Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Superb ike Championship Round 2: Phillip Island. Australia lems on the FP1 under control on a bike that is making sometimes visible advances day by day. BRIEFLY••• Gregorio lovilia cited a lack of testing as the main reason for the GSX-R's not being up with the leaders on the time sheets, even at a track that may suit the GSX-R 1000 a little better than Valencia did. "We cannot make a bike that is going to be competitive against the top Ducatis in a matter of five days, but we will be working hard," Lavilla. said. "The bike has new parts after Valencia, but it is a problem of testing them before racing with them. I think the bike will be good, but what I need is to measure how far we are along against the Dunlop Ducatis. The Michelin Ducatis are in a different world. I know from the Crescent racing team in England that they can make this bike fast and handle well, so we have been talking to them as well as working our own way. At the start of the season, I said that it would take until Monza to be competitive, and I think that's still true" The Supenbike arm of the Alstare team will be going to Sugo for a two-day test before the race at the end of April. A "Bollywood" Indian cinema crew was filming at Phillip Island, especially the movements of Alessio Corradi's Five Racing team, The film they are making centers on an Indian racer who wants to make the big time in racing, finds evil enemies in his path, and then, in the usual good-triumphing-over-evil fashion, he scores the wins, finds love and lives happy ever after, Carl Fogarty was not in attendance at Phillip Island for a couple of reasons, He was scheduled to have the latest in a long line of leg operations on the weekend, but even though his operation blew out, he elected not to show, Some put this down to his bad memories of his career-ending crash, and his understandable dislike for being strapped inside a steel tube at 35,000 feet for 24 hours· twice. While the pre-race press conferences were taking place on Thursday, a strange sight hove into view down the Gardner straight Christian Kellner. roller-blading his way down the track without a care in the world, helmetless and grinning like a Cheshire cat. Gregorio Lavilla will become the latest of many Spanish or Italian MotoGP riders to leave the sunshine and high tax thresholds of their native lands for the often damp environs of the lower tax United Kingdom, Lavilla has got a different spin on things. He will be moving to the homeland of his old Kawasaki Racing team colleague lain Macpherson, Scotland. A friendly pre-race difference of opinion between Troy Corser and Neil Hodgson saw Corser state that his old race lap Suzy Perry, (rightl TV trackside presen- record - 1:33,01 g from 1999 - would go over the weekend, but only if the conditions were right. "It has to be just right" the tarmac warm but not too warm, the tailwind strong enough but not too strong, and finding a perfect setup, Personally I think it will go, despite the track being definitely less grippy than it used to be," Hodgson reckoned for his part that the track was not grippy enough for the record to go, but neither he nor Pier-Francesco Chili Cfastest after regulation) could go faster than Corser's circuit-best lap, 1:32,193, set in Superpole in 1999, ter for the BBC, was propositioned at Phillip Island.. to be a grid girl for David Garcia and his NCR Ducati team. Plainly unaware of la Peny's main role at races, the NCR team were understandably unsuccessful with their polite but misguided request. Troy Corser, ever a thinking rider, foresaw the tight and unusual qualifying order at Phillip Island even from before race day and reckoned that the races would be similarly close. "I think the races will be a lot closer here - nobody will be finishing nine seconds in front of anyone," Corser said. Troy Corser struck back at critics who said that the World Supenbike class was finished, believing that from 2004 on the class would be resurgent once more. "This is the championship that the manufacturers sell bikes from. Sooner or later some manufacturers will get sick of being beaten by Honda in MotoGP, and then they'll come back here with their tails between their legs," New regulations regarding the use of rear tires in qualifying were brought into force even earlier than the expected Sugo meeting with the altered ruling designed to stop teams from putting on hand-cut slicks, masquerading as wets, in these days of a 13 rear tire limit per weekend. The exact wording reads, "At each event, dUring free practices, qualifying practices and Superpole, a maximum of 13 rear slick tires may be used. A technical steward must mark these 13 tires. There is no restriction on the number of front tires that may be used. Rear wet tires have no restriction on the number that may be used in wet conditions (.). All types of rear tires used in dry conditions (*) will be included in the total quantity count." (*According to Art. 1.21.5) The death of Barry Sheene from cancer last month was keenly felt in Australia, such was his adopted country's affection for the 1976 and '77 500cc World Champion, To mark his passing, the Phillip Island race was scheduled to feature two main marks of respect. Black armbands for some riders and a demo lap by Sheene's friend and teammate Mike Farrell. on the same 1961 Manx Norton Sheene competed with in Aussie classic races, were scheduled for the weekend, with Farrell's lap (complete with Barry Sheene helmet) eventually receiving massive media and public attention. When not in track use, the machine was installed in the Expo center on Gardner straight, drawing large crowds of reverentially attentive people. On race day, there is no restriction on the number of rear slick tires that may be used. During free practices, qualifying practices and Superpole, no motorcycle may enter the track without the rear slick tire being marked (except in wet conditions·>" C* According to Art. 1.21.5) James Toseland found Phillip Island heavy going on day one. explaining that" I've found it really hard to adjust to the different circuit configuration here after all the testing and racing that we did at Valencia, In many ways, I feel that I've hit a brick wall. and I need to sit down with the team overnight to assess where I'm losing time, This is such a fast circuit compared to the slow first gear comers at Valencia that I'm almost haVing to learn to ride the bike again in a different way - I'm sure that I'll be okay." A lifeline was offered to the nonfactory DucatilMichelin supplied competitors in Australia after Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus both plainly struggled to get their 999 Dukes to handle around the testing Phillip Island circuit on day one. For Hodgsen, it was a simple lack of familiarity due to Virtually all of the Fila team's testing having been done in the short and low-geared Valencia track. The contrast between Valencia and Phillip Island could not have been more profound, and the first sessions saw some strange names in the vanguard of the time sheets. Some even stayed for the duration of practice and Superpole, assuaging many people's fears that every session of every race weekend would be headed by Hodgson and Xaus - or Xaus and Hodgson, Chris Walker scored his first front-row start in World Superbike and put it down to the track. "I felt really comfortable out there today - this is my kind of track. We worked hard on improving the setup of the HM Plant Ducati from the base setting that we had for Valencia. So far, we've made good progress, and I'm pleased with my times on race tires. In fact. it was going so well that I decided not to go out on a qualifying tire and conserve my energy for tomorrow. " The often- abrasive and endlessly left-handed circuit of Phillip Island makes the job of tire choice a particularly tricky one, and on cue the dual-compound tire option was popular. Some riders still prefer to use single-compound tires, but for Michelin at least, duals are the way forward, despite the more intense manufacturing effort required to make them. Dunlop claims still to be using some single-compound tires. even in Australia. hinting at the use of a new design of wider, but thinner -NT" tires, which are expected to dissipate heat more effectively, without compromising grip. At Phillip Island only. Lavilla and the HM Plant Ducatis of Walker and Toseland had access to the new rubber. James Haydon had a disappointing Superpole ride, following on from a subdued qualifying session. -I am really gutted because I had done a 1:34,6 on race tires and thought I could go into the 1:33s," Haydon said. "Everything was going to plan, and I was lying around tenth during afternoon qualifying. Then I changed the suspension to see if it would run better through the Hayshed, and on my flying lap, down it went. That damaged the only bike I had been running all weekend, and there wasn't enough time to change the second bike. The crash also ruined my confidence through that section so I just ended up riding round. I'm really disappointed because I have given myself a lot of work to do from the fourth row. " The Foggy Petronas team turned up at Valencia with a new design of exhaust system. The trademarked three-exit/two silencer rear was similar, but the header pipes had been formed in a "serpent head" design, which flattens out the curves in the pipe and widens it at the same time, to save space and promote better midrange response. There is something of a hole in the FP1's power delivery otherwise, making the bike difficult to ride on a transient throttle. The team now feels they have the cooling prob- 18 APRIL 9. 2003' c u e • e n e _ Neil Hodgson was in joking mood after his Superpole win, his second of the season. "It's always windy when you come here so it's really difficult to be consistent," Hodgson said. "I wasn't relaxed on the qualifying tires at all because I've done so many laps this weekend on race tires, and when you put one on, it pro- s vides you with a lot of grip, and the front was moving around so much, so that's why my lap looked more ragged than it should have done. I'm happy with the setup, and I did a race distance on a rear tire this morning, and it looked fine, so I'm feeling really confident because the tire has done the distance. even though Phillip Island is a circuit where conditions can change really quickly." Ruben Xaus was contrite toward his team after his crashhappy Phillip Island performances prerace, a far cry from his irritation shown during his comments about unfair treatment in the English-speaking press on Thursday, "I'd like to apologize to the team for this." Xaus said. "The guys have worked hard all weekend, and it's all my fault. The crash was the same as the one this morning. With the riding style I have, I came hard into the corner, braked too late and the front end just went away from me, Despite this, I have a good setup on the bike; I did a good race pace on my long run, and I feel confident for the races." Xaus crashed three times in two days, blotting his no-crash Valencia copybook. A fight before the Phillip Island race concerned the modifications being carried out at the Brands Hatch circuit. venue of the biggest World Supenbike race weekend on the calendar, The addition of a large swathe of high-friction tarmac, designed to slow crashing cars, at the exit of Paddock Hill bend, is in contravention to FIM safety rules, Even covering the tarmac with gravel is not apparently acceptable, and therefore more drastic civil engineering work is needed. Dingle Dell and Stirling's bend are also affected, with the comers being smoothed and straightened out somewhat, The modifications elicited contact between World Supenbike riders' rep Peter Ingley (now ex-riders rep, according to an SBK statement) and operators of the circuit. Octagon. The publication of Ingley's scathing criticism of being kept out of the loop and his recommendation that the riders do not race at Brands or another circuit, Silverstone, were refuted in a statement send out at Phillip Island, It read, "Supenbike International. haVing consulted the riders of the Supenbike Top Teams, infonms that Mr. Peter Ingley is no longer the riders' representative and that he is therefore not entitled to take any official position on their behalf, Accordingly, any declaration/comment offered by Mr, Ingley as far as the Supenbike World Championship is concerned should be regarded as being of a personal nature." A further communique from SBK stated that. "The Silverstone track is already homologated by the FIM for 2003." It went on to say that SBK fully expected a safety inspection to be carried out in April by Claude Danis, the FIM Circuit Inspector, and that the Octagon UK's management "has no cause to have any concern that the regulatory processes will not proceed as planned and the annual Supenbike World Championship meeting taking place as usual. " A crash-tastic beginning to the Phillip Island race weekend saw five World Supersport riders off in the opening qualifying session, with Karl Muggeridge proving to be the most spectacular dismounter of the lot. Claimed by a highside at the exit of MG, Muggas was fully upside-down at one stage, and although his fall halted the session temporarily as he lay trackside, his head knock was not enough to even rule him out of the second day of qualifying. He was to fall once more on Saturday afternoon, pushing for a second row start, in the second timed session, Christophe Cogan was to outdo even Muggeridge with three falls, two on day one and a third in final qualifying. The last was a spectacular effort. as his rear tire touched some gravel, which had been dragged onto the track surface, then found its own way to the gravel bed, altering his course across the track and onto the grass run off opposite. Had there been no eventual tire barrier blocking his deceleration, Cogan would probably have saved it. but he was forced to drop the machine for the third time in two days. The factory Kawasaki squad of Fabien Foret and Pere Riba were a bit more perky after their Phillip Island qualifying experiences than they were at Valencia. Foret, who had refused to speak to the press in Spain, finally seemed a little more forthcoming about his machine's abilities and its chances, The Kawasakis, both works and privateer, were well down on speed compared to the top bikes in the category. In the first session lain Macpherson's Ten Kate-tuned van Zon Honda ripped through the speed trap at 170,6 mph, while Foret managed 157 mph and Riba 156.2 mph. The Kawasaki team had two specs of new engine in Australia, one direct from the manufacturer in Japan. another the work of Martin Gopp and his crew from the old Eckl team in Germany. Even after they were adopted, there were still big differences between the Kwaks and rest. The chassis setup on the ZX6RR has proved to be somewhat peculiar, with the bike having to be set up high at the front to give any degree of stability.

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