Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2004 01 14

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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No Green in AMA §uperbike Kawasakis factory squad is out of the premier U.S. road racing series for 2004 When the green flag drops for the 63rd annual Daytona 200 by Arai on Satu rday, March 6, it w ill mar k the first time in 16 years that a factory Kawasaki won 't be in the field. In N ove mbe r it was learned that Kawasaki would not be competing in Michelin's U.S. road racing manager Jim Rhod es said that the company would test on at least six tracks with Ducati Austin and Valvoline EMGO Suzuki. Pikes Peak International Raceway, Road Atlanta, Barber Motorspofts Park, Infineon Raceway (formerly Sears Points), California Speedway and Mazda Laguna Seca were the tracks slated for testing. Tests at California Speedway and Mazda Laguna Seca are planned before the March Daytona opener, and testing will continue during the racing season. VALVOLINE EMGO SUZUKI OUT OF SUPER-STOCK? the 2004 AHA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship, a shocking re ality fo r many fans of the brand that has won th e AMA Supe rbik e Series 3. t ot al of nine times with rid ers like Eddie Lawson. WayneRainey, Scon Russell and Doug Chandler. It was especially con fusing considering Team G ree n was introducing the new ZX IO. a bigbore replacement for the venerable ZX7. Instead of Supe rb iking the new ZX. Kawasaki instead will compete in the revamped AHASuperstock class. An illustra tion of how much the press at least ca res abo ut th e Supers tock class vers us Superbike was seen vividly at the Dunlo p tire tests at Dayton a Inte rnatio nal Speedway. The minute the Hon da gar age opened , photogra phe rs crowde d around , trying to stea l a q uick pho to o f Ho nd a's new CBR IOOO RR Superbike. Meanwhile, the new Kawasaki ZX Ia sat in broad daylight with no one but the Kawasaki crew giving a care for the new bike . Had Eric Bostrom been suiting up to try a new ZX IO Superbtke. you have to believe things would be different. Bostro m was contracted for one more year with Kawasak i, but when the company announced it wouldn't be participating in AMA Superbike in 2004, it released him from his con tract so he could take an o ffer fro m Ducati. At the tire tests , Bostro m talked a little bit about how he felt wh en he learn ed Kawasaki was leaving the class . "I was d isappoi nte d , and I think th e entire Kawasak i race team was disap po inted ," said Bo st ro m, w ho said he fou nd ou t about Kawasaki's plan in mid -November. "They're a Super- .s, bike team , and all of a sudden they didn 't have a toy to go play w ith . It was a huge disap _ pointment, and I th ink it is for the fans as well . The Superbike class is by far the prestige class ." "We want to race Superbike," said Bruce Stjernstrom, director o f professional racing fo r Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. "We've been one o f the most consistent participants in the series since its incep tion . Superbike racing has de fined a major part o f Kawasaki' s image . Right now the re just isn't th e stability in the rule s th at would allo w Kawasaki to participate. "Th e ru les have changed in the last two years o n re latively sho rt notice. I still haven' t seen a rule book for 2004 . G iving the fact o ries a few months notice on the ru les simply isn't enough time, especialty when Superbike ru les are becoming more Superstock-Iike in an effort to slow them down. We have to build into the production bikes certain th ings to make them eligible fo r AMA Superbike racing, and that re quire s at least an IS-month notice to adjust for major rules changes. '" guarantee you afte r seeing how fast the Ioo Os are this year, the rules wi ll change again ," Stjernstrom ad ded . Stjernstrom claimed th at let ting Eric Bostro m go was one of th e mos t difficult things Kawasaki's racing program has eve r had to d o . "We had to let the bes t ride r in the series go ," he said of Bo st rom . "We hated to do that, but we understood that Eric saw going to Supe rstoc k as a step backwards ." St jernst rom says that Kawasaki will return to AMA Superbike once the rules stabilize but that there was littl e chance tha t the team would field a factory effort at any point this season . Stjernstrom points to the new AMA rule th at will no t allow facto ry Supe rbike riders to participate in Supe rstoc k. and since tha t's th e class Kawasak i is sta rti ng in th is year, its ride rs will be pr eve nted fro m racing Supe rbike . For this season it ap pe ars th e Kawasaki faithful will put th eir hope s in Attack Kawasaki's Josh Hayes . Hayes is excited about racing t he ZX lO in AH A Superbike. "Th e power is not an issue ," says Hayes. 'This thing stock makes more power than you can use on the track. We 'll just need to dial in the chassis, and Kawasaki is supposed to give us a lot of the suspension parts [Eric] Bos tro m had on his bike last year. I think we 'll be competitive as the season pro gress es." AMA championship-winningValvoline EMGO Suzuki was still uncertain at the Daytona tire tests if it would compete in the revamped AMA Superstock Series . Although the team has made its name in large part by racing open-class motorcycles, it may be prevented in racing Superstock this year because Michelin is not do ing development work on 17-inch slicks for Superstock machines. With most road racing classes configured using 16 1/2 inch slicks, that's where the companies have been devoting most of their resources . According to team co -founder John Ulrich, Michelin has told him that it would not be developing or supp lying the team with a new 17-inch slick for AMA Supe rstock, leaving the team wit h little option ot he r than not to compete in the class. Ulrich, also an AMA board member, favors allowing Superstock teams to use DOT tires and or slicks. He says representatives of the tire companies he's spoken to also favor the o ption of running DOT tires. Valvoline EMGO Suzuki is slate d to run riders Steve Rapp and Vincent Haskovec in AMA Supersport and the refurbished Formula Xtreme classes . The riders may participate in select Superbike rounds as well. HASKOVEC ON THIRD TIRE BRAND IN THREE YEARS Newly signed Valvoline EMGO Suzuki rider Vincent Haskovec is riding on his third tire brand in three years. In 200 I the nat ive of the Czech Republic rode on Dunlops for Corona Suzuk i, Pire llis last year with Hooters Suzuki, and finally on Michelins with Valvoline Suzuki. Haskovec said he was very impressed with the feedbac k he felt with the Michelin tires at Daytona and was looking forward to the upcoming season on his new squad . eN (Above) Jamie Ha cking showed off his new number-one plate at the test. (Below) Jo sh ua Hayes used the test to get acquainted with his new Attack Kawasaki after w inning la st yea r's Superstock title on a Suzuki. "I went to the factory in Italy, and you get the fee ling that the entire company is built around racing: said Bostrom. "It would be tremendous for me to give them something they actually haven't done in racing. I mean they've already won a Grand Prix, but they haven't won this race . It would be nice." Ducatis have raced in the Daytona 200 since 1966. The best resu lt fo r the Italian maker was a tr io of runne r-up finishes. Doug Polen, Troy Corser and Carl Fogarty eac h finished seco nd in th e Daytona 200 on Ducatis in the early to mid-1990s. MICHELIN PLANS EXT E NS IV E TESTING IN UNITED S TATE S Michelin indicated just how serious the company was in its commitment to AHA Supe rbike by announci ng a rigorous tes ting sched ule for this winter and during the 2004 race season. www.cyclenews .com CYCL E N EWS • JANUARY 14, 2004 59

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