Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128405
Briefly... Hayden Quickest In Valencia Josh Woods came away with a couple of wins at the BooKoo Arenacross in St. Charles, Missouri, November I 1-12. Woods swept both the 2S0 and 450 mains Saturday night. On Friday night, however, it was Shawn Clark and Josh Demuth stealing the spotlight. Clark topped the 2S0 main, while Demuth edged Woods for the 450-c1ass win. After two rounds, Woods leads the 450 series with 13S, followed by Tiger Lacey with 120 points. Demuth is third with I 18 points. N icky Hayden fears he will never see Honda's radical new RCVafter he ended the weather-affected Valencia test with the fastest time. The former AMA Superbike Champion is due to ride Honda's new five-cylinder with Dani Pedrosa in 2006, but there are fears the bike may never appear on the track after development problems were discovered in Japan. HRC had hoped to race the bike this season, but after it completed a handful of laps in testing back in August at Bmo, Honda has remained tight-lipped about the future of the project. "I honestly don't know," Hayden said when asked about the new bike. "We are not sure even if we are going to get it. We were at this test with the old machine, so I don't know when we are going to see it. If it doesn't come to Malaysia at the end of the month, I doubt we'll see it." Hayden set a best of I:34.4 in a S3-lap stint on day one, though he had nothing new to test, and the weather prevented him from a lengthy testing schedule planned with Michelin. Hayden was the only MotoGP rider to do a run of laps on a dour day two. Valencia Grand Prix winner Marco Melandri completed just eight laps at the test, though the on-form Italian still logged the second-fastest time with a best of I: 34.7. That was a massive 1.7 seconds slower than his fastest lap in the GP. as cold and blustery conditions and intermittent rain wrecked his hopes of completing an intensive tire test for Michelin. "There was no point in riding," Melandri said. "The track was so cold, the information 1would have given Michelin would have been pointless. Suzuki's John Hopkins, meanwhile, tested the latest-spec Ohlins front fork and rear shock to clock the third-best time. The American circulated at 1.34.9, which was only six-tenths of a second slower than his best lap in the 30-lap race. Although the susII pension kit was new for Hopkins, Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards had exclusive use of it during the just-completed season. "We made a big step with the new front forks," Hopkins said. "Rossi has been running it all year, and it made a big difference. The forks just make the bike a lot more stable under braking. It's more stable on corner entry as well." Hopkins also tested a new fairing, which was a modified version of new bodywork that had been initially tested at last month's Australian Grand Prix. Ducati's New, Old Clutch Loris Capirossi tested Ducati's innovative semi-automatic dutch system for the first time since its disastrous introduction at the start of last season during the post-Grand Prix test session at Valencia in Spain. Confident the new system is now track-ready after an exhaustive development program in Italy with test rider Vittoriano Guareschi, Ducati let Capirossi try the system for I7 tentative laps on the first day of the test. Earlier in the season, the Italian branded the system "scary" and "uncontrollable" after it made a disastrous start. Capirossi broke his left foot at the first race when the system highsided him at Jerez, and that blow followed Carlos Checa's badly dislocated shoulder at the preseason IRTA test in Barcelona, when the system made its debut. The advantage of the system is reduced fuel consumption during MotoGP campaign. Elias rode the RCV for just an hour in Valencia, logging the eighth-best time of I:3S.7 after 34 laps. "Last year, I had big problems with the rear on the M I," Elias said. "I jUst couldn't get any traction. But straight away on the Honda, I didn't have this problem. It's easier to control the rear tire. On the Yamaha, a big rider like "The new fairing was a big difference," said Hopkins. "We just had a lot more down-force." The new fairing will undergo more wind-tunnel testing in Japan before a version appears on Suzuki's new prototype GSVR at the three-day Sepang test at the end of November. It will be at that test that Hopkins will get his hands on Suzuki's radical new prototype four-cylinder machine. Matthew Birt the braking phase of each corner. With the computer-operated clutch, the engine revs are allowed to drop right down for a few seconds per corner, saving valuable fuel. The system also allowed the rider to downshift quickly with the clutch almost fully disengaged, and then rev up again just as the throttle is reopened. Under braking and with the throttle closed, the engine completely died, but it just wasn't consistent or predictable seven months ago, resulting in injuries for Capirossi and Checa. "The development of this system is much better than it was in Jerez, but I really don't know if we are ready to use it in a race situation," Capirossi said. "The evolution is obvious, because in Jerez we used it in only three or four corners, but in Valencia we used it in every corner, so that shows how far the system has come." Capirossi will debut Ducati's new GP6 prototype bike for next season in Jerez at the end of the month. Matthew Birt Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards has less problems than me. I spoke to Marco a lot last year, and he had the same problems as me on the Yamaha, and look at him now. Hopefully, I can improve as much as he did." Matthew Blrt Toni Elias made his Honda debut in the Valencia MotoGP test. Honda's Josh Brookes won the Australian Superbike Championship in a tie breaker with Suzuki's Shawn Giles after winning the final round of the YMF Loan Austraiian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island on November 13. The 22-year-old Brookes also won the Supersport Championship on his CBR600RR, but it was the Superbike title chase that provided the fireworks. After winning the second I I-lap Superbike race over Kawasaki's Jamie Stauffer and teammate Adam Fergusson, Brookes finished the seven-round championship on the same number of points as Team Suzuki's Giles 279. However, Brookes was crowned Superbike Champion because he won four races of the 14, to Giles' three. "This is an unbelievable feeling." said Brookes in a Motorcycling Australia press release. "I didn't know until I got back into the pits that I had won the championship, so I'm stoked. The guys who race in Australia are worldclass, and today was much harder work than when I won the World Supersport race here in 2004. I'd especially like to thank my mechanic, who hasn't put a foot wrong all year - the only mistakes made have been by me." Brookes will now head overseas in 2006, and he is expected to make an announcement about his plans shortly. Cyril Despres won his fourth UAE Desert Challenge in a row on November 13, the KTM factory rider beating Marc Coma by over I I minutes. Still, Coma was more than happy as he nursed his KTM through the event's final two days to take the World Championship. Another Frenchman, David Castue, was a further 27 minutes behind in third place, earning the runner-up spot in the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship, ahead of Despres. "I'm really happy, but since I'm not 18 years old, I'm not jumping around." Despres said. "But I am very, very, happy." Tired but elated, new World Champion Coma said: "I didn't push a lot today. I needed to make certain I finished. Wins are not easy, but my strategy was to complete each stage." Norway's Pal Anders Ullevalseter rounded off his reign as World Champion with fourth place, ahead of Spain's Jordi Duran Codina. At the 10th running of the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix in Lake Elsinore, California, November 12-13, Team Suzuki Off-Road's Ryan Hughes posted a come-from-behind win over Kawasaki Team Green's Ricky Deitrich and Yamaha rider Mark Tilley. Michael laPaglia, on a Suzuki, and Justin Soule, on a Kawasaki, rounded out the top five overall. Although a second rider for the team has yet to be announced, Eurosport is reporting that former Team Roberts Proton Continued on page " CYCLE NEWS • NOVEMBER 23, 2005 9