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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World Superbike 2004 Half Season Report "Y can't compare what happens in ou Formula I or MotoGP, because these are not machines you can use on the street," says Team Alstare Corona "patro n," Francis Barta, "The whole essence of World Superb ike is that it comprises bikes wh ich the spectators rode to the circuit, fitted with equ ipment such as tires that they also use - they identify with the equipment in every way, and this is a key part of its appea l. That 's apart from the issue of whether or not you should have a one make tire rule for a World Championship, which I personally regard as ludicrous. It destroys that championship's credibility." Some riders regret the absence of competit ion among the tire companies, too mainly perhaps, those who might expect , to get special treatment, one of whom is Frankie Chili. "I think the new technical rules are very fair, and this was done we ll, but I don't like the o ne-make control tire, because it stops development," says Frankie. "Plus, it also preve nts the wild cards from taking part, because they don't race Pirellis at home . I think it's better if you have four tire companies , like, say, Bridgestone, Dun lop, Michelin and Pirelli, who each agree to supply four regular teams on the grid, plus any wild cards, and to develop control tires for these four, which are available to all their eight riders - no favorites. This way, you can keep up the pace of development, with competition between the compan ies, and yet still have the same tires available for everyone." Sounds likea tire equivalent of Superbike machine homologation wh ich, while it might be nightmarish to administe r, could have the desired effect of open ing up the tire wars 30 again. It would seem that there would have to be a standard fixed cost to all teams, monitored by the FIM to make sure there was none of the special treatment or favoritism Troy Corser complains of. Another less publicized issue the teams all have is the lack of sufficient rounds to make it realistic for them to justifycovering the fixed overheads of going racing for a full season - there are a total of just I I SBK team and Kawasaki from among the AHA contingent opted to take on the World Series contenders, and after grabbing pole position in qualifying, Mat Mladin chose not to contest the second race - reportedly on the grounds that Dunlop wouldn't give him the same super tires as the top SBK runners! The near absence of the wild cards is much more of a big deal in the UK, where Shakey Byrne's double-up victory at Hawk Kawasaki boss Stuart Hicken, "but my idea of a deal wasn't to cough up a GBP 3800 (nearly $7000) payment per rider to cover the cost of the tires, and pay an entry fee on top of that, all to go racing on rub ber we'd never even test ed on." Having stat ed from the outset that he was looking for BSB and AHA teams to swap to Pirellis for just one weekend so as to take part in SBK round s, and so replenish the near-e mpty wild card trough that adds so much to the spectacle of World Superbike, on 1V as we llas trackside, Flammini's decision to go by the book and charge the Hawk Kawasaki team full price for helping give substance to his hopes can only be counted as a peculiar error of judgment which hopefullywon't be repeated if they talk again for Brands. Bad business, too - he'd probably have gotten the money back on the crow d figures alone, es pecially if he'd done a two-race start-money deal to include Brands Hatch! However, contrary to the MSMA's stance, people at the sharp end of the motorcycle business, who are responsible for actually sellingthe streetbikes on which SBK racers are based, are keen supporters of the category in its new, improved, backto -the-future form. Honda Europe boss Silvio Manicardi is the key man behind Ten "Contrary to tile MSMA's stance, people at tile sllarp end 01 tile motorcycle business, wllo are responsible lor actually selling tile streetbikes on wllicll S8K racers are based, are keen supporters 01 tile category in its new, improved, back-to-tlle-Iuture lorm." rounds in 2004, against at least 13 for many years before that . "It' s essential we have more rounds, so we can prolong expos ure and justify the budget for a production-based racing class like this, such as Yamaha rea lly wants and inte nds to support," says Yamaha Europe's racing manager, Laurens Klein Koerkamp. However, it's the issue of wild cards that is the one sticking point in preventing the Flamminis from getting straight A's for World Superbike 2004's half-term report. There were indeed four of them at Oschersleben in the German round this year, who all scored points, and the Alpha Technik Hondas and former SBK race winner Andy Meklau's ex-Alstare Corona Suzuki are likely to front up at Assen again, too . But there are really only two countries where this is an issue, Britainand the USAeven if at Laguna Seca a year ago in the open-tire days, only the Yoshimura Suzuki JULY 14,2004 • C Y CLE N EWS Brands last year underlined the strength of what is now certainly the strongest National Super bike series in the wor ld. The absence of the Rizla Suzuki and Honda Britain teams, as we ll as Byrne's successor in the Monste r Mob Ducati team , Sean Emmett, allcontracted to either Dunlop or Michelin, removed a potentially thrilling element from the Silverstone grid that was only hinted at by James Ellison's brilliant wild card privateer performance. However, it seems as if the Flamminisshot themselves in the foot by turn ing down the chance to have the privately owned Hawk Kawasaki team competing at Silverstone , with ride rs Scott Smart (as in son of Paul) and Aussie Glen Richards - a prospect made all the more appealing by Smart 's victory on the Hawk ZX-IOR green screamie in the previous BSB round at Mondello Park in Ireland . "I asked Paolo Flammini for a deal," says 40th Anniversary Kate Racing's presence in World Superbike this season with Verme ulen's singleton CBRIOOORR, and quizzing him on this brings a clear vision of the commercial as well as sporting benefits for the Japanese giant's European arm in supporti ng production-based racing at the highest level. "We are competing not just for the pure sake of racing, but also because we want to sell motorcycles - and our market research has confirmed that the influence of racing in the promotion of sales of a sportbike is quite important," declares Manicardi. "With the change in the World Superbike rules for this season , bringing them closer to the Supersport regulations, we believe this benefits that strategy, and we thought that Ten Kate could be successful by starting with a standard machine and an HRC kit, then using his technical capability to improve the bike to a competitive level for a private team , on a separate de velopment