Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ehanging Places At the end of the 2005 season, Aaron Gobert left Yamaha for Erion Honda- His teammate will be Josh Hayes, returning to th€ Erion Honda team he left at the end of 2000, Hayes' Attack Kawasaki has been taken by Damon Buckmastei who was Gobert's teammate at Yamaha this year. All in the family, The trio had new motorcycles to learn, as well a5 new tires, teams. and teammates Buckmaster was brought in to help men- tor fellow-Australian Ben Attard. Atterd was faster than Buckmaster in SuPerstock, bul Buckmasle. set the third fastest time in Supersport, two spots ahead of Attard. As it worked out, they each got a day s testihg one eaah of the new Kawasakis - the zx-5 and the ZX- 10. Buckmaster spent Monday learning the supersport bike. The Yamaha R6 he rode last year is more point and shoot. he explained. "You iust run it into the turn, stoP it. and ger ir off, Buckmaster said. The Kawasaki is so difJerent. You have to take a more clas- 5ic turn. You can actually keep (he bike on iB side lor a lot longer and it's easier - and the corner speed just comes up - and it made a huge diference in lap times. So it was actual- ty a good thing I stuck on that bike." Buckmaster said that later on Saturday he started to liSure out the 600, and the laP times moved consistentt into the l:43s. The downside was that he didn't 8et enough testing tirne on parts or (ires on the bi8 bike, "So I missed out on a lot, but both bikes were very productive days. l'm happy." Ha),es split his time between Superstock and Formula Xtreme- ofthe two, lhe FX bike produced the better resuks: He ended up third fastest in class. Hayes last rode for Erion in 2000. then again on Hondas for the Bruce Transpona- tion Group in 2001. since then at's been Suzukis and Kawasakis. "Honda just has a different theory about how they 80 fast from what l've been ridinS b€fore," he said. "When we've done our tests with Honda, l've been able to iumP on the bike and be pretty fast off the bat. I think l've matured quite a bit as a rider since the last time I was there. And hopeful_ ly it's going to show." The Honda CBR600RR works differenti/, Hayes says- The Times Superbike: l, Ben Spies (suzuki) 1137.308 2. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) l: 37.849 3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) l:38.371 4. NeilHodSson (Ducati) l:38.707 5. Jake Zemke (Honda\ l:39.226 5. Roter Le€ Hayden (Kawasaki) l:39.334 7. HiSuel Duhamel (Honda) l:39.374 8. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) I :40-010 9. lason Pridmore (Suzuki) l:40.976 Superctock: l. Jaron Disatvo (famaha) l:38.961 2. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) l:39.536 3. lamie Hacking (Yamaha) l:39.543 4. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) l:40.431 5. .lason Pridmore (Suz'rki) l;41.089 6. Ben Attard (tawasaki) l:41.143 7. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) l:41.'+40 8. Jacob Holden (Suzuki) l:41.475 9. Damon Buckmaster (Kawataki) l:41 586 10. Josh Hayes (Honda) l:41.578 I l, Aaron Goben (Honda) l:41,643 Supersport: l. Jamie Hacking ryamaha) l:42.210 2. Roter Lee Hayden (Kawasaki) l:42.751 L Damon Buckmaster (Kawasaki) lt42 93l 4, Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) l:43.302 5. Ben Aftard (Kawasaki) l:44.087 6. Ben Spies (Suzuki) l:44.109 Connnued lrom page i5 something on the big bike - a lot of laPs. At the end oI this month, I'm Soint to start busting on the strenSth. gettinS it 8oing. Hopefully by Mar.h, I should be 1oo-percent. l'm really happy with where I'm at right now and performing the way I am, because I'm nowhere near ready to go." Elbows aside, Hacking had to leam a pair of new motorcycles. "We were kind of searchinS, and searching, and searahing there on the 600 for a little while," he said. "This thint wants totally something diferent from what l'm used to. We had to 8o down another road that we had never been down before. The bike likes where The new Rl..- "lt's a lot difierent. Right away when I 8ot on it I was, like, it's a comfonable motorcycle- lt llts me rcal_ ly well, the size of it and the package. But just the way it's reElb/ nimble - it's really fast, really nimble - and makes moves really quick, so you have to b€ ready for it. And I think that's what I'm used to on all the other bikes; you had to muscle them around. So we're iust kind of mel- lowing the thinS out now. The frame - h's a lot firmer - the ove.all package ofthe bike is lirmer. With me liking my stuff firm, it wasn't compting with the chassis of the bike. " The bikes were also all-new for Eric Bostrom. the newest team member. Bostrom won the 600cc SupersPort Championship in 20Ol and rode his Kawasaki ZX-6R only at Daytona in 2002. Other than that, it's been all bi8 bikes. And like Hacking, Bostrom wasn't 100- percent physically. He hasrlt fully recov- ered from the shoulder surgery he had at the end of the year "The FX bike is, I think, maybe a liftle rnore difflcult for me to ad+t to because l'm generally too lazl on the throttle," he said. "So that takes a little bit. I don't know. we're iust, like, there's so many new parts on thethint, We're realty far away on the settings for i!. h's got a ton of potential, but l'm iust not feeling h right now as far as having the suspension and the feedback to be able lo really Put it in the comers - so, kind o{,8oin8 for it." He continued. "We're just kind of finding out where the bike wants to fit, kind oi 8eometry-wise. But we ,ust havc so much movement 8oin8 into the corner and at the apex. We've also tot a lot of electronic stuff to tlguae out. We've 8ot to figure out the tuck slip. We've got a lot of things to do." HavinS raced a big bike since 1998, Bostrom was more comlortable on the Rl and said the rcam had made siSnifican( progress. "We've iust got, like, two little area5 to address, and that thihg is going to be reallytood." AMA SUPERBIKE De.cmber IO-12,2OO5 Ddyronq lnl'l Spc.dwcY Ddyronq EGo€h. FL Thc Dunlop Dagtona Tire Test: Part ll -{ % \ ( d E t : Domon Bu

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