Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Superbike Championship Round 1: Valencia, Spain able problem with the manual checking of marshals' signatures. BRIEFLY••• World Superbike, contrary to what some had thought and many more feared, did actually go ahead as planned this year, with the start of the first qualifying practice sessions at Valencia. The Ducati Cup, as it has been dubbed. was living up to its name in many respects, with 13 of the 23 bikes desmo twins. Two were the factory·only 999s of Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus, two fullon 998F02 ex-Bayliss machines for Chris Walker and James Toseland. The rest. if they were lucky like Regis Laconi. were on good 998RS machines. Testastretta heads and all. If not, they were on a slower version of the same. The regulations for 2003 allowed, for the first time. looocc four·cylinder machines fitted with 32.5mm air restrictors fitted into the inlet ports to compete. Few teams have adopted this form of World Superbike motive power. the Alstare Suzuki team the only ones to run with them in a factory setting. Giovanni Bussei was a notable Yamaha R1 rider. alongside Alessandro Gramigni. as a stand in for missing regular rider David Messori. The VTR Honda of Walter Tortoroglio made up the ione entry from the world's biggest manufacturer. So a Ducati cup in numerical terms. posSibly a glass. and- possibly haif empty or half full, depending on your personai view. Never mind the restrictors, feel the rubber. was the catchphrase at Valencia. as new technical reguiations regarding the numbers of tires used in practice. A cost-cutting measure. the Superbikes were allocated 13 potential dry rear tires in the four practice sessions and Superpole, the Supersport boys 12. The infrequent changes of front tire have not been deemed a factor worthy of much consideration. Each tire would be selected by the team. fitted in the pit as normal. Then a tire marshal, one for every three garages/six riders wouid sign the tire with a special pen. Only then would the bikes be allowed to head for the exit of Pit Lane. At that point another marshal would tick off the tire from the list of 13. leaving the teams one less each time they exited Pit Lane with a new tire fitted. Exits on old tires were allowed. The policing of the new rules was overturned on the first day. when the methods of choosing tires were exploited by a couple of teams. thought to be HM plant and Foggy Petronas. A loophole in the rules allows an unlimited number of wets or intermediates. Thus, a couple of cuts with a tire tread cutter and ta-dah! - instant intermediate which performed like a slick thanks to clever cutting but was deemed an intermediate by the team. As FIM technical delegate Steve Whitelock said, "Some people are playing within the rules. but not the spirit of the rules." A meeting among the tire manufac· turers, Michelin, Pirelli and Dunlop. has brought about a gentlemen's agreement that this practice be prohibited. with a new technical regulation coming into force from Phillip Isiand onwards. banning this practice officially and cutting the loophole out of piay. One wet and one dry tire will be allowed for Superpole. should it become wet after the allocation of tires had been used up. The tire scenario had some possibly advantageous results for some riders. Normally chucking qualifiers in was part of the normal build up to the end of sessions, not just at the very end. Now riders were being more careful about their first picks and doing more full· race simuiations on tires they thought would work from the box. Considering the nightmare scenarios that could have come along with such a complicated system of checks and the potential for screw-ups and delays for riders exiting pit boxes and the end of pit lane itself. there were very few incidents of dis· tressed teams or fights with officialdom. One possible initiative to speed up the tire checking has been proposed: small microchips, glued onto the sides of the tires. Universally panned to start. it may be considered if there does prove to be some insurmount- The Suzuki GSX·R 1000 of Gregorio Lavilla proved not to be the force in qualifying that many had expected. Part of the problems is the bike's "jump" out of comers. which is causing some visible wheelspin and thus lack of drive. Lavilla was running a 750 swingarm. with more new 1OOOcc parts throughout the day. Lavilla was consistently the best of the four-cylinders but down in the double-digit levels of qualifying more often than not. The team felt that they could get a good setup at anyone time. but the slightest change in the climatic or track conditions would take them back to square one. The FIM has taken the expected step of announcing the sizes of air-restrictors allowed for all categories of looocc Superbike engine in World Superbike . come 2004. At present only fourcylinder machines have to run 32.5mm restrictors, and the twin manufacturers had already been told that they will have to have a 50mm hole in each intake. but the rest of them - currently the Petronas triple - will have to have a 39mm restrictor. interestingly, although no manufacturer currently produces a 1000cc five or six, five cylinder machines will have 27mm holes. sixes 22.5mm. A portent of the immediate future of Honda's V-five and rumored Vsix becoming road bikes, or just future-proofing for its own sake. The Foggy Petronas team was a factor from the start of the weekend onwards. a huge surprise to many, especially after their complaints about haVing to use 2001 tires during recent tests. That situation improved greatiy at some points. and Troy Corser's performance was impressive on 2003 tires in Superpole and qual· ifying. There are some obvious problems with the FPl machine. and the flame-out problem on the overrun was still occasionally evident. James Haydon had a couple of mechanical problems and some obvious overheating worries for the race. despite big radiators' being fitted. Troy Corser's fast regulatJon qualifying performance. putting him third on the provisional grid. saw him celebrate with a wheelie and a slow entry to one complex of comers. holding up Mauro Sanchinj's quick lap somewhat. with Corser waving apology to the Kawasaki Bertocchi rider. James Haydon had his Superpole performance adversely affected by a crash in the final sector of untimed qualifying. making him jump to his second bike. which was plainly not set up for the track conditions. His bike locked up the rear and pushed him into the gravel. where he fell fighting to stay upright. Haydon was depressed after Superpole. feeling his rear tire simply did not work as intended. Ruben Xaus was in a foul mood for most of practice. after being outperformed by his teammate Hodgson. the early battles for dominance being won hands down by Hodgson. Part of the probiem on day one was a faulty steering damper. which was not traced until too late to improve his Friday times much. Regis Laconi. former Valencia 500cc Grand Prix winner. knows a bit about the track and explained that the earily start to the sea· son may just help in some circumstances. "This tracks heats up the left-hand side of the rear side, especially in the double left corner that leads down onto the start-finish line. That really puts the edge of the tire under pressure. But as the temperature of this weekend are quite iow. that's might not be such a big problem." Colin Edwards. heading to Mugello in Italy for a test on his RS3 Aprilia MotoGP machine (shortly after a test at Estorill. stopped off at Valencia. only to find no pass for the reigning World Champion at the prearranged spot in rider accreditation. Much scratching of heads later. and no closer to allowing the reigning champ into the Circuit. an administrator sorted out the problem. finding his pass in the press accreditation folder instead . all filled in and ready to go. Edwards is not planning a return to the fold as a journalist and had to head on to Italy before the racing started for real. Kawasaki MotoGP entrant Andrew Pitt was also heading to Valencia, to spend some time with his old mate lain Macpherson> now riding for the Honda van Zon team. A whole phalanx of unemployed British racers filled the media center. having had their 2003 riders pulled from under them. Mark Heckles was one. his Rumi Honda VTR sitting in Italy without a sponsor to pay for its transportation or team costs. James Ellison has found his contract with the EckJ Kawasaki Team to be not quite the two years It says it is. as he was not drafted into the new Kawasaki Supersport team, run by Kawasaki France. He Is in the job of test rider but has yet to tum a wheel for the team. even with its new bikes to develop. Andi Notman made it a trio. having no Superstock ride this year. • Hitoyasu Izutsu has been installed in the position of test rider for the new Honda RCB1000 streetbike/racer. The Japanese for· mer rider may also run a VTR 1000 in the World Superbike race at Sugo. if he is accepted as a wild card. All was not well with the Belgarda Yamaha team in Valencia. badly missing its two recent guiding lights. James Whitham and Paolo Casoli. The team is finding its new boy Jurgen van den Goorbergh a demanding customer for its time and expertise, A talented rider. van den Goorbergh has a reputation as a rider who tries the max when the bike is really working. With a basically street·based 600. there are only so many things which can be done on in any case. leaving some unhappy realities for many nders who have come to the class after careers spent on tempera· mental but rewarding two·stroke thoroughbreds. As in testing. van den Goorbergh did put in good lap times eventually, and if a happy middle ground can be found to work from. the Belgarda team will be a threat at every race. Best new Supersport bike of 2oo3? Already the Honda. even in sheer numbers alone. Tellingly. the Suzuki was the top qualifier. well developed as it is, but Hondas proved to be the best out of the crate package - after much testing for some of course. Teuchert and Kellner, the best double act in Supersport 1n 2000, went through some difficu~ patches in the last couple of years but started their formation-flying double act in qualifying once more. with good effect. Last year neither rider was that adept at qualifying: this year their two·rider missions were a feature of the first two days. They will be staying at Valencia for more tests before heading down under. Paolo Casoli was in attendance at Valencia, The former World Series Champion walked under his own power but was still not quite himself as he recovers from his career-ending head trauma. Stephane Chambon missed out on the first World Supersport race of the year after breaking two ribs in qualifying. Steve Webster and Paul Woodhead (Castrol SuzukiJ made their intentions clear at the opening round of the 2003 Sidecar World Championship with a comprehensive start·to·finish race win· at Valencia in Spain. The race was dominated by World Ohampions past and present with second position going to last year's win· ners Steve Abbott and Jamie Biggs (Eastern Racing). ~ was 2001 champions Klaus Klaffenbock and Christian Parzer (Team Readymixl who held second spot until the last few meters of the race when Abbott. who'd been reeling in the Austrian for the final 10 laps. took second position. forcing K1affenbock back to third. ond outing, a brilliant performance though, and the bike did not appear from the Pirelli-shod bike. slow out of corners, despite the "I'm really happy with that; every- restrictors in the intake ports. thing was really good up until the last The second momentous happen· few laps when I had a problem with ing today was the inclusion of the the front tire," Martin said. "It was Petronas triple in the Superbike basically worn out, and I couldn't championship. It lives, it breathes push any harder. I nearly crashed a fire, but it is a real entity and coming few times, so when Laconi came past, to a store near you· although proba. I had to back off to get to the finish." bly no time soon. Two new World Superbike eras James Haydon had the "pleasure" were launched at Valencia, with the of giving the team its first points in first of them being the adoption of World Superbike by finishing 12th in 1000cc four-cylinder machines, albeit the first race, not too happy about precious few of them. being behind some very customer Unsurprisingly, the top four·cylin· der runner was Gregorio Lavilla, on the new Alstare Suzuki GSX·R1000. Lavilla earned seventh in race one spec bikes, but at least scoring points on a debut. "Twelfth is 12th, but I'm here to fight at the front," said Haydon. e-r (411. . . LavII.. (101 and Juan MARCH 1 2, 2003' eye • e "We've learned a lot this weekend, but really in contention with even the I had a couple of problems during th~ second· best Ducatis. It's early, 18 and sixth in race two but was not ••, tIstai 1IoIjIl(33J In I'Ke _ . race that I couldn't do a lot about, so n e _ s

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