INTERVIEW
ELENA MYERS
P84
SportBike series, yet when she
rolled up to the grid for Moto-
America round one at Circuit of
the Americas in April, she had
a Suzuki GSX-R1000 barely a
month old beneath her.
"I always considered myself
more of a big bike rider anyway,"
Myers says. "I wasn't particularly
the best on 125s and the 600s; I
won't say I struggled with corner
speed but that was certainly one
of my weaker points. I was good
at getting in and getting out. So
the big bikes suit my style a bit
more than the 600s."
Myers' choice of over-the-
counter machinery and the
reduced spending capacity that
comes with being a privateer
has dictated much of her perfor-
mance package for 2015, with
her Suzuki GSX-Rs lacking many
of the electronic control options
available to better-heeled riders
and teams.
"There's more electronics
with the Superbike (versus the
600), but it wouldn't be mine!"
she says with a wry laugh. "I
have the kit ECU, Dynojet Power
Commander and Wideband and
that's it. No traction control,
no wheelie control. It's been a
handful trying to keep the front
end down and keep the thing
from trying to spit me off! But I
think it's good though because
it's teaching me what the bike
wants to do, versus me getting
on something immediately and
where everything is handled for
me. I think it's making me a bet-
ter rider and more in tune with
what's going on and how it wants
to behave.
"But it wasn't until Barber I felt
like I jumped on the bike and it
felt like home; I felt comfortable."
(Left) Myers'
looks ahead to an
even better 2016,
with a full-season
under her belt
as team owner/
racer. (Right) It
took some time
adjusting to the
GSX-R1000.
Myers' first time
feeling at home
on the Superbike
was round
five at Barber
Motorsports Park.
IT WASN'T
UNTIL BARBER
I FELT LIKE I
JUMPED ON
THE BIKE AND IT
FELT LIKE HOME; I
FELT COMFORTABLE.
