WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 51 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 25, 2014 P45
for the injured Sylvain Barrier,
Glenn Allerton on the BMW Mo-
torrad Italia entry.
It was cleaner cut in the cut-
short second race with Salom
over a second ahead of the big
Ducati.
We saw the remarkable sight
of eight manufacturer entries in
Australia, but it was a tough intro
for some.
MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich Rac-
ing rider Claudio Corti was 13th
and then 18th on his full World
Superbike spec F4RR, while the
EBR team saw Aaron Yates finish
twice, but post top speeds fully
28 mph slower than the quick-
est bikes. He was 17th and last
in race one; and 20th and last
in race two. And that was better
than his teammate Geoff May
who suffered a broken collarbone
in a practice crash on Saturday.
In the championship Guintoli
takes an early 10-point lead over
Baz, 41- 31. Melandri is third,
Giugliano fourth with Laverty
and Sykes tied for fifth with 25
points. CN
Race One
1. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki)
2. Marco Melandri (Aprilia)
3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia)
4. Davide Giugliano (Ducati)
5. Loris Baz (Kawasaki)
6. Jonathan Rea (Honda)
7. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
8. Chaz Davies (Ducati)
9. David Salom (Kawasaki)
10. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati)
Race Two
1. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia)
2. Loris Baz (Kawasaki)
3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
4. Davide Giugliano (Ducati)
5. Jonathan Rea (Honda)
6. Leon Haslam (Honda)
7. Chaz Davies (Ducati)
8. Marco Melandri (Aprilia)
9. Toni Elias (Aprilia)
10. David Salom (Kawasaki)
SUSPENSEFUL?
Among the many technical
changes in World Superbike,
potentially the biggest, the
most potentially backward
looking, was the insistence
that suspension and brake
components would be cost-
capped in 2014. When at
places like Monza, and some
other venues, pure brake
performance was already mar-
ginal on steel discs and fancy
calipers, even one step back
looked tricky. Not going to Monza anymore takes that out
of the equation, but so far so good on the brake front.
As for suspension, with the majority of the top bikes
on trick through-rod Öhlins forks last year, and equally
flashy rear shocks, the potential drop in performance
was massive. Except it has not proven to be like that at
all.
The bikes are no slower than in 2013, and all is well
in the Öhlins camp. The lone-supply Showa Kawasaki
squad has new and cheaper forks, but basically the
same material as in 2014, with some cheaper substitu-
tions here and there.
So the eternal technical
question – how much slower do
you have to make race bikes to
make them go faster – has been
answered yet again.
But remember, the key to the
tech pullback in World Super-
bike is not simply cost-driven; it
is designed to allow anybody to
access the top level of suspen-
sion, however meager the team's
budget.
There are a few kinds of homol-
ogated Öhlins forks (FGR200/300s and then RSP25s),
which are 42mm forks with the same FGR damper but
custom made outers and fork bottoms, to suit each
team's QD wheel change kit. The main rear shock is a
TTX36, which can be bought anywhere; and then there
is a RSP40, which again is custom made in its brackets
and fitting systems to suit the various swingarms in the
paddock. But, crucially anybody can buy them, for the
same reduced cost as everyone else. No tech contract
needed, and no team can have special bits.
Like single make tires, this cannot help but make the
playing field more level.
