Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

thanks to the fatter carcas5, but gives extra vta a larger contact patch) and at the same time producing a ~ generation of grip rear tires with much more grip. This ~t that, when the problems Capirossi and Bayliss immediately eKpllt iellC8d with lack of front-end feel, especially with S13biIity in faster turns, first surfaced in winter testing (which in any case started late, with the ~ bike behind schedule, and was disrupted by bad weather), Ducati's engineers weren't initially sure whether tt-e were tire chassis related. And the fact the ~ bik was nevertheless faster than the old probably down to the gt1ppy new ti Other teams were faster still. "So we started the championship with a bike with far too much traction and way insufficient front-end feel," Ducatl Corse's technical director Corrado CecchlneUi says. "It meant we spent t of the season rebalancing the bike has a weight dis last year's [2003], but there because of t Very surprisin and experienc Ducati never same-day c not until the Mans,whe spec bikes having go started t wrong. bution s1i was hoped fifth place defeating bo aboard his y Ducati's home tests there imm former World Supe the new bike, which he the same tires than either GP4 riders, an unsettling sup crowned later that week on the Catalan rider's Barcelona home track. Xaus finished sixth there, 18 seconds ahead of a IOth.placed Capirossi, whose bike now had the advantage of a new "missing cylin· der" traction control system, with the Marelli ECU programmed to cut ignition to Individual cylinders to reduce wheel spin. None of thiS - not even beating both works riders in scoring Ducati's first rostrum fin· ish of the season In Qatar - was good enough to earn Ruben the call to replace BayliSS at season's end, however. Nt.er Catalunya. Ducati engineers got serious about solving the problem, and to do so they hauled out an updated version of the so-called ""liNin Pulse" 9O-degree V-four engine, in which double V-twin guise they had originally conceived - and tested • the Desmosedicl back in 2002. However, reduced power with this firing order, as well as cr.ICked crankcases and concerns about shorter component life under the extra forces of the two·up Big Bang layout (whereby each pair of cylinders fired together and thus improved rear-wheel traction and tire life), had caused them to junk that format in favor of the more conventional V- four layout they'd since raced with. "Anyway, the riders chose the 'Screamer' because the bike was too slow with the other one, even If they liked its rideability better" . . . "Iut we never oWdI'Idna on It and tInIIIy a na IOlutIon __ die .QlIfkClllle dellIn, which ~Il't ,DrVl_ ~ rei"" b.lfhas ~1i41dnd lilY, maybebetter.ThIs was to ptodute a rephased vwsIon 1Wln Pulse motor, with differentlal ntervaIs that see one side of dIi' lie running 10 dear- or SO In front of won't say exacdy how far uce a slIahdY softer • of die same new phasing shock of bodI dlebars and more upright riding stance, and much to my surprise I felt at home on Capirossi's speed missile. Watching the Ducati Corse mechanics fire up the GP4 with the trolley friction starter, then remove the plug from the ramp-type slipper clutch's drum they have to insert to start it on the back wheel, I spent just a moment reveling in the fire. breathing rumble of the engine's high 3S00-rpm idle speed. Then it was time to snuggle behind the subtly revised fairing, which offers Improved engine· and rider! cooling, as well as better heat extraction than before. But you still feel seated quite high up on the Ducati, certainly in comparison to the low-slung Kawasaki ZX-RR I the day before. and the GP4 .bilger, too, compared to the o.mo.edIcl rocIcet IhIp thit _ liP. . . green screamie and espe,··d_IV' ttl Valentino's YZF-M I that I would the 1004 wrsIon of the same -~ ~ a leg over just an hour later. R19tOl' ImlIIhed its own record .. the It feels bulkier and heavier to ride - not rOM! racing motorcycle ever made, !fII8Ct1y like a truck by comparison with the clocIdng an astoundi'W147A0 kph (21S,n ",ph) in the hands of ~ossl down the ~a. as another rider who sampled ~ both later unkindly declared, but cerfront strai t at 8artI!1an. in preseason C8I/IIy far less nimble than either of the I literal~rw41On. ~ inline fours. The Ducati feels fpl1sIr than either of these. and especially .,. Kawasaki. That's fine for promoting ~ stability in corners like 's 9O-mph turn one, where the really planted and safe, but it's *jtlad·1n the tight stuff, where it defI IMIned less Wieldy than the J II ~ fours, requiring greater physical ~ lilt it up from side to side in the '-'ing into the infield hairpin. rather front end of the GP4 felt quite c us stance which fit me just rig Caplrossi can't be any taller than Stef . . . . . .nslpiring. and the Capirossi bike, Chambon or, before him, Fabrizio Pirovano with its raised rear end and steeper head - yet when I've ridden these pocket rockets' angle aimed at speeding up tum-in, steered Into any of the slower second-gear turns World Superblkes In the past, I've always quite easily - more so felt perched atop them rather precariously than Bayliss' more with hardly any room to move about. Capirossi's bike couldn't be more different. balanced package, In spite of his short stature, I felt much which was lower at more of a unit with the Ducati than I the rear in order expected, and In fact, the reach forto den-- the ward to the distinctive raked-back superblkeand steeply-dropped handlebars style Capirossi has always opted for since his l2Scc and 2SOcc World tide-winning days was quite a long one. Now you know why In photos you always see him stretched out flat on the tank, which is longer than I remember it being. Because of his short legs, the footrests on the Capirossi bike were also quite a bit further forward than on the even more spa· cious Bayliss GP4. with its wider spread, flatter han- forward, hasn't yet resulted in a repeat race win for the Italian team. The chance to ride the pair of voluptuously streamlined, bright red GP4 Ducatls that l..... iIrKI Bayliss had taken turns to finlib an ttMllIc»C wiIt1 in the final two races of dlIiI season came two days after that final GP in Valencia It was also the same day I the new absolute benchmark in orcycle racing, Valentino amaha, and exactly a year c1ng with the e track and In engine per~ b11ltlwlna, belligerent1OIlIICI~ ~ iIllhIIust nott IlIInounced the Ducad II -.ctIy ~tJI Was - the power prillQl of GP mot cycle racJna, bef* e... r.- or· the fuel raised . Both riders Assen, and realthe season started i registering a best-yet e finish In the next race at Rio, which eventually led to his Phillip Island rostrum. There, both riders tested a revised chassis with extra rigidity imparted by a pair of stiffening braces, coupled with a beefier swingarm, and in Bayliss' case fitted with the updated TnS Ohlins fork that provided the final element in deliver· ing the missing front-end feel for him that duly allowed him to gain that elusive rostrum finish at Valencia. "It's a nice bike, now; you'll enjoy riding it," Bayliss said after his final race for the Italian factory. "The Twin Pulse engine feels more like a Ducati should, plus it's easier to ride over full race distance. The bike was just wrong back at the start of the year, and it's taken half the season to get It to start to work properly. but now it's fixed. I'm certain this is going to be one of the top bikes in the future in MotoGP. It's just a pity that after four years with the Ducati factory, I'm not going to be here to enjoy it. even if I've got a smile on my face as I say goodbye to all the great guys in the team I've been working with all along, because of where I'm going." So, mission accomplished - even if the process of taking one step back to go two $Deed isn't the iS1Ue1 The GP4 was stili the fastest of the fast In a straight line last _son. The IMke topped 215 mph in the hands of loris Capirossi.

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