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/128195
Dunlop's Daytona Tire Test: Part I Superbikes, will have three new rears and three new fronts, not all the same compound, and maybe not all the same construction. "We'll certainly have compound choices," Allen said. "At this point, it hasn't been finalized whether we're going to do one construction or whether we'll do a different construe· tion or not. At least one, maybe two constructions." eN (Left) The rain didn't make Dunlop's Jim Allen a happy man. Stili, the test provided information that will help the tire company when the Daytona 200 rolls around In March. (Below) Jason DiSalvo was fast at the test on his Yamaha R6. only a part of one day's testing on probably come to grips with one," he that spec, you can't take a chance at said. "Again, if we had more time, it'd Daytona. You just have to rely on be self-evident which one to go with. what you do know rather than what We're going to take a bit of a guess you'd like to believe. on that, probably." "Out of the three new compounds, In March, the Dunlop runners, we'll probably settle on one; we'll which is to say almost all of the u@0DDDffJiJ[J[)!?@ @[J[)(g[J[)DIDg @@D[JDW mDW~_ Of all the AMA Superbike teams, none needed a more productive three-day test than Yoshimura Suzuki. Yosh was the only Japanese factory to embrace the new 1000cc fourcylinder regulations, and Daytona was going to be its comingout party. By now you know it rained on the party. but the test was not a complete washout. The machines were fast, handled adequately and showed the wisdom of the decision to forsake the long-in-the-tooth GSX-R750 for the brutish GSX-Rl000. And Ben Spies, new to the team, went very fast on the first day, fastest of all the Yosh riders, this in his first time at Daytona on a Superbike with Dunlop's notoriously hard dual-compound slicks. AMA Pro Racing dawdled for so long between its initial announcement, at Brainerd in June, to the fmal set of Super. bike rules, on October 15, that there were less than two months for Yosh team manager Don Sakakura to get the machmery ready for Daytona. Mat M1adin's Suzuki GSX-RI0oo arrived so late that it had to be shipped straight to Daytona, arriving the Friday before the Monday test. Pieces of Aaron Yates' 1000 arrived just before the truck left. The team had to work through Thanksgiving to get the machinery ready for the test. "We figured it would be tight, with the late announcement of the rules," Sakakura said. "It's all so new for all of us - new tires, new chicane, new machines." In addition to all·new machinery, Yosh has an almost all· new crew. Mladin's crew chief remains Peter Doyle, with Reg O'Rourke the head mechanic and chassis man. Engine builder Yuji Kikuchi, who left for American Honda (where he'll work with Miguel DuHamel), is being replaced by Henry Yakuta (who worked with M1adin in 1996, his first year in the 36 JANUARY 8. 2003' DUD • e United States). Aaron Yates' crew chief, Vic Fasola, has left to join the Ducati Austin team, replaced by Chris Weid!. Joining him will be engine builder Katsu Yanagawa, who's worked in Japan the last two years and worked with Kawasaki's Akjra Yanagawa for 10 years. The chassis men on the Yates' crew are Wade Haffenstein and Manny Macias, who is responsible for the Supersport machinery. Tom Houseworth, who was brought in halfway through last season to lead Jamie Hacking's crew, stays on as the crew chief for Ben Spies. Mitch Leonard will be doing the Formula Xtreme and Superbike chassis, with John Jackson working on the Super. sport tackle. Steve Meyer remains with the team, now with Spies. Mladin had famously stated at the end of last season that he wasn't interested in racing the 750 against the 1000cc Vtwins for another year. Following a string of three straight AMA Superbike titles, Mladin's 2002 campaign had been a disaster, his worst since coming to race in the United States full time in 1996. He made his frustration evident in the fmal round of the 2002 season at Virginia International Raceway. "If the rules don't change, what's the point of doing what we're doing?" he asked. "If the rules aren't legitimately decent for next year, what is the absolute point of coming out? Because the (Honda) RC·51 is going to get better. Development of the [Suzuki) GSX·R750 has stopped. What's the point? I'm not going to come back next year unless I can race for the lead. So I'm better off going to race in Pro Thunder or something. What's the point in coming back if you can't race for the win?" The decision makers at Yoshimura Suzuki felt the same way once they saw the final rules. With the weight limit of 370 pounds for all machines, up from 355, Don Sakakura thought the 1000s could be competitive, even with the GSX·RI000 is making 7 or 8 percent more power than last year's GSX·R750, with Sakakura predicting another 5 per· cent by Daytona. The 2002 season ended bitterly for Mladin at VIR, even though he finished second to Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom in a nail· biting finale. Mladin skipped the podium ceremony alienating the team. From the end of the season to the Day: tona test, they had virtually no contact. That said, Mladin's initial impression of the GSX·Rl 000, which is still in an early stage of development, was positive, though he couldn't help but get in a dig at the dominant twins. "I think it's got potential: he said after his first stint on the bike. Mladin's time was sixth best, which would surely have been better had he not run into clutch problems that ended his day around 3:30. He improved the time by 1.4 seconds Continued on page 38 restrictions. AII~wed for 2003 are standard lift camshafts, but with alteratIons allowed to the profile and duration. Only one alternative transmission ratio is allowed; in 2002 there were five or six per gear. Full machining is allowed in the ports, but valve angles can't be altered, and pistons and connecting rods are free from restriction. Chassis rules are the same as they are for the Superbike, with strength gusseting allowed along with any suspension modification. Already the Suzuki ne""s Mat MadIn hands the GSX-R100 to crew chief Peter Doyle.