Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

that didn't seem to help," Edwards said. '1\11 the tires that Michelin brought are quite a bit different constructionwise that what we tested here, and I struggled. I struggled for setup, struggled for feel, struggled for... Whatever I had at the test here, Ididn't have here. If it was one area, it'd be fantastic - at least we'd know what to do." Only .049 of a second covered seventh through ninth, with Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano moving up two spots on the final lap and Makoto Tamada and Toni Elias each losing one in a photo finish. "Only the final lap was exciting for me, at 100 percent, but the rest of the race was not much fun - just cruising behind Tamada-san and Toni," Nakano said. Tamada said he lost front-tire feel, which made it harder to stay close at the end. A traction problem in practice wasn't cured in the race for Elias. "I had to fight really hard during the race to try and hang on," he said. Suzuki's lone representative, John Hopkins, used a new fairing to finish 10th, passing MotoGP debutante Chris Vermeulen on the final lap. "It makes a really big difference, especially in terms of crosswinds [a constant plague at Phillip Island]," said Hopkins, though he added, "We still don't have the horsepower to feel the benefit in a straight line." Vermeulen said he was "reasonably happy." "I was in 10th for a long time, and that was my goal," he said, "but Hopkins got me on the last lap. I basically just abused the rear tire too much, which is easy to do around here. In the last couple of laps, I was struggling for grip, but I learned a lot doing 27 laps on one of these things, and it was hard work." Fortuna Yamaha's Ruben Xaus had problems during the first five laps that set him too far back to make a recovery. The Spaniard said the bike felt heavy and he couldn't get it onto the right line easily. Brief'Y··· Sete Glbernau has signed with Marlboro Ducati for 2006, if you believe Carlos Checa, who said that Gibernau's move to Ducati "has either happened already or that it is happening now with Sete's manager and the team." But the Spaniard has not been confirmed, according to Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. "I can confirm that we are negotiating with Sete," Suppo said. "We have no pressure to find a second rider in a very short time. Everything is going in the right way, but there's no pressure." The negotiations were interrupted when Suppo had to fly back to Italy from the Malaysian GP after the tragic death of his mother-in-law. Suppo said he would talk to Gibernau in Australia if the opportunity arose. "The conversation is going on since a while. Apparently there's a lot of interest in things." Suppo said that he believed Ducat;'s stock had risen with the recent success of Loris Capirossl. "And, you know, if you believe that Bridgestone can grow up as they have done this season, we could be a very interesting package," he said. "Especially if you consider that we start working with them in November, but we start working with the new generation of tires only a few months ago, we are very happy. At the end of the day, we have done more in, how many races? Fourteen races so far. We got two wins, which is more than what we have got with Michelin in two years." Suppo said the Ducati team's original contract with Phillip Morris extends through 2006, and he expected it to be renewed. "They made a contract with Ferrari, so we hope maybe they'll have the same feeling with us," he said. He also didn't see the team being adversely affected by the European tobacco ban. "There are still countries in which there is no problems, and Phillip Morris' indication is to follow the indication of the law ofthese countries, and we put on the brand where it's possible and we take away the brand where we can." The Pramac d'Antin team will run two bikes, he hopes, with a spec, GP6-Sat, that's not far off the factory machines. ':t>.t the end of the day, the biggest difference in these bikes is the electronics. You cannot see from one season to the other a big step in any other aspect especially in frame and suspensions, all like that is more or less the same. What makes it different is electronics. And the machine will have the same hardware, and we will update the software dUring the season." Honda's Carlo Fiorani said there would be seven Hondas next year and that the deadline to order bikes is October 31. "Honda is available to make seven bikes," he said. "The teams, they have until the end of October to make official requests. That means also down payment. Depends on sponsors. Depends on the budget situation for each satellite team." If Kenny Roberts found a sponsor to help him buy Honda engines, he would be exempt. "We are awaiting an official request, a down payment," Fiorani said. An HRC official said that "if he gets a sponsor, maybe we can do." Two of the satellite team bikes will likely go to Fausto Gresini, who appears set to take the Fortuna money from the Tech 3 Yamaha team. "I spoke with Fausto two days ago," Fiorani said. "We flew together from Italy, and he say, 'I'm still speaking.' He don't say nothing. He say, 'I'm confident I wiil be on the grid.' But at the moment, nothing is set." Fiorani also said nothing was set with the Pons Honda team. Fiorani confirmed there would be only two factory 2006 RC211 Vs next year and that they'd go to the Repsol Honda team. Nicky Hayden is confirmed for one, and the other is likely to go to Dani Pedrosa, though that hasn't been announced. The satellite teams will get the 2005 factory bike. "The Repsol team will use the new bike, so the small bike, the ghost bike, the bike that we saw just in Brno," he said, "but hopefully wiil be ready. Only Repsol team should have the new bike, and the satellite team the current works machine. This is our plan. But again, there is a big question mark on the third official bike. Because this time the third official bike will be very much different." HRC general manager Tsutomu Ishii said the bike would have a completely new engine and chassis, a much smaller package. The phantom motorcycle was briefly tested in Brno. but not been seen since. Ishii would not say whether it would make a race appearance this season. "We hope also this season to debut, but still we continue to test in japan," he said. "Unfortunately, I cannot say when it will make its debut." Ishii said that since Nicky Hayden is confirmed as one of the factory riders, he'd be the lead development rider of the new bike. Because it's such a different package, Ishii wouldn't say whether they'd be able to field a third bike or if one would be introduced during the season. "It depends on the situation," he said. Ishii also said that work had begun on the BOOcc machine to be introduced in 2007 and that it would be developed around a smaller rider in the mold of Dani Pedrosa. "The main target is a compact machine," he said. "The potential rider for MotoGP for the future is quite small. It's something we have to think of in 2007." Rider size wasn't an issue in building the 2006 machine, Ishii said. He would also not reveal the engine layout of the BOO. "I cannot say," he said. "Maybe three to five cylinders." The missing 500 rpm were returned to the Honda riders in Australia after a two-race absence. Four engine failures, including one by Tohru Ukawa in the japanese Grand Prix, caused HRC to lower the rev limit for the Malaysian and Qatari GPs while a solution was found. HRC's Ishii said it was an oil-management problem and that they'd had to do some tests before the ceiling could be raised. Though it's only 500 rpm, the position of the revs is critical. The limit was lowered from 16,500 to 16,000. The engine typically loses 1500 rpm during a gear change, so the spread was from 14,500 to 16,000. With the upper limit, the power started at 15,000 and went to 16,500. Most critical of all was rider feel. Both Hayden and Gibernau were happy to have the revs back, though Gibernau said Honda had told him that he couldn't discuss it. Not so for Hayden. "Every little bit counts," Hayden said. "The bike seems stronger on top here and just makes it easier to get your gearbox." Hayden explained that gearing issues, and fiXing the gearbox, had affected the wheelbase he wanted to run. The explanation was that the gear shafts housed two gears - second and fourth, for example - and were not infinitely adjustable. With the restrictions of the gearbox, the final drive solution had to be found in the sprockets, with the size of the sprockets affecting the final wheelbase length. Nicky Hayden was disappointed that his brother Tommy didn't get a crack at the LXRR of the injured Alex Hofmann. Instead, it went to frequent stand-in Olivier jacque. "Honestly, I suggested to Kawasaki, instead of Olivier, to bring [Tommy] Hayden, [Max] Neukirchner, even Australian rider Uamie] Stauffer, because they are in the family; Neukirchner is not, but Hayden, of course, and Stauffer," said Kawasaki team manager Harold Eckl. "Would be good for the country, for the fans. And also to show these young riders, hey, if you are good, once you get the chance to move up. Sure, Olivier is a good rider, but after an injury in Qatar, I don't expect a fantastic result here - to finish 15th or 16th, I think Stauffer could do the same on our bike. Maybe. You see Vermeulen, he knows the track very well. Even if he is 17th, that wouldn't make any difference. So this was my different point of view. But this is a different way of how you see racing." Nicky Hayden said: "I didn't get my hopes up too much, because it almost sounded too cool to be true. I definitely didn't get my hopes up too much, so it wasn't like I expected it. For me, I would've liked it a lot. It would've been cool. Not only for them, to give them a chance, and I'm sure, as a brother, happy to see them get an opportunity. Even for me, it would have been fun to have them here." Nicky Hayden didn't think throwing Tommy in the deep end - new bike, new track, new tires, new team - was such a bad idea. "I would've thought for Rog [Roger Lee Hayden], it probably would've been a bad move. It's that same old line: no pressure, just have fun, see how you're doing. When they're watching you, you only get one, two chances to prove yourself. And Rog has never ridden Superbike, so it's going to be a big step. Tommy, on the other hand, he probably might not ever get another opportunity. So it could have been something for him, and lately he's been a little bit qUicker jumping on a new track, a new bike. I think he could've adjusted and shown good." Nicky said there was a limit as to how much help he could be to Tommy. "They probably wouldn't let me dial in no Bridgestones for him. But I would've made sure they got here on time." Marlboro Ducati's loris Caplrossi brought out the red nags in the first practice session Continued on poge 19 CYCLE NEWS • OCTOBER 26, 2005 17

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