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/128314
Briefly... Garry McCoy had some new experiences on Saturday at Valencia, having never done Superpole qualifying. "This morning was the first time I rode the second bike, which felt different because the clutch wasn't working properly and we weren't able to fix it . I rode it for a while, expecting to eventually ride my numbe r-one bike, which I did on the last ten minutes on the qualifying session. I felt that my previous bike had not enough power from the bottom, so it made me go back to the spare bike. Superpole was very new for me. It's something else I have to get used to . It was very cold and risky to get out there and push 110 per cent, as you would do in a usual hot lap. I have to add that my clutch wasn't work ing very good , so I decided not to push too much on the first split and save it for the last bit to get a better time. I have never done two races in one day, but I guess I just have to go out there and do my best as a rook ie. I can't really say what myexpectations are because I just like to live day by day and worry about what happens at the time. Anyway I will try to get out there and fight like one more of these guys." The Ten Kate team were due to test at Valenciaon Monday and were reputed to have two full factory Honda engines to try out, at least to compare with their own fast est ma n, the best in Superpole, outshining his teammat e Jam es Toseland in all respects. An o ld story of Ducati factory domination, and it looked like we were in for another double in Valencia . Come race day, unforeseen complications were to be the Frenchman's undoing. Twice . Fo r all the riders, the day started to get squ ir relly when the rain, an impo ssible prospect after the su nsh ine and unbroken clear skies of the early morning, suddenly swept into the en viro ns of the track. Quite where the rains that suddenly turned up came from was anybody's guess, but it threw the entire paddock into a flap of monumental proportions. Having had ev ery session dry to that po int . there was a mandatory IS-m inut e "w e t " se ssio n fo r the Sup erbike a nd Sup e rsport class es to undertake before t he races could be started. Race dire ct ion too k the decision that t he Superstock race should be postponed until after the second Superbike race, and it made a self-tuned versions, which they have only had for a short time. The team's first com petit ive out ing in the World Superbike category came in difficult circumstances , with a brand -new bike to run after what was a minimum of w inter testing . Running with the support of Honda Europe, but with little to no factory parts or input from the home factory, the Ten Kate team has also the complication of running Chris Vermeulen, a World Superbike rook ie, unused to any slick tires. never mind control slick tires. The bike has yet to have a full slipper clutch and gear-mounted quick shifter fitted to its list of specs , with a handlebar-mo unted "Supe rsport -style" kill switch quick shifter substituting for the time being. Despite all this, Vermeulen was to qualifyin competitive fashion and finallygo third fastest in Superpole. With no end in sight for the lack of engine power emanating from the Petronas triple, there has been much talk about a replace ment for the current engine contractor, Suter of Switzerland. It is now common knowledge that the replacement company which will deliver a new engine spec at Monza and another. more fulsome, makeover at Laguna Seca - is international automotive engineers, Ricardo Engineering. The British-based company, with a factory on the southern coast of England, is heavily involved in many behind-the-scenes engineering aspects of bike and car production and has techn ical centers in the UK, Amer ica, Gennany and the Czech Republic. Two Ricardo personnel were in and around the place over race weekend , but no official acknowledgement of their presence was made . Currently a changeover is under way, although Suter will still be in charge of the engine side of the streetbike project, even after the racing is taken over by Ricardo. LE NEWS • MARCH 10,2004 13