Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Continued from poge 27 behind Hodgson. "I think that he's going to be fast when he comes back, because right now he's real fast through the infield, he's quicker than me through the infield, but he's not so special through some of the higher-speed sections and tum one, as well. So, I think he's going to be able to have that figured out by the time he comes back and be quicker yet. I need to lean on the front tire harder and I'll be perfect through the infield, and I think we'll both be in business." Bostrom tried Hodgson's bike on Wednesday afternoon and deduced that he was more of a front-end rider. "I always think that there's something to leam from riding everyone's bike. If I had my way, I'd go straight down the wall and ride each bike." Bostrom had knocked a second off his time with a different link that didn't work for Hodgson. The front was where Bostrom had his problems last year. To the very end, he never felt comfortable. At Daytona, he was already finding his comfort zone. "I think that the tire seems to be working out particularly well for the motorcycle," he said. "It's interesting because the front end of the bike is a little bit peculiar that way, but obViously it can work really well. The Dunlop just gives you... I mean right now it's giving me the feel. Step it up a notch, and so that part's pretty good. It's just got a lot of feel. I know they're working on some new front-end stuff, but I'm not even sure if we got to test any of that here, aside from maybe a different fuel tank." more weight, which means more heat, which means less life. "You know, in baseball if you're batting .300, you're considered a pretty good player. These guys are batting about, I don't know, less than .100," Jim Allen said with a laugh of his compound engineers. "We had four [compounds]. I'm not sure any of the four will be used. Probably they won't. There were a couple we looked at. One maybe for grip, but not better for wear, which is the one we're worried about right now. Of the four they had, maybe one we're considering." Because of the way the carcass is built, the rider has to adapt to a different feel. "The tires are really good," Ducati Austin's Eric Bostrom said after a year away. "They are much better than I remember them. Still, I'm still trying to learn to trust them, so I think I've got a little ways to go with that." Among the nearly I I00 tires Dunlop brought for the test were 14 race spec rears, nine in N-Tech: four fronts, with three new ones, but none N-Tech. For the Superbike race, it'll make four rears in two different sizes. "Five of the riders picked one size and two of the riders picked another," Allen said. "ObViously, we'd like if all seven of 28 JANUARY 26, 2005 • them said one size, then we'd only have to make one tire. We've got to get it down to four specs in different compounds." Three or four fronts will be made. There will be no more Superbike qualifiers [tires). Superstock qualifiers will depend on the competition. "We'd rather not. I'd guess they would rather not. It's an expensive pastime," Allen said of producing the qualifying tires. The tires Miguel Duhamel raced his Honda CBR600RR to victory on in the 2004 Formula Xtreme race were Superbike tires. Handling was heavy and the riders didn't like the feel. This year, Dunlop designed tires for the FX bikes which will run in the Daytona 200. Duhamel did 26 laps on one tire. The Daytona 200 will be 68 laps, but what of the Superbike race? AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth and road race manager Ron Barrick met with Dunlop at the end of the test. Their position, for several months, has been that the Superbike race not incorporate a pit stop. Superbike races are set at 100 kilometers, about 62 miles or 21 laps of the new 2.9Smile course. At this point, no tire has gone that distance. Hodgson put I7 laps on one tire, though with one stop. The length could be adjusted. Last year's Superstock CYCLE NEWS race was shortened to I2 laps after the tire test revealed the stock fuel tanks weren't large enough for race distance. Whatever the length, Dunlop has to be ready. The teams are counting on them. The race draws near. Within a matter of days, the compound gurus have to come up with a solution so that the more complex N-Tech tires can be built in quantity and air freighted from Birmingham, England. With two more factory superbikes, and more supported superbikes and superstock machines, Dunlop has significantly increased its commitment for 200S. "We can see why Michelin's made some of the decisions they've made in the past," Allen said. "We only have so much money, we only have so many people. A case can be made for throwing your hands up and saying everybody pays. We've never done that. Certainly, last year, my feeling is that some of the good work we've done in the past and some of the allegiances and loyalties we've shown in the past paid off for us with some loyalty from teams." Yoshimura Suzuki and American Honda had the option of switching brands this season. They didn't. Said Mladin: "Again, Dunlop's come through with some tires." eN Hodgson left Daytona without knowing that he had the fastest motorcycle, topping out at 19S.635 mph. The Isle of Man resident left the track early to catch a flight from Orlando. Before leaving, he said it was time for a break. "We tried a few little things actually, and I think we've definitely got a better direction for the next time we come here," he said. "It's one of those places where I've done lots of laps over three days, and you go faster when you go away and come back." "I've never been here," Australian Ben Attard said after his first taste of Daytona International Speedway. Attard moved from the Corona Extra EBSCO Media Suzuki team to Attack Kawasaki, where he'll be competing in the Formula Xtreme and Supersport classes. "It's definitely different than any track I rode on before." In his first Daytona outing, he was haVing difficulty adjusting. "I don't know whether it's me or the bike, but I just don't feel comfortable. It's not stable. I don't know if it's me not making it stable. We're slowly getting it and getting a bit more confidence."

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