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/128123
•• Paolo Casali's Belgarda Yamaha R6 Japan, Britain and Holland to lead the 2001 World Championship points table for most of the year aboard the Belgarda R6 he's now switched to, the only race-winner to score points in every round. So the chance to ride "Gasolio's· Belgarda bike at a baking-hot Misano circuit, as a preview to the season's fmale, helped answer the question, Is the R6 really that good? I had the answer 27 laps later race distance plus sighting lap for the Misano World Supers port round, where Casoli was beaten by Teuchert in a dry race for the first time this season, winding up third as the German scored his first win of the year. The Yamaha R6 is that rare thing - a bike that comes close to combining the performance of a customer 750cc Superbike with the handling and agility of a 250cc GP racer, thanks to the benefits of Yamaha's racekit, and added development from Belgarda race engineers. Engine modifications include racing camshafts; revised valve timing; an increase in compression to 13.5:1, a ported, flowed cylinder head with reshaped stock valves and seats; an Arrow 4-2-1 titanium exhaust system with 38mm steel headers for slower tracks (40mm for fastJ!r ones); Belgarda's own special gearbox with the middle four gears altered from stock; and an all-new progra:nmable digital ignition by EFI, the same specialist Italian firm that makes the engine-management system for the new Benelli Tornado Superbike. All this allows Belgarda's engine guru Mauro Saleppico to extract 130 horsepower at the gearbox at 15,000 rpm from the 16-valve engine, measured on a dyno that simulates ram airflow into the R6's single central intak~ in the fairing nose. Belgarda even tailors the power delivery to suit a specific circuit, playing around with By ALAN CATHCART PHOTOS BY KEL EDGE T hree years after its 1999 World Supersport debut, when it established the new benchmark for this ultra competitive class in its debut season, Yamaha's R6 is still the one to beat. Paradoxically, though, Yamaha did not end up winning the World Supersport title in the R6's inaugural year simply because the bike was so good that several different riders won races with it. In 1999, the R6 won six of the 11 World Supersport rounds, but with five different riders. However, last season, German rider Jorg Teuchert made up for that by clinching the championship crown for Yamaha. This year, though, it's the man whose works Ducati he so narrowly beat to the title, Paolo Casoli, who's posed the most serious threat to his supremacy, with the Italian winning in 30 SEPTEMBER 26,2001 • cue (Above) The author takes a spin on Paolo Casoli's World Supersport Championship-leading Yamaha R6 at the Mlsano circuit in Italy. (Right) Casoli's R6 is trick. Developed by the Belgarda team in Italy, this R6 . with the help of Casoli . has raised Itself a notch above the rest of the Yamahas In the World Supersport Championship.