Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

France Machine, flushed with success after the Le Mans 24 Hour win of the weekend before. Steve Martin, in a pack of other midfield riders, fell after losing the front on a lefthander, the start of a rot that saw no points scored by the Petronas outfit, despite some bright moments over the weekend. A real freight train was worth watching midpack, as Fonsi Nieto led a close-knit bunch back to the muchimproved Bostrom, with Nieto 13th and Bostrom 19th. Corser had one moment as he ran wide on the left at the top of hill, just as he did during his Superpole lap, leaving hearts in mouths but losing a nanosecond of time. McCoy retired with 14 laps done, and it was two times zero. Muggeridge, with definitely no four-leaf clovers secreted about his person, crashed again on lap 19 and restarted gamely but was forced into the pits in any case. The main point of interest in the closing laps, until Corser's showboating to victory, was Abe vs. Vermeulen, as Abe tried to pass Vermeulen up the inside at top of hill, only to be rebuffed by Vermeulen's grit. Abe - almost inevitably, considering how adept Vermeulen is at holding tactics crashed out by losing front on the first right after all lefts in front of the only semipopulated grandstands in the whole vast Valencia complex. Race two would only be different in detail on the podium, but there were many changes back down the order. With Corser away and clear once more, after some early interventions by Yamaha Motor Italia's Andrew Pitt, a right royal battle for second between Vermeulen and Walker was only decided on the final laps, as Walker slowed to take a safe third - his first such placing of the season. Despite complaints about machine setup and the increase in afternoon temperatures reducing available tire grip, Noriyuki Haga was a fine fourth, but only after teammate Pitt was forced to Instead of Abe, Chris Walker (9) stalked Vermeulen (77) for practically the entire distance. Walker couldn't get a run past Vermeulen on the front straight, but third place marked a fine return to form. slow with an electrical misfire, eventually finishing eighth. Abe was fifth, complaining of no grip from the start, mainly due to the increased afternoon track temp. Corser had to get Pitt out of way at turn one, lap two, and an attempted repass was not allowed by Corser. On lap three, Vermeulen took second place, with Pitt sitting third. An ambitious move by Garry McCoy on wildcard rider Ivan Silva saw him crash, almost clip the back end of Tosleand's Ducati and push both the Yamaha and Ducati riders off track. Toseland, his weekend in near tatters, again pushed the Ducati Xerox team into serious depression as he had to pull in on lap four. Kagayama was in a bother in race two after an off-track excursion on lap three, as the leading group became evenly strung out, with four seconds covering the top five. Walker and Pitt had a hard scrap from lap nine on, until Pitt's mystery problem in the last few laps. Michel Nickmans crashed out lap nine, and one lap later, Walker passed Pitt on lap 10 and put seven-tenths on Pitt almost immediately - the first sign of impending doom. Bostrom passed Chili inside of the last corner on lap I2, as he finally got on speaking terms with his Honda on Pirellis. With Walker on a harder front than he used in race one, he duly took 1.8 seconds out of Vermeulen in three laps. Vermeulen made a mistake and Walker almost passed him on lap 1S. Haga, creeping forward as the race progressed, began to get the upper hand in the Japanese fight with Abe on lap 14. For Muggeridge it was disaster number two, as he fell on lap 16. Given that there were I 1 nonfinishers, it was miracle that he was the last of them, with eight laps left to run. Haga, who has had to play second fiddle to his teammate on track this year, dived inside Pitt lap 18 with Abe right there with him. Bostrom, up to eighth, was a sight to behold in his progression, and he eased past Pitt as he properly slowed and almost ran off the track at turn one. Bostrom would end up sixth. "That felt a lot better," Bostrom said Briefly... Continued from page 29 Superpole lap. he was 13th going into Superpole - his first of the year. "We worked with the setup of the bike for a while until we got it dialed in better. Then I decided it was time to go fast. but it was difficult to do," Bostrom said. "Having the bike have more time spent erected over four days in Spain. It was so large, each section had its own microclimate going on. It was a statement of intent on a Wagnerian scale. The latest favorites in the'list of possible circuits for superbike to expand to in 2006 and beyond are Kyalami (an old superbike stomping ground), Mexico (to tie up with title sponsors Corona Extra) and Sepang (a frequently mentioned possibility). The Petronas engine was in its full, new spec for the first time this season, having run with some mods at Phillip Island. The on it has made such a difference. I have to remember what Superpole was like, and I realized that you can't just remember how to go fast and just do it right away." The Renegade Team team refused to confirm or deny that it was moving back to the UK, haVing found the relocation to Italy something beyond the pale for the smooth running of a team with engines tuned in the UK. Valencia machine sported a new exhaust system of a "clamshell" design, with a protruding removable section at the top, filling absolutely all the space under the highly sculpted tail unit. This is an effort to give the Pirelli launched an online game at Valencia, a sort of fantasy superbike where you have to guess the strategy of the top runners, with the chance of winning Pirelli prizes and prod- silencer boxes more volume, to keep the ucts, plus clothing and time at races. Petronas inside the noise limits, and to allow greater engine tuning of the 899.5« motor. Cristiano Migliorati was due to run his Italian The compression ration is now 14: I, with Championship-spec Lightspeed Kawasaki ZX6RR at Valencia, until he broke his knee at Vallelunga recently. David Garcia and Matteo crankshaft power of 190 bhp at 13,500 rpm, and torque of 140 ft.-Ibs. at I 1,250 rpm. Baiocco rode the machines in his stead, nei- If the combination of Troy Corser and Suzuki were not enough of a worry for the rest of the World Championship contenders ther making a good fist of qualifying, finishing 29th and 25th places, respectively. right now, the assertion from team boss Jurgen van den Goorbergh set only four laps on his SL Ducati in early World Supersport qualifying at Valencia before making sure it was no longer his SL Ducati. He apparently walked Francis Batta should have them weeping into the lower order place settings. "I think that our bike is 80 percent complete now," Batta said. "It is a new bike, and already it is more powerful than previous ones - and we are only at the beginning." out on the team and later in the weekend was ; ,. involved in an altercation with a paddock security guard, which was sufficient to warrant the FIM to intervene, calling his action, "behaviour The Corona team had a trick piece of kit in the back of its garage - albeit unused. It was a tire heating oven - like an industrialsized cooker - which is specifically designed to heat tires in a fraction of the time of regular tire warmers. Only eight minutes of even heating is supposed to be needed, as opposed to one hour for a conventional "blanket"-style warmer. The heat is also claimed to be more evenly distributed. without hot or cold spots. Made by a company called Tire Technology, a couple of MotoGP teams have shown an interest, but even Corona did not use the unit at Valencia. preferring to wait for a test to try it out. If there are no issues with overheating wheels or wheel bearings, then we may be looking at a new era in paddock trickery. prejudicial to the interests of the sport." He .~ earned a $1 000 fine for what was reported as a dust up between himself and an official pad-. ~ doi:k'Security guard, who wanted to see a pass ~ for his scooter. Van den Goorbergh was unavailable for comment after and stopped answering his mobile telephone to boot. His woes are partly down to the fact that Ducati's 749R is simply not in the mix anymore with the 600« fours. He is thought to be tempted with an offer to ride a third Ten Kate Honda, giving him a competitive bike and the team a longed-for fast Dutch rider. The Winston Ten Kate Superbike team arrived in Spain with all new fork internals. "Let's say that it is more than just a couple of new shims," was as much as team boss Ronald ten Kate was prepared to say on the matter. It was clear from the pace of both Muggeridge and Vermeulen that they were at least some The Corona Suzuki team is due to test at Monza, its designated test track and the scene of the next round of the champi- improvement on the previous versions. onship, one week after the Valencia race. The Ducati two~5eater is a common sight at MotoGP races, but the use of such devices in superbike has been sporadic at times. At Valencia, a Xerox-painted 999, complete with Heath Robinson tacked on pillion "handlebars," was circulating on Saturday evening, with guests and prizewinners on board. A delicious rumor circulated Valencia that Kenny Roberts Sr. was in town, coming to the race to do anything from hang out at a racetrack as a guest to create a new KTM team for 2006, and all points in between. With no sightings of him, and no response from any Team Roberts personnel, it could have all been smoke with absolutely no fire. That didn't stop the rumor, however. Roberts is no stranger to the superbike paddock, but only in Laguna, The Renegade Team turned up at Valencia with two bikes of a similar full-superbike engine spec, albeit fitted with different airboxes and detail parts for comparison purposes. Although Ben Bostrom concentrated on a single machine in qualifying and was to have trouble with front brake bind on his when he used to come see Kurtis race in the AHA races run alongside the World series before MotoGP arrived and turfed everyone out. For all that was known about his whereabouts at Valencia, he could have been at the AMA race at Barber or the British series at Mallory - or at home on the couch. CYCLE NEWS • MAY 4,2005 31

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