up, I did a 1:11.4, The quickest time was a mid-] 0 or a low-10 by the Japanese on that bike. I felt I could have probably done a nine, at least a low] 0." Gobert didn't get to race with Kocinski for a very simple reason: "He went past me pretty quick." McCarty said the YZR-M1 was "a very neat machine. Definitely fast." As for Gobert's chances of running the Eight-Hour, McCarty said, "It's up to Japan. Obviously, they know our schedule." Play time for Gobert: Anthony Gobert wheelies the factory Yamaha during testing at Road Atlanta. far as wheelbase and spring rates and shock forces," Yates said of Bazzaz. "They've got a lot of data from testing with Showa on the [shock] dyno and being able to work close with him and have him there, just popping out the info, it made things go quick. It's all just keeping good notes and getting good testing time. That was good testing time. That was a good place for testing things we had to try. I'm pleased." Mladin wasn't the only no-show at this test. The American Honda team stayed away while waiting for engine and brake parts to arrive from Japan. After a year in which the engines were bullet-proof, the American Honda team, as well as the Castrol Honda World Superbike team, has suffered an inordinate number of engine failures, including at least two on Nicky Hayden's RCSl at Daytona, and three for Castrol Honda's Tady Okada in the first four World Superbike races. All the teams will say is that it's a material and not design problem, and it's believed to be crankshaft-related. Had they gotten the parts and been able to build the engines in time, Honda would still have been without Hayden, who had an operation on his left wrist just after Daytona. The cast is to be removed on April 18. HMC Racing also chose not to test, the team reorganizing in the wake of Scott Russell's horrific start-line crash in the Daytona 200. Kawasaki's Doug Chandler crashed in practice at Daytona and, though it's been a month since the fall, he was still suffering a little at Road Atlanta. In Florida, the worst of his injuries was a bruised back. In Georgia, it was his right hand, elbow, and wrist that were sore and a little weak, and that prevented him from getting through the esses as well as he would have liked. Plus, toward the end of the second day, he began to come down with the flu that had his three children and wife homebound in Salinas, California. That said, he was still able to set the second-fastest time. His goal for the test was to get both of his ZX- 7s The leathers, helmet, and motorcycle were familiar, just not in this combination. Mat Mladin's number "1" Suzuki GSX-R7s0 made a handful of laps around Road Atlanta under a rider wearing Mat M1adin's leathers, but it wasn't the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike Champion. The giveaway was the helmet, the classic design worn by Kevin Schwantz when he last rode a Suzuki GSX-R7s0 Superbike, on his way to victory at Daytona in 1988. So what was Schwantz doing on Mladin's bike? "They had an on-board camera fitted on the bike to do promotional work for the Big Kahuna national," said Schwantz, who was filling in for the injured Mladjn. "I figured Mat was okay with me riding his bike. It might not be okay with somebody else riding." Mladin was home in The Oaks, New South Wales, Australia, recovering from a broken fibula suffered in a motocross accident on the practice track at his home. The machine had been fitted with the on-board video gear, a camera, which poked through a hole in the number "1" on the prow of the Suzuki, a transmitter, a battery pack, and a wiring hamess, and needed a rider. That's where Schwantz stepped in. "They [Speedvision] sent the camera and transmitter to us and we put it together at the shop," said Peter Doyle, Mladin's crew chief. The tiny camera was fitted to the middle of the fairing, instead of the traditional spot out the windscreen, because it was too crowded to fLt it in the dash. The last race bike that Schwantz rode was Kenny Roberts Jr.'s championship-winning Suzuki RGv-sOO. The former World Champion rode it at the end of last season at Phillip Island, turning more-than-respectable lap times. "I did a 1:37 flat. When they raced, they were doing mostly 34s," Schwantz said. "The fastest lap of the race was in the low 33s." Schwantz wasn't taking any chances on Mladin's bike. "It's not my bike and it's not my place to try to make it go fast,' he said. That said, Schwantz said he was going fast down the straightaways and he got a feel for what it goes and stops like. "Coming out of tum seven in second gear, once you go to pin it, you better have your foot ready because it goes through two or three gears pretty quick," Schwantz said. Schwantz had been to Road Atlanta a week earlier to do promotional work for his upcoming riding school. The "Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Riding Schoo'" opens for business in mid-May, with one-day sessions on May 15, 16, and 19, around the time of the AMA Superbike races, and more dates throughout the summer. A complete schedule can be found on the Road Atlanta website, www.roadatlanta.com and Schwantz's own site, to be as even as pOSSible. The team was working through various fork and shock settings Teammate Eric Bostrom was tied with Yamaha's Tommy Hayden for the next-fastest time. Bostrom felt his chassis was fine, but the suspension needed work. "Doug and I agree on that," he said. www.kevin-schwantz.com. Between now and then, Schwantz has another race - a Super TT, which is part of an AMA Pro Star drag race and AMA Grand National Champi~"1IJ11!!Iliiil onship, weekend at Houston II! _ on April 21. ==..;;.,;.,..;;.,;.,--.. . . .==--'" cue .... n ... _ OS • APRIL 25,2001 15

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