Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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IAbove) Surprisingly, Noriyuki Haga wasn't the quickest of the two Yamaha superbike men at the test. That honor went to Italian Vitoriano Guareschi. (Below) Aaron Slight hasn't adapted to the RC51 as quickly as Edwards. be third fastest overall after taking his Alstare Suzuki to a more than respectable time of 1:33.729. Close on Chili's heels came Fogarty, with the Englishman still suffering stomach problems after a bout of mild food poisoning. His teammate Ben Bostrom had a lackluster start to his World Superbike career, ending up ] ] th after finding the track unlike anything he had ever competed on before. The best Kawasaki man proved to be Gregorio Lavilla, fifth fastest while his teammate Akira Yanagawa struggled to get back on pace after suffering an injured ankle on the first day. Vittoriano Guareschi, from the Belgarda Yamaha team, proved that you do not have to have a full factory Yamaha to compete in this series at the highest level when he took his '99-spec machine, with a 2000 kit engine installed, to eighth best time, with Noriyuki Haga being forced to follow his supposed junior ex-teammate home. A steady debut, punctuated by a short illness, for Aprilia's star Troy Corser whose fastest lap put him at a lowly 17th of 18 starters, but with a whole new machine to test few were surprised. A total of eight All-Japan Superbike competitors joined the series regulars, making for a busy track and a few embarrassed works men. BRIEFLY••• Honda's new wonder twin has eschewed the side-mounted radiators of the road model for a pair of differentially sized units which sit on either side of the front exhaust downpipe. The bike most favored by Colin Edwards featured relatively small 185 section rear tires on the opening day. Reigning World Champion Cart Fogarty started the Phillip Island tests in relatively poor shape aher suffering mild food poisoning during his flight from England to Australia. '1 hed some chicken on the plane and it tasted a bit funny. so I think that might have been the problem. I saw the doctor dUring my stopover in Singapore and he told me I would be fine if I didn't eat much when I got here. So I had a full English fried breakfast this moming... - A detuned rider and rough running machine saw Fogarty come into the first time sheet on Sunday morning seventh fastest. though he did improve in the afternoon. The Japanese factories. taking their tasks very seriously as usual. had a plethora of test riders out in Phillip Island. Kawasaki was the most immediately successful. with Hitoyasu Izutsu setting the second-fastest time of the opening morning. Team Green also had Tanaki Serizawa. Yamaha had Waturo Yoshikawa and Takeishi Tsu· jimura. Suzuki had Yukio Kagayama out on an Endurance spec machine. while Honda had Shinichi Itoh. and Tatsuya Yamaguchi. Akira Ryo was also present. sharing a machine with Kagayama. although strangely missing from any of the time sheets. Colin Edwards. married in Texes at the end of last year. is not the only World Superbike rider to have tied the knot since last season. Vitto Guareschi, now a Belgarda Yamaha rider instead of a full facto· ry pilot. has also started this year with a wedding band on his finger. CN Edwards and Slight, aher many years of criticism about the dominant nature of Ducati twins, have both fallen madly in love with their new Honda version. "It just does not do one thing wrong." said a delighted Edwards. "'t stops and turns and fires out of corners just great. Those two big power pulses really make a difference coming out of corners . as does the extra 250cc. There is absolutely no comparison between this bike and the RC45. This is like silting on a couch. The RC45 was like sitting on a mechanical bull." Aaron Slight was. if outwardly less enthusiastic about riding a twin, was at least equally impressed by his new mount. "I last rode the bike a couple of months ago and they've made a few improve· ments in it since then. My crew is amazed that I haven't changed that much on the bike all morning, but to be honest right now it's more about me getting used to what the bike can do before touch· ing anything. We're right up there right now. so if it ain't broke don't fix it." Troy Corser's new machine is. for the most part. very similar to Peter Goddard's old one, according to the Aprilia RSV project leader Giuseppe Bemicchia. "We have not re-homlogated the bike for this year. but we have done a lot of engine development which should make it much better· we hope. Looking to the year 2001 with the new technical regulations. we should have two different kits available. " Aprilia and Suzuki are to continue their Australian adventure with a second test session at Phillip Island on Feb 14. 15 and 16. after the conclusion of a car race meeting on the weekend following the Flammini tests. Davide Tardozzi. suddenly finding himself with two more twins in World Superbike as well as those ridden by his own chargers. Fogarty and Bostrom. was one person who was not cue surprised by the performance of the Hondas on the opening day. -Honda is Honda. You always have to take your hat off to them. It is a great compliment to us that they had to build the machine they did to try and beat us. but it is no surprise to me that they have been so fast right from the start. But they are the ones with something to prove. not us." Questioned about whether Honda or Ducati will have the advantage when kittedonly machines come into the fore in 2000 was sure that the advantage would lie with his Ducati Infostrada team. "Our bike's chassis are based on the standard bike completely. so it will be up to the other teams to prove that they are using standard chassis. " Dunlop was experimenting with new tires at Phillip Island. Of a narrower section than normal. they are being tried to see if they can address the disparity between the size of the front and rear tires to help with the steering. The main drawback of using a nar· row tire. even one with as large a contact patch as a wider tire. is that each part of the tire has to work harder. meaning a harder compound must be used. but a softer carcass to maintain grip levels. Troy Corser enjoyed a liWe wider moment in the spotlight than that normally focused on bike racers when he gave the Victoria State Minister for Sport a piliion ride around Phillip Island's windswept circuit after a press conference to launch the 2000 World Superbike race weekend. Thankfully the government man never fell off the back of the machine and a positive image of motorcycling was projected. The provisional World Superbike round. scheduled for the same weekend as the Rio GP on October 8. has proved to be a phantom. as many suspected. There will not be a replacement race and the final race of the year at lmola remains at its anginal date of 15 October. I e n e _ s FEBRUARY 23. 2000 23