Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Daytona Recap pen any time soon. The Speedway was last paved in 1978 and plans were in place to repave again this summer, right after the Pep.si 400. Because of the 90 days it takes to pave and cure, the first event would have been the fall Formula USA event, a perfect chance for Dunlop, Pirelli, Metzeler, and Michelin to test the more abrasive new surface. Then came the terrorist attacks of September II and all capital improvement plans were shelved. Because the Speedway is booked 340 days a year, they need about 18 months lead time to make the change. Don't look for it to happen until 2004. Regardless of the paving issue, changes in turn six would have to take into account turn one, where errant riders need fields of run-off to scrub off speed. When the repaving does happen, the tire companies will have to start over. The new pavement will be much harsher and could take a year for it to bed in. The mistake made the last time the track was paved was that a sports car race was run right after the paving. Fat tires, big wings, and lots of downforce rippled the track entering the chicane, ripples that get worse every year. Ironically, it does help slow the motorcycles down. If the track is repaved, and the configuration remains unchanged, the lap times could drop as much as two seconds, this at a time when speed is becoming a more serious concern. Before the issue of speed can be addressed, a decision has to be made on equipment. What will the premier class be in 2003 and beyond? For 2003, don't look for any changes. Despite haVing solid, early recommendations from its own road racing staff, the AMA is dragging its feet on making any changes. Asking the manufacturers to gear up for a change in 2003 is rapidly becoming implausible. Slowing down the current machinery is also a non-starter, even though NASCAR uses restrictors to govern speed on the same Daytona banking. "NASCAR deals with the same engine configurations, the same displacement," AMA Road Race Manager Ron Barrick says. "I think the restrictor plates and that kind of thing are much easier to contend with in those circumstances." Mladin believes that something has to be done. "We're very lucky that we haven't had more injuries there than what we've had," he says. "Any time you're riding up against a concrete wall at 185, 190 mph on a tire that we've seen in a race like Kurtis' tires.. .If a tire can do that doing those speeds, then you're fairly susceptible. "Personally, if we're going to continue to run at Daytona, it's going to ~ 26 APRIL 3, 2002· eye I • be something we need to do. The Superbike class is the only class that is actually blowing tires apart. The 600 and 750 Supersport classes, they have little chunks out of their tires, which really doesn't do anything. You lose a little bit of grip and get some vibration and you come in and change a tire or you continue to race during the race. But when you're blowing tires apart, it simply goes to show that the tire technology isn't up to speed with what the motorcycles are putting out on that particular circuit. The best way to do it would be something like they do in Formula USA and restrict the horsepower. Before the race and after the race you have to have a horsepower run on a particular dyno and you need to be restricted to 150 hp, for instance. Something like that. I honestly don't know what everyone's bike, horsepowerwise, is putting out. But the Honda's got to be, from what I can see in speed, the Honda's got to be over 190 hp or more. You're just asking for trouble." DuHamel couldn't disagree more. "The thing that I really totally hate, that it makes me sick to my belly, is like these restrictor plate racing and stuff like that," he says. "When I hear people talking about too fast and AMA being so tight with the NASCAR system, how far are we from racing bikes with governors on it almost? And they're complaining about the twins are too fast. Well, the twins were a joke not long ago. They were blowing up left and right. It's not my fault that their company didn't realize it and build themselves a twin. Suzuki tried to do it and unfortunately they couldn't do it." M1adin's thinking on the issue of equipment more closely matches the team owners than his fellow riders. As the owner of a motorcycle dealership, and as the rider of slightly modified Suzuki GSX-RI000, he understands the importance of racing what you can sell, a point not lost on the bosses at Yamaha and Suzuki and Honda. In M1adin's native Australia, the move to Formula Xtreme as the premier class has revived a recently moribund series. The same happened in Great Britain and Japan. "There's a picture at Phillip Island, first [Australian championship] race, and the amount of bikes in the class is incredible," Mladin says. "And 20 of the bikes are competitive, 25 of them are competitive. You look at us and there's only nine Superbikes on the grid. I could not believe how sad that race [Daytona] was. Eight or nine factory Superbikes on the grid - I mean that's just not enough. That's crap." "It's a little bit more than meets the eye, the total answer to this," Yamaha's McCarty says. "It's not quite so simple as everybody would like to make it out. The bottom line is that the days of one-off motorcycles racing in all different kinds of classes over the world, I think, is coming to an end. All the companies are haVing to stop and think about strategic ways their business can continue to grow. But whatever engineering and development they do is a direct pay-off to the bikes that they're going to sell. There's one place for them to go race exotic machines, and that's world GP racing - it makes the most sense there. And now those have gone toward four-stroke development, but at least whatever they do, right or wrong, they can say, this makes sense for us in production or not. When they were racing twostrokes, they had absolutely no value 'toward any production motorcycle sold. At least not any more. It did 20 years ago." The move to Formula Xtreme needs to be made with considerable forethought. The issues of speed, weight, and tire wear have to be addressed, especially for a track like Daytona that has, to this point, forbidden the FX machines. "The intent, from what I understand now from the AMA's point of view, is they want to go to a 1000cc class regulation," Yoshimura Suzuki's Sakakura says. "As far as the extent RIcIen I_the chicane n Daytona and head for the banking aiming almost directly at Air Fence end concrete wall. n __ s of the modifications of the engine, what is to be allowed is to be determined. If you can imagine a fully modifjed 1000cc multi·cylinder bike, you're talking speeds in excess of, we'd anticipate, over 200 mph there. That's when I would be a bit scared to run. Tire development for the weight of the machines that we race here versus a Grand Prix type machines. It's quite a task for tire manufacturers to develop something that quickly." If Formula Xtreme becomes the premier class, it means the loss of the current class, which would make for a tighter race weekend. "I don't think the Formula Xtreme class needs to go away," Roberts says. "I think the class where Suzuki is the only bike in the field [Superstock] is kind of a waste of time." American Honda race team manager Chuck Miller believes more attention has to be paid to the non· factory riders. "The real question is, can the up and coming privateer guys, if we unleash them on the same machinery, will that be detrimental to their health or the sport?" he asks. "That is a question because I think right now our talent pool isn't as deep as we would like it to be. What the goal should be is how can we bring these guys along? And one of the ways is maybe lowering speeds or changing some rules to keep more of a production base." Mladin estimates the Hondas are making over 190 horsepower. Sakakura says the Suzukis are closer to 180. Getting 180 hp out of a Suzuki GSX·R1000 would be simple. With some minor tuning, 200 hp will be easily attainable. "You get into the speeds that the things are going fo see on the Xtreme bikes and they haven't run at Daytona for that rea· son, I believe, with the weight of the machine and the speed and the torque," Sakakura says. '" think there's some need for some regulation adjustment, either in speed or in displacement. It's unfortunate. Daytona, as I said. has been around for so many years. Honestly, maybe the motorcycles in the present state have outgrown the place to a point." Mladin thinks the best way to slow down the FX machines is not by restricting the engine, but by other means. "Suspension and brakes. you're looking at $50,000," he says of the price of his Yoshimura Suzuki gear. "They need to do away with that stuff. We should have to run full standard forks, standard brakes [with braided brake lines]. Other than that. exhaust system, cleaning up of motor. Any privateer can spend $15.000 on top of the bike and have something competitive."

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