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/1319485
AFT DAYTONA DUNLOP TIRE TEST P134 Feature He said, "It's cool, as long as you can keep your mind open about it and really just try to focus on the tire and what you feel, and not think about the chassis or any- thing else. I think it's pretty neat. "I'm not great at testing parts; I can't typically tell the difference in a lot of stuff. So, it's cool to have a bunch of different compounds and actually be able to tell without actually knowing if it was harder or softer or whatever it was." It was emphasized to the riders that this gathering was not meant to break out into a hot-lap shoot- out. However, the temptation to go for fast-lap honors is inevitable whenever pro racers are cutting laps with timing and scoring track- ing their progress. Right? "I think most would think I'm lying, but honestly, no," Bauman said. "I know when we're sup- posed to be competitive and when we're not. And I'm not a competi- tive guy. Honestly, when the track is getting fast like it is and we're able to ride the bike hard with a good tire that we have on, it's more just fun to burn laps. "We're in offseason mode, for me, no pressure. I haven't looked at the times on my phone once. I just understand what we're here for and just like riding." Of course, it's easy to have that attitude when you're the cham- pion and have grown accustomed to being on top. Incidentally, if Bauman would have looked at his phone, he would have seen his name at the top of the charts and as the only rider to break into the 19s (see below). That temptation was more clearly evident down the order. "Yeah, we're all definitely look- ing at the times!" Brandon Rob- inson said, fresh off his season- ending Daytona double. "We all want a shot at the title. "It's been good though. It's been good to be able to look at the times, even if we don't know what everyone is doing per se, just to know we're in the wheel- house. I try not to look at it too much. I'm using the times mainly for myself, comparing the differ- ent compounds. I've been trying to get the hard compound to where our soft compound is and bridge that gap to have some- thing we can actually race on in the future that's a little bit better." It wasn't a shock to see Rob- inson end the test ranked third overall at 20.043. Perhaps more surprising was the rider who split him and Bauman on the timesheets—Estenson Racing's JD Beach aboard the Yamaha MT-07 DT. No one has ever questioned Beach's talent or determination. But the results simply weren't there OVERALL TIMES 1. Briar Bauman (Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750): 19.919 2. JD Beach (Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT): 20.043 3. Brandon Robinson (Roof Systems/Ben Evans Racing Indian FTR750): 20.087 4. Jarod Vanderkooi (JCS Racing/HCRR Indian FTR750): 20.133 5. James Rispoli (Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R): 20.155 6. Dallas Daniels (Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F): 20.243 7. Sammy Halbert (Indian FTR750): 20.424 8. Jared Mees (Indian FTR750): 20.569 9. Dalton Gauthier (Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XG750R Rev X): 20.578 10. Kody Kopp (Latus Motors Racing/Fast Track Racing Honda CRF450R): 20.585 11. Cory Texter (WBR/Suzuki of America RM-Z450): 20.700 12. Mikey Rush (Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F): 20.753 13. Shayna Texter (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-FFE): 20.770 14. Johnny Lewis (Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield Twins FT): 21.259