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/128111
Andrew Pitt/ lain Macpherson's Kawasaki ZX-6 R World Supersport Racer '8? By ALAN CATHCA RT PHOTOS BY MARK WERNH AM t's a real mystery why there are still today so few ZX-6R Kawasa kis competing 'in World Supersp ort, especia lly when you consid er the undou bted succes s of the handful of unsung -hero green scream ies that do front up against the phalanx of Yamah as R6s and hordes of CBR60 0 Hondas packing Supers port grids around the world, leavene d with a healthy crop of GSXR600 Suzukis . It may have taken practically half a decade for the ZX-6R to make its World Supersp ort mark in the hands of a leading team after its 1995 intro, but even before lain Macphe rson's shock victory at Kyalami in the opening round of the 1999 series first time out on the singleton Team Eckl bike, the Kawasaki had proved itself many times over as a winner at national level in a host of countries from France to Australia, the USA to German y. Macph erson went on to win more races _that season than any other rider, en route to the runner- up slot in the 1999 World Champ ionship , thus vindica ting team boss Harald Eckl's brave gamble to underw rite the cost of taking part in the series out of his own pocket - a move which led to factory suppor t for a two-bik e team last season , with Macph erson joined by Austra lian Super sport Champ ion Andrew Pitt aboard the new J1-mod el ZX-6R introd uced for 2000, and develo ped in line with the team's feedbac k from the previou s season . But while Eric Bostrom , on a similar bike', came within a whiske r of defeatin g Honda to win the 2000 AMA 600cc Supers port title for Kawasa ki, at World level the new ZX-6R has taken time to prove itself. After Macph erson's trio of race wins in 1999, the pair of Fuchs Kawasa ki riders manage d just a single rostrum visit betwee n them all season long in 2000, aboard a bike that, while replete with potenti al and reputed to give more power than any other Supersp ort contender on the Akrapo vic dyno that hosts all the leading four-cy linder bikes except for the Corona Suzukis . I 26 JULY 4, 2001 • eye • • Still, it needed time to dial out some growing pains - as well as a large dose of good old-fas hioned luck. The sort that would stop Pitt tanglin g with Reuben Xaus' Ducati down the pit straigh t at Phillip Island when the Aussie was set for a home-c ircuit win - or the same kind that might have allowed Macph erson to fend off Xaus' desmo quattr o teamm ate Paolo Casoli for anothe r two corner s to take victory at his home base of Brands Hatch, after setting a new lap record on his drive to the front. But it wasn't to be, and sixth and eighth in the final World Supers port points table for the Brit and the Aussie, respect ively, wasn't what had n e _ s been hoped for at the start of the season - a year in which the Eckl Kawas aki squad had also change d suspen sion supplie rs from Ohlins to WP, with the steep conseq uent learning curve which that entailed . Instead, the team treated last season as a develop ment year for the new bike - and that's paid off so far in 2001. Although he is still without a victory in 200 I, Pitt has visited the rostrum three times in the six races leading up to the Misano round in Italy, putting him third in the title chase as he readies for a late-sea son battle for the title with the Yamah a of Casoli and the Honda of Kevin Curtain. The chance to join the Eckl team's private test sessio n at the 'Czech Repub lic's bumpy , deman ding and surpris ingly technic al Most circuit , gave me the chance to ride the latest Kawas aki ZX-6R Supers port contender for world honors - as well as to compa re and contra st it with Macph erson's older champ ionshi p runner -up, which I'd sample d just before he started his charge on the title in mid-'99 . To create the J1 version of its ZX6R, Kawas aki focuse d on evoluti on rather than revolution, to fill in the gaps in its 600's specifi cation and to enhanc e its rideability. They did so by retainin g the same basic DOHC 16valve motor that, with its 66 x 43.8mm