Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

worst bike out here," he said, quickly adding, "t hen we 'd go to Laguna, and all of a sudden things weren't so bad . And we had grea t results there. It's so strange, because w hy is t he bike be so poo r somewhere and t hen so good somewhere? You'd figure if th e bike's not good , it' s not going to be good anywhere. The Ducati seems to work really good for what I've ridde n it, but until we get on the ot he r places, I can't foresee the problems we 'll have ." Again there was a problem with the meal, th is time something pink in the pasta. "Don't worry it's ham. Ham's okay undercooked," Ben advises, contradicting all previous food safety experts but wit h an undertone of mischief, knowing it was chicken. To take the number-one plate back to Temecula , the brothers will have co nsiderabl e resistan ce. Ben dismisses talk that it' s a learning year for Jake Ze mke . "He's a natural, " Ben says of Zem ke, who's ridden an inline four-cylinder for years . "No t only is he a good ride r, he rides this bike we ll. I think he's going to be in there. " Eric sees four-time AMA Supe rb ike Champion Mat Mladin as a threat. No matter that he's suffering fro m Epste in-Barr virus, the disease t hat has forc ed him to cut back on his rigoro us training regimen , o r that the team 's already complaining abo ut be ing o utgunned . "Y can't count Mat (Mladin) out, ever, because he's ou always ther e ," Eric says. "It's interesting to hear him complain abo ut his bike . I gues s that can on ly be goo d fo r everyone else . They had a great package last year." Ben adds : "They've had a year to develop his bike, kind of under stands right away each tra ck he's got to se t up," Yates, Ben says, was picking up speed all last year, and he saysofteammate Duhamel: "Y can never count out Miguel. ou I don't care where he qualifies. He's fast in the race." Last year everyone knew what was going to happe n at Fo ntana after testing. Everyo ne heard Suzuki's lap times, and t hey were in the 2Ss. "When we tested there, I was do ing 27s. That's tw o seco nds: ' Ben says. "We're dead ," They will not criticize ot her riders. Tracks are anot her issue . The speed of their new bikes w ill ex pose the con tinually diminishing safety standards at many of t he t racks on the sche dule. "It's going to be a joke at a few tra cks," Ben says, mentioning Virginia International Raceway and Barbe r Moto rsports Par k. "The bikes were too fast last year for Barbe r, also for VIR, rea lly too fast ," Eric counters, "But not necessarilytoo fast. Just the tracks aren't big enough to use the bikes for what it's built for." Eric was injured for the final race at Barber, but when he tested , he used o nly the bott o m thr ee gears. Ben's 2R FFP.RlJARY 25 . 2004 • CYCLE NEWS RC-S I used second through fourth , with one first-gear "To make my point , not only for the safety of the ridcorner. That said, they agree that Barber is, in Eric's ers, the people on TV don't care if they're watching 40 words, "one of the best racetracks we go to ." motorcycles on the track or 20. TV people don 't care:' " It is o ne of t he funnes t race tracks on the circ uit," Ben says. "Spectato rs, they don't care . They 're only Ben adds. watching that lead race which they want to see five bikes Slowingdown the motorcycles isn't an option that either in a battle. Nobody cares about the other 3S bikes out embraces . The Supersport machinery is too tame, too prethere. Who cares ?" dict:able. Ben spent part of the test watching the exit of tum Eric be lieves that the Supercross field is too crowded. "l 'm more than a fan, I know these guys personally, and I two , the Superbikes smoking and twitching and spinning. "I ride the damn things; even I was in awe ," he says. can't even find them on the track after 10 laps of the race because they're so mixed up in ot her riders and th is "That' s exciting to wat ch. They 're co ming through the Armco Sideways, burn ing, and accelerating like you've entangle ment of a race," he says. neve r seen a bike accele rate, sto p, turn, burn the tire and Years of low stand ards have given the slower riders a false sense of entitlement, the belief that they should be in accelerate to the next corner. That was exciting to watch . the field simply because they 've shown up. The Bostroms And I think, 'Goddamn, that thing's excit ing to ride too ." On the other hand, they agree tha t, as Ben says: "Y ou re member the years of chasing the dirt trac k circuit, going week after wee k wit hout qualifying for a main, yet neve r would n't want to see the bikes too much faster than the y are , not for our American circuits. They will be faster. giving up. They believe that expe rience steeled them to Presumably, Suzuki's going to the harsh realities of racing, t hat not everyone 's good tm-e a . for next"VP:""--'Pnough every end. Ich th beli"",,~h ...... standard shou ld be higher. We're at the limit for what the tracks can take. I never thought For the riders who don't make the grid, there should be compensation "because they came out and competed; they we were at the limit until I rode my bike and I said, 'That thing's tried, and sometimes they'll be making the show," Ben says. pretty fast. Maybe that's the "Those guysshould still be paid on down, just as they qualified." limit.... Eric concurs: "T hey damn near shou ld give all the "That's a good point," Eric money to the Superstockers anyway because the privateers are the ones who need all the money. But there's agrees . "O ur tracks, the runoff's not really sufficient. If you Superbike privateers that need the money, so you can't ever do have a problem of any say that . You've got to give privateers in the Superbike sort, you're going to end up class money. These factory guys do n't need the money." As much time as they spend together, there will be getting there too fast." They've seen the MotoGP many weekends when they 're apart. It comes down to tires. Dunlop's policy is to exclude the other tire brands riders empowered by the death of Daijiro Kato, but they from its tests. Michelin has invited all comers, and Honda, ¥.enJ. see Yo changes on 0 0 e. ' oo king one 0 the dates _ the domestic fro nt. They agree "That's retard ed, not having each manufacturer at each that the riders have ve ry little say in matt e rs of safety. test," Ben says. "It see ms counterproductive, because in order to beat the competitio n, you've got to know whe re What gives them hope are people like Steve Page, the president and general manager of Infineon Raceway. the competition is and then figure o ut, 'Hey, we're doing "Y get a track like Infineon, we fly up there , give the ou great' or 'We' re even ' o r 'We're getting o ur ass kicked,' track our opinion, and they listen, take our advice and lay it But if you'r e test ing on different days and different weather scenarios, differe nt race t rack condition s, it's hard to down, and that's amazing," Ben says."That's a rare occasion." figure out where you stan d with the competitio n." Adds Eric: "It came from the track. They were the To Ben, co mpetition increases the breed. ones that asked us to com e up," "When I we nt to each test in Europe , it was a Flamm ini There was also a glimmer of hope during the Dayto na tire test. tes t," he says "Y u had Dunlo p and Michelin there. And o "I'll tellyou this is the firstweekend that the AMA was kind Michelin just kicked our ass. And Dunlop said, 'Ahh, wakeup call. We need to work harder,' And they did. And our of looking for us," Ben said. "Because as Ron (Barrick) was tires got bette r and better because of t hat same situation . walking by, he spotted us, and he wanted to come over and It's good to race every one in the field. I'm there fo r the make conversation. This is the firsttime he was like,'What do you think? I've got this idea.' That's one of the first times ever. race. I do n't want to go out the re and be the only guy on He had a great idea. Besi es the fact that he had a great idea, d the t rack . I want to race. I wa nt to race eve ryone o n eq ual gro und." it was one of the first times that the AMA actually came up and The road race tracks may not be their only venue. Eric's said, "What do you think of this?' And that's what they should going to try to find a way to race the AMA Red Bull do every time. The AMA:s the sanctioningbody. We're on the , Superrnoto Champio nship ("O ur options for bikes are better racetrack. We could reallyhelp out with the advice. Obviously than they were last year," he says)and Ben wants to do more you ride the bike, but you know what to look for, too. IfI was than the season finale. a spectator, this is what I wou ld want to see. I'd want to see passing. The rider wants to be able to make passes." "I did go out and ride with him, and he really, really schooled me. Gave me a hard lesson on supermoto," Eric ''And not put anybody in a dangerous situation," Eric adds. "Y te nd to see those situations a lot clearer when you're on ou said. "Ben rides those things reallywell." the track." "We went out there the other day, starting riding around The greatest ongoing dange r for the fron t ride rs is on the bike, the n Irealized, that's a lot offun," Ben said. "I forgot how much fun that was . Merlyn and the boys were like, lapped traffic. The brothers be lieve fervently that the sta ndards are too lax in Superbike, that the I 10 pe rcent 'We've got to do more.' I think the series starts late. How good would it be to do the series?" rule isn't stringent enough, that yo u don 't nee d 40 motoreN cycles o n t he track . First things first. 40th Anniversary

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