Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

CHICANEEY Bv HrHxv Rav AsRAi^s f ust Say No fyour elephant has hemorrhoids, you don't fit him with a training bra. At least most people wouldn't. But our friends in AMA Pro Racing in Picker- ington, well, they're a different story The Al'4A Superbike ChampionshiP has more problems than a hemophiliac with a porcupine fetish, but that isn't stopping them from ftying to fix problems that don't exist, By narrowly focusing its wave band to a station that plays 'All Me" radio, the somewhat fluid Pro Racing hierarchy is receiving bad broadcasts about the state of the Superbike paddock. What's wrong? Where ro stan? The schedule. class simi- larity, track safery the leadership s tin ear, rrac!ion control, etc. So what's their response? Spec tires! The gruel they're being fed, is that it must be a good thing because it works in World Superbike and it works in Canada. Canada? The argument misses one salient point - the Af4A doesn't need it. Spec tires were introduced to World Superbike for one very good reasoni Hichelin was winning every- thing on their own very narrow very selfish terms. ln 2003, the year before the advent of spec tires, lt4ichelin sup- plied two riders, Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus. Between them, they won 20 of 24 races and would have won more if not for a crash by Ruben Xaus at Laguna Seca. Hodgson won the World Championship. At the time, Dunlop was supplying tires to 20 riders. Pirelli fitted three or four and theywere back ofthe packers. The spec-tire debate came to a head at the U.S. round of the World Superbike Championship when World Superbike organizers FGSport announced that the 2004 season would be run with spec tires. ln l'lonterey, they said they had the outline of an agreement with Pirelli and a bid from Pirelli that they had not accepted. and were waiting for bids from other companies. Before the following round at Brands Hatch, Pirelli sweetened their bid, and, as there was no counter bid, FGSport signed and announced the deal in England, 14ichelin wouldn't have been interest- ed - goinS from two riders to an enlire field isn't something they do - but Dunlop would have been. The Brummies claimed at the time that they were not invited to bid. FGSport say that they had meetings with all tire companies - denied by some - all ofwhom except Pirelli told them they weren't interested. Legal action may still be ongoing, but after nearly three years of spe. tires. it's a moot point. The contract expires at the end of this year For races and officials tests. Pirellitires and suppoi-t are supplied by FGSport at a cost per rider of 45,000 euros (about $57,000) for the season. lt is believed that the top six teams from the previous year's points standings didn't pay the first year, but as to who pays now that's r.:p to Fcsports. Pirelli supplies tires, FGSport determine5 who pays what. One team from each supplying bike manufacturer is designated as a test team, which is unsatisfactory to both the teams and Pirelli. With Winston Ten Kate, the official Honda team, Alex Barros's Klaffi Honda team doesn't get test tires. The FIM rulebook says that at each event, l3 rear and nine front tires will be Tires are the reason, according to Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden. "That's where a lot of time comes from," he said. ln the United States, l4at Mladin's Pole time from this year's Road America was over three seconds faster than his 2003 rime. His fastest race lap, which was faster than his pole time, was 3.5 seconds better than his best of 2003. The difference is clear. Progress is being made here and in MotoGE and to a much lesser extent in World Superbike- Essentially, they're trying to break even after three years of development. The improvement in Mladin's times has much to do wtth tires, as well as engrne and engine mapping. When Michelin came in to support the Ducati Austin sole supplier Does last year's lndy F-l race ring a bell? Dunlop supplies an allocation of tires and service to all of their teams, and many others. HotBodies Racing's/Mat I'lladin Motorsports Marty Craggill gets NTs, as does Hooters Suzuki's Eric Wood and Doug Chandler in his return- lf the teams go over their allocation - all of them do - they have to pay. So it's concei\rable that, dependinS on the fees charged, the factotT teams could spend less on tires than they do now. They'd also get less. And imagine whar would happen if the private teams were asked to pay $50,000 for tires? Or the backfleld support teams, who would also have to pay. The Srids would be much smaller. And this is regardless of which tire comPany won the contract. And what of the occasional priva- teersl Part-timers would have to pay thousands of dollars for tires. You want small fields? There's your solution. Count I'lichelin out. Same for Bridgestone. lt would be between Dunlop and Pirelli. DunloP, if Siven the chance, would be an active bidder. They've supported racing for too long, had too much success, and developed too many tires for both racan8 and stTeet use to gave up without a fi8ht. But if they won the bid, the quality of the tires would suffer: they cenainly couldn't supply every Superbike and Superstock bike with NTs. Ben Bostrom is the only rider in the paddock to experience all sides of the argument. He's been both a l4ichelin and Dunlop-supported rider in World Superbike, he raced Pirellis lasr year for a downmarket Honda team, and he's back on Dunlops this year. "Dunlop's been the one that's supPort- ed the sport so hard, it wouldn't be right [if Pirelli was chosen]," he said. "Right now we have a spec-tire rule, so it wouldn't make any difference because everyone runs Dunlop and it works great. lf every- one runs Pirelli it would be the same situ- ation, iust on Pirelli. RiSht now it's like we have a spec-tire rule. I got to admit, it's pretty nice. lt's pretty nice because yott kind of know this is what I'm given. You're not goin8, 'What's that other guy got Up his sleeve?' You don't know'' Who srands to benefit? Pirelli, if they won the bid, would srgnrficantly raise their American profile. They would also raise their profits; this would have to be a money-making deal. And it would surely make money for the Alt4A, who would administer the deal. And where would that money go? More elephant training bras. CN allotted to each Superbike rider for prac- tice. qualifying, Superpole, and warmup. ln Supersport, it's l0 rears and eight fronts. So how has it worked? Three years on, Hodgson still holds the laP record at Valencia. HodSson's race lap in 2003 was a l:35.007. Troy Corser ran a I :35-374 in the second race this year. Troy Bayliss' race record, Superpole, and best lap still stand at Misano from 2002. Shakey Byrne's Brands Hatch fast lap remains a record. And much of the improvement in World Sr.rperbike times comes from the engine and, mostly, engine management, not rubber. Compare rhis ro MotoGP Valenrrno Rossi's pole in 2005 was nearly three sec- onds faster than his 2003 pole. The fastest lap was a I :52.623 run by Loris CaPirossr. ln 2005, Capirossi again had the fast lap, a l:50,195, a time that didn't match the exiled lt4ax Biaggi's l:50.117 from 2005. team in 2003 and 2004, Dunlop stepped up. Two technicians and an engineer com- muted from lheir headquarters rn Birmingham, England, Dunlop develoPed the NT (New Techoology) line of tires, which continue to be the standard. And rhey continued to win nearly even/ ra

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