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/128343
Varnes is in the draft at the Springfield Mile (left) and sliding araund a bend at the Springfield Shart Track(below). The Pennsylvanian may have more experience on a wider variety of brands than any active rider on the circuit today. "O nce we got the horsepower down , we co uld make suspensio n changes and tell the differe nce ," Varnes said. " Now I am as com fortable on the Suzukis as I was on the Harleys. My co nfide nce leve l is back, which is a really big de al. Before , if you got on the t hrottle too soon, you didn't know wha t it w as going to do . Now I can fee l it getting better and bette r every time we go out." The improve ments are com pelling evidence that Burks made the right call. "I had actua lly wa nted to hire Travis before he went w it h Joe Kopp," Burks said. "The chemis try is ther e now, an d ch emi stry is e verything. I had clicke d with Kenny befo re , but we just didn't click o n this project . It wa s a business decision." And the Suzuki is do ing the business at Springfie ld 2004, w here Varnes an d Springsteen have caught the lead group and have ano the r Har ley rider, Jake Johnson, tagging alo ng with the m to make for a nine -rider lead draft as the race heads toward th e five-to-go sign. Varnes and the Suzuki have arrived on t he scene. Catchi ng is one th ing, but passing is quite another, and the five laps are used up q uickly. At the checkered flag, Springsteen manage s to wiggle his way into sixth, while Varnes rema ins stuc k in eighth, just missing out o n a chance to draft past Joe Ko pp for seventh. Eve n so, Varnes and his team are ecstatic. "That' s w hat I'm talking abo ut," Varnes said. "Get 'er do ne. This bike ran perfect all day. We wer e fighting for tractio n in our heat race, but we made t he right changes and got it going, and in th e main even t it was grea t. Abo ut t he only thing that I wou ld want to get better is just to a have hair more traction off the corner, but all in all it was a good day. We were running with the lead pack the whole time, and that is definitely a plus. We're there now, guar- anteed, and we're set for Du Q uoin. We 'll make a few more changes before we go the re , but t hat's going to be a good deal." Smit h is gratified and disappointed , happy w ith Varnes ' run but disappointed that Eslick has failed to make the main event afte r being side lined by a mechan ical failure in his se mi. "Kevin seems happy about it, and A.J. is happy abo ut it," Smith said. "I am disappointed tha t I had on e go so ut h on me, but we're st ill figuring out what to do wit h t hem . I to ld thes e guys that I wanted a to p 10, and we got a top 10. No w we're going to go to wo rk on ge tting on the podium. We 've got som e idea s going into Du Quoi n." After struggling wit h t he program for nearly two yea rs, Burks is perhaps t he most tickled. "It's start ing to come around ," Burks said. ''Actually, we are n't even to o ur second year w ith the fuel-injected engine. I think that we are coming alo ng better tha n what we anticipated . We had a little lump in t he road at the beginning, but I know that we are turning it aro und now. Th ese last fou r races are making o ur season right now. Things are de fi nitely looking up for us. We have learned a lot here today, and we ' ll be loaded fo r bear w ith Du Q uoin." While they 're not exactly quaking in the ir skid shoes yet, after the race some of the other racers, especia lly those who raced with him. such as Johnson. were quick to comment on Varnes' performance. " I couldn't get around that thing because it was so fast I couldn't draft it ." Johnson sa id. "The Suzu kis are work ing good. We 're not scared of them yet , but they are definitely starting to come around ." Springsteen, too, notices the improve- www.cyclenEWs.com ment of the Suzukis. "They're getting bette r and better with the thing," Springsteen. "That thing was so much faster do wn the straightaway than mine that I just followed him and let him tow me to the front . It was fast, but he would get thr ee good laps in and t hen he wou ld bust loose com ing off of tw o o r co ming off of four." Burks and the team know tha t the re are st ill bugs to work out , ex periments to be tried , but at least the team now appears to be well o n the right trac k. "We are working hard right now to develop a twingle versio n of the engine ," Burks said. "We are wo rking with an aftermarket company to develop a new ignition system to make that possible, and if we get that, I think that it will help us a lot. And we're still playing with cam s o n t he dyno and learning a lot . Even tod ay, we came in he re and figu red o ut a bunch of t hings really q uickly We're loo king forward to co n. tinuing the program ." The program involves more than just racing Suzukis, Burks said. It also mea ns se lling them and develop ing new ta lent for o ther are nas. "We want to sell thes e things as kit bikes through Burks Mot o rspo rts ," Burks said. "We'lI have everything from t he frames. w hee ls, tanks to the complete bikes. Part of our deal also involves developing talent for road racing, and we 're looking at ways to help out riders that way. We have a website that we're putting a lot of informat ion on to show people what we're do ing, www.suzukiflattrack.com. We're just doing everything we can to make this thing go fo rward." At the Springfield Mile in 2004, Kevin Varnes' performance speaks vo lumes eN about that . CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 29, 2004 31