Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

January 3-5, 2005 AMA SUPERBIKE __ Daytona Tire Test The top teams showed up at Daytona to test tires, new riders and a new racetrack By HENNY RAy ABRAMS e annual Daytona tire test produced more than a few surprises. Tops among them was the fastest rider Yoshimura Suzuki's rookie Superbike rider Ben Spies, the 20-year-old Texan who consistently turned the fastest laps on a track where he had a deathdefying accident in October of 2003. That Spies was able to claim bragging rights had something to do with teammate Mat Mladin being out of commission on the final day. The five-time AMA Superbike Champion and defending Daytona 200 race winner had a rare spill - he only crashed once all of last year, and that was in testing - that sent him to the hospital with a concussion and bone chip off his left ankle. Until the accident, which came late on Tuesday, the second day of the test, Mladin had been the fastest rider and would certainly have kept the title. Though discouraged by the crash, Mladin pointed out that the new GSX-R I000 was so good, even in an early incarnation, that for the first time ever he had the fastest bike in the field. "I think, in a straight line, I think I had the quickest bike on the racetrack. Actually, it's a first, honestly it is a first," Mladin said. '~nd I mean any time that T 24 happens, it's nice." The crash, on the new section of the road course, highlighted unexpected safety problems. Though the twisty new section eliminated the west banking, and therefore extended tire life, it presented new safety problems of its own. "I rode around today and took a good look at the whole new section and just kind of looking around, and there's stuff to hit in every corner," American Honda's Jake Zemke said. "Whether it's power poles, concrete walls, Armco, whatever there's a lot of stuff out there." The verdict on the track was mixed (see separate story), with everyone applauding the elimination of the banking, but most lamenting that a better solution wasn't found. It will also change the nature of racing in ways that the Speedway may not have anticipated. "The Daytona race before was just who can get the fast drive out of the chicane and who can be the smartest when it comes to drafting," 2004 Supersport winner Jason DiSalvo said. "Now, it could be who could make a break and break the draft and do consistent fast times on their own and pull out a gap - so that's something that only time will tell." DiSalvo was another surprise, the JANUARY 19, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS New Yorker turning the fourth-fastest overall time, though with a qualifying tire. The final surprise was that tire life, at least for Dunlop, was less than expected, though tire strength and integrity was much improved due to the new N-Tech line of dual-compound slicks. The task for Dunlop now is to return for the race with tires that can go the distance in Superbike, whatever that turns out to be. A race distance hadn't been decided by the end ofthe test. The track was green when the bikes first went out, late on Monday morning, January 3, with riders cautiously finding their way. Before long, the times started coming down, with Mladin leading the charge, as he would on Tuesday, until his crash. Midway between a pair of first-gear lefts, while going in the opposite direction of the old road course toward the second infield horseshoe, the rear tire of Mladin's Suzuki GSX-R I000 stepped out. "It'd been trying to get me there all day, and it finally got me," he said after returning to the track on crutches on Wednesday. "I just came out of that turn there, and when I clicked into second, it just stepped sideways on me and threw me up and all the rest of it, and I came back down and got back on top of it and got it back under control and looked up and there was a wall and had to jump off. That's it." Jason Pridmore, who was chasing Mladin at the time, saw the whole accident and pulled over to stay with Mladin until help arrived. The Australian was transported to Halifax Medical Center but was released later in the evening. He returned to Southern California on Wednesday afternoon to see his orthopedist on Thursday and determine if surgery on the ankle was necessary. Then, it's back to Australia for a month. "My last two crashes I've had to jump off the bike because I was going to hit a wall," Mladin said. '~t Laguna last year in testing, in turn three I ran off the side of the track and had to jump off because of the wall in turn three, and same thing here. While, yes, I've made a mistake. Personally, I don't think I think mistakes shouldn't be greeted with haVing to jump off perfectly good motorcycles." With Mladin out, Spies kept the Yoshimura Suzuki name out front, gradually building up to the fastest lap on the new 2.95-mile course, with a best of I:39.701 on race rubber. "The first couple of days I made myself work into it and kind of get used to the bike and get everything set up properly, and now things are coming together and I'm getting acquainted with the bike," the 20-year-old Texan said. "I probably backed that up with about six different lap times that are all within two-tenths. It wasn't like one wicked, crazy lap. We can do that pretty easily, and that was on race tires. A soft tire will take a second off that pretty easily at this place." Spies did his time on the new Dunlop tire, which prOVided better stability on the banking and less drop-off in times. '~Il Daytona tires after three laps, they drop substantially, but the NT's when they drop, they stay like that," Spies said. "You can keep doing consistent laps. Usually, you would go from a 39 two laps, then a 40, then down to 42, and you would end your stint doing 43 seconds. You'd be four seconds off. Now Ithink it's only going to be half that - two seconds off. They really seem like they figured it out, and hopefully we can go forward form here." Despite missing the final day, Mladin held on to the second fastest time of 1:40.309. Next was both a surprise and not one. Neil Hodgson (see sidebar), the 2003 World Superbike Champion, ended up third fastest in his first trip to Daytona in 10 years. The colorful Englishman ran through a gamut of emotions about the tires, the track and his performance, but his work ethic impressed many as he qUickly learned the track, the team and the unique dualcompound tires. His initial trip around the

• Cover