Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ducati and Petronas Do The Island T sive. "Really the tires we ran here were q uite close , compound and he abrasive Phillip Island circuit in Australia became the latest venue for the two top facto ry World Superbike teams in 2004 to test their newer spe c bikes and th e late st construetionwise, to Valencia and they have been really posirfve." he said. "The main proble m is having the durability of the rear tire to last the distance . That is the on ly thing they have to work on at the moment. As far as general grip goes, it' s quite positive . The cond i- generation o f Pirelli tires. The high winds that often plague Phillip Island were often in evidence for the Ducati Fila and Foggy Petronas teams, and tions were a little bett er in the morn ings, gave a bit mo re side - the cooler morning track tem - peratures o ffered the bes t Regis Laconi (pict ured) to lap at competitive pace in only his second o uting on a largely 2003 -spec 999 factory grip," Tro y Corser and Chris Walker battled on with their stili-develop ing FP-I race bikes, setting best laps in the I:35 bracket. A new cooling system helped the team machine. A new clutch was tried o ut, and Laconi 's best kee p the engine temperat ure under firmer contr ol, accordi ng to race simulation was 2003 -podiif no definitive technical chief Steve Thompson. figures were revealed for his chatter from his machine during the tests and had a mechan ical fail- chancefor eventuaJ fastest man urn fast. even Corser long run o n the final morning. His best lap time, on race spec tires, was I:33 .55, a respectable mark in dry but not-quite-ideal conditions. He was pleased with an off-season that has so far been his and his Laconi was quick in any circumstance , even if the rear Pire llis still need some work to enhance the ir longevity. "I did a I:33.5 on my fastest lap on race tires , and I think that is quite a good lap time ," he said. "I did I:33.8 in the race last year. In the afternoon at this test the condi tions were not as fast as they were in the mornings . I am happy with the Pirellis because this is only the second test , and we are pushing them hard . They are working hard to improve the feeling of the tire on the bike , and I think it is o kay," Laconi has also settled into life with a 999 , having been two stage s beh ind the factory 999s last season, when he campaigned a 998 RS for the NC R Ducati team. "T he 999, compared to my 2003 season 998RS, has greater powe r and strength at the high rpm figures than the older customer bike," Laconi explained. "For the chassis, the main difference is that this bike is more precise . and it moves aroun d a [it- tie bit less - yo u can put it where you like. I think a lo t of that comes from the rear; now the bike has a double swingarm . Because this is a factory bike, you can also have a little bit more adjustment than on a customer some ure on day one, w hich D ucati claims brought down young Supersport hopeful Lorenzo Lanzi. Corser, now entering his third year with the Foggy team, stated, "We have been trying to do a few more laps today on the tires we have found to work best for us, but I still th ink there is room for alone . "T he test was good because we made a lo t of hard wo rk," said a tired Laconi. "I made 1200km [744 miles] in total , and on the last day I made 480km [297 miles]! We worked well with the bike and the tires . We made a good job, and I did a full race simulation. It was quite fast, only 10 seconds slower than last year at only the second test on this bike, and on the Pirellis. I think that is quite good ." experienced improvement. We need a bit more stability, as I am still experiencing a small chatter, although I think we ner, Garry McCoy, who was abse nt fro m the te sts.. "I th ink it is good fo r World Superbike that Garry will be with us," Laconi said. "T he more better riders we have, the bet ter fo r all of us. I am also happy for team NC R because th ey had to find a quick rider. Last year was very good, and I hope Garry will be the solution for them," James Toseland, the other half of the Ducati Filaduo, made some good progress, but a heavy crash exiting Honda Co rner on day two kept his overall lap cou nt down and delivered him three stitches o n his leg, bruise d and blackened fingers, two numbed "dead-legs" fro m the initial impact and a large amount o f overall discomfort. Nonetheless, Toseland se t a best lap of I:34.5, and he should be fully fit for test numbe r three at Valencia in mid-Feb ruary. "T he first day was o kay," affirmed Toseland. "Then I had a pretty big crash on day two. Exiting the Honda Hairpin, the bike landed on me and bashed me up a bit as it landed o n my leg. I had to have th ree are going in the right direct ion. At this stage in the tire development, I don't think the lap times have been too bad," Walker, ever the positive and forward looking type of rider, said on the last day, "I wen t quicke r today on a tire which was - n't quite as good as the o ne we found yesterday. And I am also pleased th at I was doing the same lap times as Troy when we were on the same tire and the same rim . That's really e ncouraging, particul arly at Phillip Island. I'm rea lly enjoy ing worki ng with th is team and have alrea dy develo ped a go od re lationshi p with our Pirelli representative. In its very first wee k of sales, the Jeremy McGrath a utobiography, Wide Open, penned with ESPN writ er Chris Palmer, has eamed a cove ted spot on the New York Times Extended Best Seller Ust, according to McGrath's publicist. The boo k is prese ntly ranked at number 20, just five spaces from the Best Seller List, which reserves ranking for just 15 of the top-selling books in the country. The list will be published in the Sunday,January 25, issue of the New York Times. According to McGrath's editor at Harpe r Co llins, Josh 8ehar, "McGrath 's instant appearance on the New Y Times ork Best Seller Ust puts him in the same companyas action-sports sensation Tony Hawk, but more importantly puts him in the same league as many of the mainstream sports supe rstars that have written best-selling books . 800 ks like Wide Open that fall out side of the traditional sports genre can sometimes be a challenge, but this book is certainly proving to be a break -out success ." Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom is switching to Shoe! helmets after signing a multiyear deal with the company. ''I'm very excited about my new partnership with Shoei, and I'm looking forward to strapping on their helmets the next time I ride my Ducati," Bostrom said in a press release. "The ir helmets are so good that I know I'll be comfortable and safe while I'm out there, so that's one less thing to worry about. It'llallow me to focus on putting that Ducati on top ." 8ret Milan, Shoei's racing coord inator, echoed Bostrom 's enthusiasm. "Shoe i is very excited to be involved with a rider of Eric Bostrom's caliber. Shoei has been winning championships in all forms of motorcycle racing for more than 40 years now, and we are confident that Eric will be a frontrunner for the AMA Superbike championship this year. Eric will be a great representative for Shoei helmets. Not only is he an incrediblytalented rider, but his popularity with the fans is evidence of his natural charisma and friendly personality. We are thrilled to have him aboard . Ericwill be wearing the same X- II helmet that you can buy at your local Shoei dealership." It He characterized his Pirelli experiences thus: "Wh en he tells me the differences between tire s, I can definitely feel what he is describing. But they had so many different tires to test out her e that, once we had found the best medium-soft compound, there were not too many left to test, and I tire gripped really well - the bike even wheelied - but then the rear let go while the front was in the air. When the front hit the ground, it just tied itse lf in a knot and flipped me over the front. Unfort unately the bike somersaulted and landed on my legs. Nothing bro ke n, so I was glad of that [Toseland has had more than his share of had wanted to break into the 34s." Walker's style is almost the complete o ppos ite of Corse r 's, and part of his Phillip Island weekend was spen t fixing his bike to suit him. "The team has worked to get the bike a bit more Chris Walker-like - a bit softe r and looser - so that I can back it into corners and slide it ou t of the m," said Walker. "I have altered my ride height to make th e bike mo re stable on the brakes, and that has helpe d. I jumped on the bike on Tuesday, and it felt alien - nothing like stitches. I was well out of the corne r; the Briefly... bike. We made a good test in Valencia and serious leg injuries in his career]. The last the motocross bike I have been on all win - another one he re. It is importa nt for me , day was therefore a litt le unco mfortable, fo r the bike , and to help Pirelli." Laconi also welcomed the challenge of his old Red 8ull Yamaha GP sparring part- but we are t here or thereabouts. We've ter! - But it was good to quickly get it working how I like it, and it gives us a clear direc- made a lot of progress he re fro m Valencia," tion for the next test ." In te rms o f tires, Toseland was ex pan- www.cyclenews.com Gordon Ritc hie Rex Wh ite, who managed the SOOcc World Cham pio nship-w inning official Suzuki GP team in the I970s and '80s, died on January 14 at his hom e in the so uth of England. Wh ite was in charge of the UKbased Texaco Heron Suzuki Team tha t took 8arry Shee ne to his two world titles in 1976 and 1977. The cause of dea th is as yet uncon firmed , but White had been sick for some time , according to Suzuki. The AMA has an nounced the resu lts of its recent election for the AMA board of directors. Rick Gray has bee n elected to rep re sen t the No rtheast region , Jeff Sm ith has bee n e lec te d to re presen t the Nort h Central region, and Oal Sm ilie has bee n elected to rep re sent the No rt hwest regio n. The AMA board of directo rs consists of 12 me mbers. Six individual directors are elect- ed by the general mem bership in the ir respective region s and serve three-year te rms. Six corpo rate directors are electe d by the corporate members hip and serve two-year terms. The AMA board of direc- CYCLE NEWS • JA NUARY 14.2004 7

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