Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Itliguel Duhomel will try ond win his sixrh Doylono 2OO. spent most of the preseason workinS on his Superbike and hasn't put much time into the 2005 FX bike. zemke and team- mate MiSuel Duhamel will park their FX bikes after Daytona - there mi8ht be one other appearance - and the Paso Robles, California, resident wants to be ready for the big wars, ThouSh he's trailed Disalvo during test- ing, he's not worried- ''He's dellnitely been going quick and didn't go astonishinSly quick here - to me - because if I look at what we did here last year, he did the same times we did," Zemke said at the Fontana test. ''lt'1y pole time last year here was 26 flat - same time- "There's more to come at Daytona. l'm still riding the'05 spec ever/thin8. So we'll definitely come there with more than what we had here. Here, it was basically the same thin8 as what we were doan8 at Vegas, just shaking down the bike to get the suspension dialed in a little bit and make sure we have a Sood direction to go to show up with on the bike once we 8et there." For Zemke, this is his third Daytona 200. He was second on a Superbike rn 2004 and third on the FX bike in 2005. "There's only one spot I've missed on the box at Daytona, so I'm Soing to be arm- ing for thar one,'' he said. As is teammate Duhamel. Duhameltied Scott Russell in 2005 with his fifth Da),tona 200 win. The first four were on a Superbike and last year's on an FX 600, but that doesn't matter to Duhamel. He'll be looking for his sixth in'06 and thinks he has the power to find it- ''Daytona's all about power,'' Duhamel said after testing the upgraded 2006 motor in Fontana. "l think we're going to have some big power. Obviously, Yamaha being there maybe some other guys - with them jumping in fully, we'll definitely be competitive. I think our bike is really fast. l'm pretty proud of all the work, mostly done in house in America by guys like Trevor lweiller] and Dan [Ryan]. They've done a good job." DLrhamel's take on Disalvo's fasr time is that 'it gets you a watch" for fast qualifier. But the veteran knows there's more to Daytona than one fast lap. "Two hundred miles at Daytona, espe- cially the conflguration of that thin8, is a lot harder," he said, "We'll see how it Boes, He's deflnitely going to be a player; he def- initely has the speed." Does Buell? The company's preseason track testing, much of it done at Daytona and Texas World Speedway, has been shrolded in secrecy. ln fact, ever),one involved had to sign confidentiality a8ree- ments. according to one tiSnee. No one outside of Buell knqws whether the race- onty Buell XBRR can go, or has gone, 200 miles. But the factory wouldn't enter the 200 if they didn't think it could at least fin- ish, if not be competitive. Given that it's been rc-engineered from the top down, and that the l340cc engine would make it illegal in the Superbike class by 340cc, it should, at least, be fast in a rtraight line. Only time will tell. l'4otoGP veteran Jeremy McWilliams is the lead rider among the four semi-factoq/ efforts. Others include longtime Hal's H- D/Buell rider ltlike Cic(otto, German Rico Penzkofer, and Steve Crevier, who's replacing fellow Canadian Pascal Picotte - after the Yamaha Canada rider discovered he couldn't ride for a different factory south of the border. ln Superstock, Disalvo has the speed as well. lt's here that he hopes to topple Yates from the number-one perch. DiSalvo admitted that at Daytona 2005, when he finished a whisper behind Ha.king in fifth, it was unacceptable. "Last year we were a little behind the eight ball Soing in there, but this year I think Chuck lcraves] has a few tricks up his sleeve for when we show uP for the race there in l'4arch. Hopefully, he's stillSot them up there," he said. The fractured state of the AMA Superbike Championship means that the Yamaha s of Disalvo, Hacking. and Enc Bostrom will have only Yates as a factory adversary Kawasaki quit the class at the end of last year to concentrate on Superbike. That makes this the class where the factory-supported teams will be strongest, with Erion Honda, lordan 14otorsports, Attack Kawasaki, Mat MIadin l"lotorsports, and Team M4 EMGO Suzuki all major players. Last year, Team M4 EI4GO Suzuki's Vincent Haskovec won Daytona. Only chree races later he was paralyred in a sin- gle-bike incident at lnfineon Speedway. Veteran l'4ichael Barnes stepped in for Haskovec for the remainder of the 2005 season. his performance earning him a seat alongside Geoff May and newcomer Shae Fouchek in '06. For the se

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