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/128306
- AMA SUPERBIKE I Dece mbe r 4 ·10, 2003 . ; Daytona Ti re Tests Wi ll Yamaha re1:urn 1:0 1:he big §how? The R I proves amazing In Superstock trim. Just think what a Superbike could do. Almost overlooked in the commotion of fast Hondas and ex ploding tires at the Dece mber Dayto na tire tests was t he fact that facto ry Yamaha RIs took to the famous speedway for the first time. The verdict? They were rocketships! The Graves Motorsports RIs in Supers tock trim were on par w ith Suzuki's poten t Yoshimura GSRIOOO Superbike . Jaso n DiSalvo and Jamie Hacking both got into the I:49.5s, while Mat Mladin's best times we re in the I:49.4 brack et. Suzuki's Aaron Yates couldn't even match the time of the Yamahas, his best being a 1:49, 7. The surprising speed of the RI left AMASupersport cham p Hacking practically begging Ya maha to tu rn him loose in the Dayto na 200. " I can win the 200 wi th t his bike," he prodaimed. Could Yamaha win this year's Daytona 200 with the RI? Hacking figures he could shave a couple o f seconds off his lap times with a Superbike se tup on the R I. That would put him side-by-side with the fastest times set by Ben Bostrom on the Honda CBRIOOORR. As it stands, unless Ben Spies can come up with some Herculean efforts, the RI seems to be the odds-on favorite to win the AMA's revamped Superstock class . The Kawasak is seem to have a ways to go to get on pace . Sup e rbike seat be fo re Eric Bo st rom became ava ila ble, acco rdi ng to Cia batti. Xaus went on to sign for a Duc at i sa te llite team in MotoG P, a nd Byrne also too k a MotoGP offe r from Ap rilia. T hen w he n Kawasak i announced it w o uld no t race AHA Sup e rbike in 2004, Ducat i app ro ac hed Bostrom's ma nage ment a bo ut joinin g Du cati Austin. "We've alw ays liked Eric an d had a close re lation ship wi t h the fam ily thro ugh Ben, " said C iabatti. " Eric was st ill under cont ract to Kawasaki, but fortunate ly t hey released 58 Hacking talks the company line about looking forward to racing Superstock and defending his Supersport title , but dig a litt le deeper and you begin to hea r a rider who will turn 33 this season, seeing his opportunity to catch the coveted AMA Superbike title on the tip of his fingers but out of reach . "The bike I rode here was co mple te ly stock except Icr a slip . o n cani ster on the exhaust ," Hacking said. "I sat here and talked with Keith [McCarty) and told him I wished we would have known three months ago how well we were going to do here at Daytona. Maybe then we would have had a different outlook about which class to run. " Hacking fee ls he 's already proved what he needed to prove in Supers port last year. Gone are the days when Scott Russell, in his retirement pr ess confere nce , smiled and said he crashed less in his career than Hacking did In a single weekend. Hacking has matured into a seasoned veteran. and he longs for a shot at the Daytona 200 and an AMASuper bike title. "As for the 200, I've already had a taste of it, and I want to run it again," said Hacking, who has twice earned podium finishes in the Daytona 200, including a runner-up finish to Nicky Hayden in 2002. "I mean I've been right there a couple of times. and every rider would love to have a Daytona 200 win to their credit." Yamaha 's Tom Halve rso n admitted that Yamaha is developing an RI-based Superbike him . Th ey unde rstoo d he wante d to race Superb ike ." Bo st ro m's high price tag was a bit of a n issue , adm itted C iab atti , bu t in t he e nd he fe lt the part ie s ca me to w hat Ciab atti descri be d as "fair terms." "We see Eric has t he best comb inat ion fo r Ducati," C iabatti e xplained. " He is o ne o f the best, if not the best ride r in AMA Superbike . He has a good perso nality, and the team was ex cited about working w ith him , and then there is t he marketing aspect. JANUARY 14, 2004 • CYCLE NE WS and even implied that the bike might be raced in '04 . The question is, who would ride Yamaha's Superbike shou ld it be ready sometime during the year? Facto ry riders competing in Supe rst ock can not race in Super bike, so Yamaha would have to bring in a new rider. The biggest speculation right now is that Antho ny Gob ert may return to race the RI Super bike sometime this year. Gobert is the last ride r to win an AHA Superbike on a Yamaha. that victory coming at Fontana in 2002 . He is unsigned to any team in any series so far. which is nearly beyond comprehension. Despite his erratic past. many feel that Gobert remains one or the few unsigned riders in the world who could win AHA Superbike races . When Halverson was asked about Gobert, he simply smiled and said, "That's the rumor." AMA Sup e rb ike racer to meet the re qu ire men t. MYSTERIOUS DUCATI BREAKDOWN Bo strom a nd t he Aust in D ucat i 999 had to be bro ught in o n the back o f a tr ack truc k d ur ing Friday's session of the Miche lin tests . Bost rom said he w as n't sure w hat happe ned to the bike, st at ing simpl y "mechanical problem" as t he reason the bike was truc ked bac k in. Du ca ti represe ntatives quic kly put Bostrom on a B-bike and said th ey we ren't sur e what happ e ned to t he A-b ike . Th e follow ing da y th e team was st ill silent on what caused the bike to stop runn ing. Du ca ti has historically had d ifficult ies w it h e ngines lasting the e ntire 200 miles of t he Daytona 200, and Friday's proble m was t he o nly dam pe r o n an othe rwise suc cessful test. DAYTONA 200 HIGH ON D UCATI'S PRIORITY LI ST DUCATI BUILDING AMA SUPERBIKE HOMOLOGATION SPECIALS Du cati cove ts t he c ro w n o f the Daytona 200 , adm itted Cia batti. "T he re are a fe w class ic events in moto rcycle racing t hat e very manufact ur er w o uld like to w in," C ia ba tti said. " Race s like Daytona, Suzu ka and Bol d 'Or, These rac es in themselves represent more t han t he se ries they are part of and ta ke on almo st myth ic im po rtance for a com pany to wi n at least o nce in its histo ry. " Duca ti has be en very close to w inn ing Dayto na on several occasions . a nd w e have qualified very w e ll he re over t he years . Now w e po ss ibly again have a ve ry good pac kage in t he team and rid e r. And of course it w o uld be ve ry special for Ducat i to wi n Dayto na." Bostrom said it would mean mo re to him to w in the 20 0 fo r Du cati than any personal reaso ns. In o rder to meet AHA Superb ike hom ologa t io n standa rds, Ducati is bu ilding 300 Ducati 99 9 motorcycles for t he U .S. mar ket w ith valve ang les used in Eric Bos t rom's ne w (Below) The Michelin test was 0150 Vincent Haskovec's first ride for his new te a m ' EMGO Va lvoline Suzuki. Eric is a very ma rketable rider a nd should ve ry mu ch he lp Ducat i in its ma rketing efforts no t o nly in the U.S., but ar ound th e w o rld ." 40th Anniversary