Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

The Ducatis were at least as impressive if not quite as fast as the Aprilia, right up among the top Japanese rivals, and Troy Bayliss ended up ahead of his teammate Loris Capirossi, who fell twice on Sunday. World 250cc Champion Marco Melandri made a strong class debut, slotting in behind Bayliss. The new Suzukis, in their first outing in Europe, proved disappointing, with Kenny Roberts Jr. eighth and John Hopkins tenth, sandwiching crasher Nori Haga's Aprilia. Norick Abe placed 12th on an experimental M1 Yamaha, with novel chassis damping struts to tame chatter. The Kawasakis were fast on speed but bad on lap time, suffering poor endurance and grip with their Dunlop tires. ~ (Above) Troy Bayliss ended up fourth fastest on the new Marlboro Ducati. (Right) World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards and the Aprilia Cube were the revelation of the test, posting the second-quickest lap time. Yamaha's new M 1 is significantly changed, but not much outwardly. That will come later, with a new aerodynamic fairing expected before the Catalunya tests. Underneath the bodywork, there is a raft of changes, including engine architecture and chassis design • all evolutionary developments to last year's MI. Perhaps the most significant change is the replacement of carburetors with fuel injection. This has allowed the second big change· the electronically operated clutch of last year is no more. The active clutch was perhaps the single most signifi· cant innovation last year from any manufacturer, but it has been jettisoned both in the interests of simplicity and because it has become redundant. "We can reduce engine braking now with the fuel injection management, so we have no need of the electronic clutch," explained project leader Ichiro Yoda. This is presumably a development of last year's secret system, believed to be an override holding one or two of the throttles open with the twist· grip closed, to reduce engine braking. The advantage of elec· tronic injection is much more precise control of such a sys· tem, with the control unit's reacting speed, rpm, gear position and braking force. "We can adapt the engine mapping for each circuit and each rider," said Yoda. "The other advantage is in fuel consumption." Chassis and engine changes have been made to shift the weight rearward. New engine casings tilt the cylinders further forward, while new shafts are thought to make the gear· box more compact. Rider Alex Barros said: "Compared with the bike I tested at Valencia last year at the end of the season and now, it's a completely different motorcycle." Olivier Jacque was also testing electronically controlled active suspension, reviving an idea tried but abandoned some 10 years ago. An experimental Yamaha appeared at Jerez, with some unexpected aspects. Most obvious was a reversion to an antiquated twin· shock rear suspensIon system. and a hIgh· level exhaust running straight out of the seat, rather than down on the right-hand side of the bike. But the real innovation was a radical new approach to taming chatter: dampers on the chassis itself. Two of these were visible, running along the top of the chassis from the steering head to the rear suspension mounting point. They are telescopic units, resembling elongated steering dampers. And there were others out of sight at different points on the chaSSIS. The bike was ridden by three·tlme GP winner Norick Abe, now out of racing to work with Yamaha's brand new test and experimental team. The project boss, Syunji Sakurada, explained the philosophy behind the bike· to try radical solutions and find new ways of solving old problems: "The chassis has been more or less the same for 20 years. Yamaha feel the need to find something new." The objective was to improve traction and to solve the bad rider feel of a too.sti~ ch~s. sis at big angles of lean. "We are experimenting with different amounts of chaSSIS stiff· ness, in torsion and other aspects," Sakurada said. The switch to twin shocks had been to liberate space. Where Honda used a fully float· ing double-linkage unit to leave room for the fuel under the seat, Yamaha has sidestepped the issue with two shocks, which are operated by a linkage at the top. This makes space for the high·level exhaust to exit under the seat. There were some aerodynamic adv~n tages, said Sakurada - both in taking the big silencer out of the air·stream and m pumpmg exhaust gases out into the low·pressure area behind the seat. The other advantage was to centralize the mass, he said. But he was tight·lipped about the anti-chatter dampers on the main chassis itself. Two are visible, but there are more. But he wouldn't say how many or where they were locat· ed. He also declined to confirm that the dampers, made in house by Yamaha rather than by its suspension supplier Ohlins, were hydraulic, as they appear. Nor would he reveal just how much movement there was between steering head and swingarm pivot. "It's very small, but there is movement," he said. "We don't know what balance of stiffness we need, and that is why we are experimenting," he said. "This is the first stage of the program, and we have more ideas to follow." . This was only the second time the bike had been out, but the target was to have It race· ready as a wild card entry for the opening GP at Suzuka. BRIEFLY••• Aprilia's transformation has been wrought mainly by a switch to Michelin tires. along with an evolutionary program that has stripped almost 22 pounds off the overweight three·cylinder four·stroke. 'There has been no radical change. - said racing boss Jan Wilteveen. The bike was now running at about 319 pounds. still 22 pounds over the minimum weight: but it would be rela· tively easy to shed another 11 pounds. he said. Dropping the Superbike program had freed up both budget and manpower. he added. Rider Colin Edwards was full of praise for th: factory. "Aprilia are awesome.' he said. 'They respond so quickly to any changes we ask for. Even he was surprised by how well thin9s were gOing. "I know there were a lot of doubts when I signed for Aprilia. but if I had known then just how far we would have come by now. I would have been a lot more optimistic myself. But I was quite confident then that Adrian [Gorse· his engineer! could figure out pretty much anything. When I got on the bike for the first time. 95 percent of the puzzle was already there. We just had to figure out the combinations. If the bike was at 70 percent at the end of last year, if s up to about 94 percent. There are still a few tenths of a second to be found. but iI's those last ones that are always the most difficult," said the Superbike champion. Edwards was the only rider using a 16.5-inch front Michelin. "It doesn't do anything that the 17inch can't do. but it feels different. II's the tire I developed for Michelin. and I'm used to it. I prefer the way it feels," he said. Moving from a Superbike to a GP bike had been "like jumping off a Supersport bike onto a Superbike. When I first rode it. I would never have thought that I wanted more power. But you get complacent. and in the end you always want more." The Ducatis looked much the same as when they first appeared for a demo run at Valencia last year. The changes are all unseen. to both chassis and engine, with the Twin-Pulse motor dropped in favor of the four·pulse. The garage doors were kept firmly shut most of the time. and the bikes were not seen without their fairings. Rumors that the Vee angle is actually 110 rather than 90 degrees could not be substantiated. This was also an interim version of the bike. The final version will appear at Catalunya tests in mid·March. Kawasaki"s green monster hasn't changed in appearance. with work concentrated on chassis revisions. "The engine power seems pretty good. We're working on getting the chassis right... and the tires, - said Garry McCoy. The noise limit has been raised by five decibels to a maximum of 130dB. The effect is far greater than the numbers suggest, with a walk around pit lane now requiring ear defenders. All of the established runners had reduced silencing to suit. with Suzuki's tiny unit inside the fairing, and the pipe now terminating by the rider's right boot. But the Ducatis were running unsilenced, and one of the Aprilias . ridden (and eventually crashed heavily) by Haga . went even further. Not only was it unsilenced, but the pipe terminated in a pronounced megaphone. with a slash-cut end. "It seems to help the power a little," said Haga. whose every gearchange could be heard all around the circuit even from inside the pit buildings. Remarkably. this bike passed the noise test. recording just 128dB. 'If that can pass. then anything can pass, - said a delighted race director Paul Butler. Honda was not the only absentee from the test. The Proton team and the WCM team also failed to make it. Proton now has its new V·five engine running on the bench and fitted into a chassis. "Jeremy [McWilliams] sat on the bike last week.' said team owner Kenny Roberts. But it was still some way short of being ready for track testing, with no firm date yet set. "Unless we have any major problems. like having to redesign major components, the bike should be ready for the first race." said Roberts. "But I can't say we'lI have all the fuel injection mapping and things finalized by then. " Late last season, Honda expressed an interest in designing a V-six MotoGP bike. At Jere~ there were strong rumors it has not only built the bike but has even tested it in secret at MolegL Reading between the lines, it may soon be followed by Yamaha. "Of course Honda have a Vsix, - said Yamaha's Syunji Sakurada. Asked if Yamaha was planning an engine with more cylinders than its current in-line four. he became bashful. "I cannot say. but we do have another pro· ject. - he said. eye I e nevvs MARCH 5, 2003 29

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