Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I Gapirossi Ghecks Out The 8OO Marlboro Ducati's Loris Caprrossr Bot a I lglrmpse rnto che future lus( before the Chinese GP The l(alian left his home in Monaco at 5 a.m. on an early May morn- ing, his SEAT Leon loaded wrth helmet. gloves, and leathers. Three and a half hours later he was the firsr (o turn up ar Mugello for the debut of rhe 800c< Ducari Desmosedici GP7 (ha( he ll race in next year's MotocP World Championship. "l am the first one to arrive in l'1ugello, but I think is really enioyable day for me, because I see the first time the brke run- ning on the track," Capirossi said with a smile in Shanghai. "l think is really interest- in8 test because the bike has no problem for three days. The bike worked good. For sure, it s just the betrnnint - the real- ly first test of the bike - its never run before. And lthink it's really interestin8. It's good for us to start alread/ now the development of the project, and we will 'ee what's happening." Test rider Vito Guareschi did all the rid- in8. Capirossi wasn't allowed to try it. ''I talk alont with IDuca(i Corse rechnr- caldirectorl Filippo Preziosi, I said, 'Please, tive me rhe permission ro make a couple of laps.' He said, No, too early. The bike is Capirossi and leammale Sete GibernaL, are scheduled to test the 800 at MuSello ius! after luly's British Grand Prix at Donington Park. Guareschi reponed to Capirossi that the 800 changed directions more easily than the 990 and said, "the bike is a little bit more easy to ride - like the feehnt is lighter. lt s not lighrer because theweitht is the same as 1000, butthe feel is lghter, more reactNe, and a little bra more stiffer bike." Chass's rtiffness was one area that Capirossi has been complaining abou( since 2002. k's goften berter, he said. 'bu! -r- Loris Copirossi ir eoger to get on lhe new Du.qli 8OO.c MoloGP rocer. - for sure it s nor enou8h stifler. And I think they improve to make the 800, but I don't know exactly, because when I res( the bike. I say something more." Capirossi wouldni say how high the engine rewed but he smiled while saying, ''The sound is strong - impressive." Less impressive is the reasoning that the switch to 800cc is for safety, Capriossi said. ''l think this is shit," he said. "l think, my opinion, is we reduce the cc from 1000 to 800 iusr for [o spend more money, because everybody want a quick" er bike and put money, money, money. And I think in less than one year the 800 is faster like 1000." Honda Racing Corporation team man- ager Tsutomu lshii said that he think! the lap times and top speed ',/vill be similar to the 900s, but they won t have the same Capirossi didn't know th€ top-sp€ed d'fferpn.e between rhe 990 and the 800, but team manager Livio Suppo told Capirossi it was not as big as you would expect. "Like I say, in less than one year it will go quicker or the same," Capirossi said. "This ii my opinion. Because for sure the bike is easy to ride. The stylint is closer to 250 bike, react quicker in the comer, corner speed is quicker. brakes are maybe b€tt€r. This is why we go the same lap time." Henny Rof Abramr re CYCLE NEWS . MAY 24, 2006 I - Russ Pearson's Title Hopes Still Alive Yamaha's Russ Pearson kept the 2006 AMA National Hare & Hound Series title chase alive by winning the second-to-last round in.lericho, Utah, on l"lay 13. Having won the last (wo rounds, Pearson still has a shot at this year's number-one plate, but he will have to wait, becaure the last round doesn't take place until October. Kawasaki Team Green's Destry Abbott was hopinS to wr+ thinSs up in utah, and a win would have don€ just that, but a two-ki.k start left him choking in the dust and well down in the fleld. While Pearson tot off to a Bood start. Abbott was mired in the pack, around 50th place, and he found it diflicult to make up ground in rhe dusty conditions. He ended up ninth. Honda riders Kendall Norman and Quinn Cody finished second and third, respectively. Fourth and fifth went to KTM's Kellon Walch and Matt Gosnell. McWilliams To lnfineon lrishman Jeremy McWilliams will returh to action in the Af{A Superbike Series at lnfineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, May l9-21, with what Buell hopes is an updated and mechanically improved XBRR. Warr's of London Harley-Davidson/Buell and Hal's Harley- Davidson/Buell, which llelded separate entries in lhe Oaytona 200 season opener in February will team up to en[er a single XBRR wirh l4cwilliams aboard. Mcwilliams qualified eighrh aboard an XBRR at the Da),tona 200, before a mechanical problem forced an early retirement. "We just started delivering XBRR motorcycles to deal€rs," said chairman and chie{ technical officer Erik Buell in a company release. "lt's very extiting to see one of the first biker shipped headint to Sonoma with a rider and aeam of this caliber Many of our dealers have a passion for competirion and a his- toD/ of racint at a hiSh level. lt's great to see Warr's and Hal's step back up to the cha]lenge of Formula Xtrcme, and I'm sure many more will join the battle as their XBRR5 are built and delivered." XBRtu have also been built and shipped to other dealer teams, includint H-D/EuellofVallejo and Classic H-D/Buell-Millville H-D/8uell. The H-D/Buell of Valleio team is expected to contest the AMA Formula Xtreme race at lnfineon with AFM veteran Shawn Reilly, while the East Coast-based Classic H-D/Buell-Millville H-D/Buell-lnnovative Motorcycle research team, along with rider Mike Hale, are targeting the AMA round at Road America for their XBRR debut, according to guell. Jeremy McWillioms will ride o Buell in Formulo xlrelne ol lnfineon Rocewoy. o o o 6 E Otts o t.. s I f4 a re 1C o I L K. t I \ .l I \

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