Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

MOTOGP Th~ I Preview 15 Biaggi the rir.ht man to deve op the RC211V? lJue§tion of Technology Certain truths last forever. Here is one: "What wins in racing is what won last year, plus a few percent." The wisdom came almost 20 years ago from former World Champion and legendary Yamaha crew chief Kel Carruthers. It still holds good, and nowhere more so than the MotoGP class. The only difference in this class is the amount of percentage required by the different machines. The Suzuki and Kawasaki, for example, need 15 or 20 percent, Ducati perhaps 8 or 9, Honda hardly any. Yamaha? Even title-defender Valentino Rossi could do with some more horsepower, but the other Yamaha riders might need something more again. Technically, one should not expect surprises. Not outward surprises, anyway, though much is happening beneath the skin. Of the above, there have been no significant changes, except that Yamaha has built a completely new but very evolutionary motor. The rest is, for the main part, refinement of what was already there - looking for those few percent. This is in itself interesting. The 990cc MotoGP machines are coming into their fourth year of racing and after 2006 capacicy wili be reduced to 900cc, and possibly (in line with a current thread of argument) even 800cc - leading to what succeeded in racing minus a few percent. This moving goalpost might be enough to favor a different engine design than at present. Racing engines tend to evolve to resemble one another, such as the V-four 500cc two-strokes or indeed V-I 0 F I car engines. Orthodoxy is the result of one designer or another discovering something special. But MotoGP is stili too young, and so far the ideal has not been established. If there is an orthodoxy, it is that indirectly espoused by Yamaha last year with its off-beat revised-tiring-interval engine, turning an inline motor into a virtual V-four. It triggered imme- diate imitators. Suzuki also fiddled with the timing of firing pulses by changing its V-four crankshaft layout (to 360 degrees from IBO); likewise Ducati, with its dephased, revived "TwinPulse" engine. Those that were not Vee engines already became virtual Vees, and those that were Vees already became more so in terms of syncopated firing beats. The reasons why off-beat firing intervals and over-lapping power pulses make a 990 more effective than evenly-spaced engines (such as the Kawasaki inHne four and the earlier Yamaha Mis) remain obscure, even to the tire technicians. It is, however, what worked last year. . The last element of the technical equation is tires, where some important changes saw last year's double Bridgestone winner Makoto Tamada switch to Michelin and the factory Ducati team move in the opposite direction. which will cancel previous criticisms of the "one-size-fits-alf" machine. "It is something we are discussing," HRC boss Satoru Horiike said. However, this was not in evidence at the Catalunya preseason tests. YAMAHA Chassiswise, Yamaha was on the right track at the end of 2003. In 2004, the input of Rossi and jeremy Burgess took speed at least to chase the Yamahas, though "we won't be the fastest things out there". There are several detail changes, including exhausts, throt- what Yamaha had a whole stage further, maximizing respon- tle bodies and airbox, and more importantly a significant elec- siveness by raising the center of gravicy and shortening the tronic upgrade. Details are secret as usual, but observers at chassis' overall package - the compact inline motor gives them more room than the others to play with. that used in the Ducati. Suzuki is the second team on Bridge- For 2005, Yamaha has taken that advantage still further, tests noted the hammer-drill-like traction control, much like stones, and the second also to have an independent test team. with the motor revised to make it more compact yet - the gears hafts are now vertically disposed, in relation to one another. As important is the search for more horsepower, specifically top-end that can be achieved without losing elsewhere in the range, for there is not much to spare compared with Ducati and Honda. At Catalunya, Rossi and Edwards used different exhaust KAWASAKI Things are getting interesting in the green camp, after two years of playing poor relation. To be fair, 2004 was a lot stronger than 2003, and Kawasaki was rewarded with a rostrum for Shinya Nakano in japan. This was with a motorcycle that had grown out of a superbike, which was then equipped systems - both four-into-ones, but Rossi's retained the long, for its second year with a compact European chassis (much silenced diagonal pipe, Edwards' a stubby slash-cut big-bore. The differences were mainly in throttle response, according like the WCM, though at a higher level). Kawasaki learned a lot, but it still lagged in terms of rideabilicy. with reasonably strong power at higher revs availing to crew chief Burgess - and in the volume of sound. Already switched to a four-valve head, refinements will again come from the usual detail, and whether Yamaha has been successful will be one of the most important questions of the year. DUCATI Ducati may produce distinct models year by year, this being the third. But in fact, evolution is constant, and the big changes came during last season. The most important were to the 90-degree V-four engine, with the revival of the TwinPulse concept, though apparently with adjacent cylinders slightly decoupled, rather than firing simultaneously. Once little in terms of progress, when it was so hard to manage out of the turns. Kawasaki's response for 2005 has been to create a lumpy version of Yamaha's big bang - though without the balance shaft that allows free crankshaft and cylinder timing. Details are still subject to speculation, but they would have to fire at least one pair and possibly two pairs (one and four and/or two and three) together - perhaps separated by a couple of degrees as to avoid the shock of a double pulse, without compromising vibration too much. Rider reports have been positive, with two versions currently under test. Kawasaki is the third Bridgestone team. this came on stream, chassis developments started to bear fruit. A new front fork right at the end of the year was especially beneficial. This year's first tests showed that the Italian factory has avoided the trap of making too many changes, with the early tests showing a refined version of the machine that closed last season sniffing at the rostrum once again. The most significant change may be (quite literally) peripheral - from Michelin to Bridgestone tires. Dropping out of the Michelin loop should open different opportunities, while Bridgestone's fast progress is likely to continue, espe- KR-KTM Under threat until they secured Michelin tires barely a month before the season, the phoenix machine has a long name - Proton KR powered by KTM - and a one-rider team. It marries last year's work-of-art Proton chassis with the until-now stillborn KTM V-four MotoGP engine, and reports from riders and technicians on both sides from a handfui of tests so far have been highly encouraging. Joining preseason tests late, the bike had some spectacu- cially because of its clever creation of independent test lar though minor teething troubles involving oil control and was certainly an improvement on what went before. strengths: the rightness of the design and the ever-continuing teams, one with Ducati and the other with Suzuki, giving them the chance to pretest at GP circuits. have a lot of catching up to do in terms of experience and polish of HRC's legendary detail work. Sometimes this desire to keep on improving at all costs has tripped Honda up - an Ducati also had an interesting test bike at Catalunya, with a new engine-braking package. This dispenses with the HONDA The RCV21 I remains the definitive MotoGP bike. It has two excess of engineering over common sense. Although this mechanical slipper clutch and instead uses an electronically hasn't happened for many years, you never know - particularly if Honda is confused by too many good riders over what development path to follow. triggered system to declutch on corner entry, feeding it back in as the brakes are released. This was still at the experimental stage, however. There have been no major changes since the bike's victorious first season of 2002. Some revisions to firing order in SUZUKI the first year were settled before the end of 2004, and this The GSV-R already performed satisfactorily (finaliy) under braking and through the corners, giving john Hopkins in particular and occasionally Kenny Roberts the chance to shine year's bikes are as before. As always, however, for 2005, there has been considerable Better than the V-five, the KTM V-four does, however, racing miles. BLATA/WCM The WCM MotoGP "protocype," modeled on the Yamaha RI production motor in a neat Harris chassis, is a familiar entity and will not change for the coming season. For this machine, qualifying is a goal in itself, and finishing on the same lap as the leader a distant target. Will it be different for the V-six Blata? Will it be ready? We are anxious to see. But it's a fascinating project and the first V-six racing motorcycle since a Laverda endurance racer of detail work, most especially in terms of electronics, an area not on sheer corner speed alone. Accordingly, the most signifi- only of great complexity but also obsessive secrecy. There are engine management and fuel-injection upgrades, another allnew exhaust design, and reportedly more power both in the middle of the range and at the top. It's still the bike to beat. One possible change this year is the introduction of an adjustable swingarm pivot to suit different riding scyles, cant change to Suzuki's V-four has been to the motor, includ- the I970s. That bike had Maserati car cylinder-head technology, shaft drive, a longitudinal crankshaft, and a very short ing upgraded electronics incorporating some form of traction and unremarkable racing career. control, and a revised top end, both to release more horse- The Blata is very different, draWings showing a V of at least 60 degrees across the frame, and (in one early form) a fan of three exhausts on each side. All racing is looking for- 34 APRil 13, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS power and to resolve a problem of breaking valve springs. According to new team manager Paul Denning, the power increase has been significant and should boost top ward to seeing - and hearing - it.

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