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2011
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DECEMBER 2008 KYALAMI WSB TEST OVERVIEW
DUCATI - On the third and final day both Ducati Xerox factory riders, Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, continued to make strong progress on board their 1098 F09 machines. In the first half hour of this final day, Michel went well under the 1m40s barrier, registering a flying lap of 1m39.7s on a qualifying tyre, the fastest lap ever made by a motorcycle at the Kyalami track. Noriyuki has built up confidence with his new Ducati F09, and leaves South Africa in a positive frame of mind. Nori also lapped in under 1m40, registering a fastest time today 1m39.9s, the third fastest time to be clocked this week. BMW - Although there were many ideas and things to try out at the three day Pirelli tyre test, Troy left Kyalami circuit optimistic about the future. He wasn’t able to challenge Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) for the fastest lap, but he was happy that his best lap (done on race rubber) was not as far off the pace as he had thought before the test began. Even a small crash today didn’t dampen his spirits, though one set of leathers are now fairly secondhand as a result! TROY CORSER: "I am reasonably happy with what we achieved these three days because I always knew it wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, the times we did were a bit better than I thought they would be. We weren’t chasing lap times here because we wanted to get to understand the bike first and that’s why we also didn’t use any electronic aids, like traction control for example. It was really hot today and the track temperature hit 57 C and when it is that hot it is almost impossible to go faster. I had a small get-off today, up at Wesbank corner, when the front just went away from me going into the turn. We had put some stronger springs in the front shock and that helped on the brakes. It made the bike a little higher and the feeling was better, but then I lost the front end without warning and that was that. It was just a small slip and I didn’t hurt myself at all. We’ve improved steadily over these three days and that’s all one can ask for realistically. The team are all working well together and the mechanics and technicians now have a lot of data and info to think about for the next test in January next year. Now I am going to enjoy the break and spend a happy Christmas with my family and friends. Wishing you all happy holidays and a happy Christmas." YAMAHA - Ben Spies was second quickest on day one with an impressive best lap time of 1'41"599(46 laps) in the African sunshine. Team mate Tom Sykes was struck down with a mysterious bug, and he only managed to put in some laps prior to returning to the hotel. Day two saw Spies fall in testing, so missing the final time on track, he still managed to improve on his day one times, finishing the day with a best lap of 1’41”049 (38 laps). Sykes managed to improve dramatically on day two with a best time of 1’42”933 (18 laps). The final day saw Spies pull in his fastest time of the test, taking second fastest honours overall and only a mere 0.2s behind Michele Fabrizio and beating Noriyuki Haga to the second spot,making him one of only three riders to break the 1.40 barrier with a time of 1.39”978. Tom Sykes was getting back on form until an unfortunate crash curtailed his testing for the day, he again improved on his times in the limited laps run with a 1.41”562. BEN SPIES: “I’m really happy with the
bike, the team and the progress we’re making. This was the first time we had the
opportunity to go out and size ourselves up against everyone in a major test.
We’re ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point. There are two more test
sessions this winter and I expect the bike will continue to improve as we move
towards the season opener at Phillip Island in March. The fan support here is
pretty amazing. It was a good week to get to know some of the other riders too.
I had a lot of them come up and shake my hand and welcome me to the series. Max
Biaggi came up and talked with me for awhile. That was pretty awesome for me.
I’ve been a fan of Max since I was a kid. In AMA there might be two or three
guys in testing who get down to business from start to finish, there’s no
lollygagging here. No one’s going around doing wheelies the length of the
straightaway. Everyone pushes hard here all the time. The competition is going
to be good for sure.” SUZUKI - MAX NEUKIRCHNER: "Generally I
am happy about this test and the work we did here. It's always difficult testing
or racing at altitude, but we managed to try lots of different things and made a
lot of progress. We changed the balance of the bike for the afternoon and I was
doing a long run when the red flag came out and that prevented us getting some
valuable data. We had some problems yesterday, but still went fast, but today we
had problems and could not go fast! It wasn't so hard to do good lap times, but
it was hard to then shave off those fractions of a second and go even quicker.
We have learned a lot about this new bike and my team and I are happy because we
know that we'll improve further at the next test. For me, it was important for
me to understand this bike and I feel that I have achieved that goal." Day 3 – Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m39.7s; Spies (Yamaha) 1m39.9s; Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m39.9s; Rea (Honda) 1m40.0s; Checa (Honda) 1m40.1s; Neukirchner (Suzuki) 1m40.3s; Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m40.6s; Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m40.7s; Kiyonari (Honda) 1m41.0s; Corser (BMW) 1m41.1s; Nakano (Aprilia) 1m41.2s; Sykes (Yamaha) 1m41.5; Xaus (BMW) 1m42.0s KYALAMI WSB TEST - DAY 2 Michel Fabrizio once again set the pace for Ducati Xerox on the second day of Pirelli tyre development tests at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa. The young Italian clocked a time of 1 minute 40.256 seconds, one second beneath his day 1 time and some way quicker than the circuit’s previous Superbike lap records which date back to 2002. “I’m not entirely satisfied today either because I made a small mistake on my good lap, otherwise I’m convinced I could have got below the 1’40” mark” declared the 24 year-old from Rome. The battle for second place behind Fabrizio was fast and furious, and it eventually went to German Max Neukirchner on the 2009-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000K9. Ducati’s new signing Noriyuki Haga finally dialled into the leaders’ pace after three crashes yesterday to end up with third quickest time. On a day in which temperatures soared to a torrid 31°C and 47°C on track, fourth place went to the talented 23 year-old from Northern Ireland, Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), this year’s Supersport championship runner-up. After a stunning performance yesterday, the second day proved to be less fortunate for Ben Spies, Yamaha’s American rookie signing, who crashed out harmlessly at Turn 6: his R1 machine was severely damaged and the Texan finished the day early. Carlos Checa and Rea were two other riders who crashed out today. With the top nine riders in the space of eight-tenths of a second, Superbike is shaping up to be ultra-competitive. Aprilia are already in the leading group with their RSV4, Nakano currently lying sixth and Biaggi ninth, while development work is continuing on the BMW S1000RR machines of Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus on their first major testing appearance. All of the factory teams are present at the test, with the exception of Kawasaki Paul Bird Motorsport. Conditions are hot and dry, with air temperatures of around 32°C and track temperatures of over 50°C. Day 2 times: 1. Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1’40”256 (44 laps); 2. Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1’40”688 (50); 3. Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1’40”709 (53); 4. Rea (GB-Honda) 1’40”842 (40); 5. Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki) 1’40”959 (52); 6. Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1’40”968 (42); 7. Checa (Spa-Honda) 1’40”995 (31); 8. Spies (Usa-Yamaha) 1’41”049 (38); 9. Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1’41”077 (56); 10. Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1’41”412 (84); 11. Corser (Aus-Bmw) 1’41”986 (34); 12. Xaus (Spa-Bmw) 1’42”438 (40); 13. Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1’42”933 (18). SUZUKI ENDURANCE RACING TEAM (SERT) OUT OF 2009 WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP With a cut in budget for the reigning World Champions, SERT have had to cut back their involvement in World Endurance - but initial rumours of a cutback to one bike only for the series, it now emerges that the team, run by Dominique Meiland, will probably only be contesting the big French rounds, Le Mans and the Bol d'Or. With less money available, even the established and permanent SERT riders are still waiting on a confirmed program for 2009. Incidentally, rider Vincent Philippe has resumed training for next year after his injuries in the 2008 season. It's quite possible that even the World Champion riders from last year will be looking for rides in other teams - Philippe, William Costes, Guillaume Dietrich and Olivier Four still don't have confirmed rides - but most places in the top teams have now been taken. Even GMT94, in World Superbikes but still contesting the two French endurance rounds have confirmed their line-up will be David Checa, Sebastien Gimbert and Erwan Nigon Yamaha Austria have Igor Jerman, Steve Martin and Gwen Giabbani ...but Maco Moto's line-up has yet to be confirmed but they may have Tom Hinterreiter and Jakob Smrz... ...and as for Phase One, it's their 25th attempt at World Endurance glory in 2009 and, with 3 World Championships already, this could be their chance to take another World Championship. WORLD SUPERSPORT - PARKALGAR HONDAS EUGENE LAVERTY PARKALGAR HONDA’S Eugene Laverty has been staying busy during the off season with training, weddings and a new found passion for trials riding. The Ulster rider enjoyed a competitive test with his new Parkalgar Honda team at the Parkalgar race track in Portugal last month, where he soon settled into his new surroundings and his CBR600RR. He said: “The test finished well. It was difficult at the start as the bike was not to my set-up. We worked on that and got it how I wanted it. That is when I really started to enjoy myself.” Having worked constantly on fitness throughout the season Laverty decided to take a brief break from the gym but is now hitting it hard again. He explained: “Most of my training is cycling based and because I’m in Supersport I do some upper body strength training. In the winter my routine is different as I can’t get out and cycle on the roads so I’ve been indoors doing about 200Km – it’s not very exciting but it has to be done.” Eugene attended his brother John’s wedding recently where he and his twin brother Eamonn were Groomsmen. Older brother Michael, who has raced along side John this year in British Superbike, was Best Man, so it was very much a racing affair. Eugene said: “It was a really good day, we had fun. John is the first of my brothers to get married so it was a very special occasion.” With the festive season approaching Eugene will be returning to Toomebridge in Northern Ireland for a big family Christmas. He said: “I’ve spent the last two years in England with my girlfriend Pippa so it will be nice to see everyone and see how things have changed.” Of course motorcycles have to be involved at some point over the Christmas holiday and Laverty is planning on taking part in a trials event on Boxing Day. He explained: “I did my first trial a couple of weekends ago and I ended up going over the handle bars and landing in a river – that is how I came down with the cold. I started trials riding last winter but more of us have bikes now. I go out with Jeremy McWilliams, and Gordon Crockard, plus Johnny Rea has just bought a trials bike. Its good craic, there isn’t much skill or finesse but we have good fun.” The hard work will start again in January with the Parkalgar Honda team testing in Spain before continuing to Portugal for the official World Superbike test at the Parkalgar circuit. DECEMBER WORLD SUPERBIKE TESTS AT KYALAMI Michel Fabrizio notched up the quickest time with his factory Ducati 1098F09 on the opening day of Pirelli tyre development testing at Kyalami (South Africa). The winter tests are being used by almost all the top manufacturer teams in preparation for the 2009 FIM Superbike World Championship, which gets underway in Australia at the start of March. The Italian powered to a superb time of 1 minute 41.204 seconds, a tenth of a second under the unofficial circuit record set by Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda) in 2002 during the last edition of the South African round, which returns to the calendar next year on May 17th. “I’m really pleased because it’s the first time I’ve lapped on this track”, declared 23 year-old Fabrizio, who is about to embark on his second season with the Italian factory team. “I feel sure can go even quicker, I’ll try and do so in the remaining two days.”
Another major surprise was second place for Yamaha Motor Italia’s American rookie signing Ben Spies, who ended up just a fraction behind. “I like this track; it’s almost like some AMA tracks and it’s not too technical, not that difficult to learn, but I was having a lot of fun riding on it. We were most interested in trying out the bike in hotter track conditions than in Portimao. The handling is good; the engine comes in really smooth exiting corners and it lays the power down well. Top end makes no difference in that situation and the engine really drives well from low down”, commented the 24 year-old Texan, a new face on the Superbike scene in 2009. It wasn’t a particularly good start on the factory Ducati for Noriyuki Haga, ex-Yamaha, who crashed three times on his debut with the 2009-spec Italian machine: the first after colliding with Jonathan Rea, the others due to a couple of mistakes, but the Japanese rider did manage to set fourth quickest time. Max Biaggi arrived in the circuit late at lunchtime, after the other riders had already had four hours of track time, due to a series of never-ending problems with his flight, which began on Monday evening and which lasted 36 hours instead of the scheduled 12. Despite this Aprilia’s new signing however did manage to get up to seventh place, 1.2 seconds off the pace, and just behind his equally impressive team-mate Shinya Nakano. “I really like the RSV4, today we just got warmed up, we’ll see where we can arrive in the remaining sessions”, declared Biaggi. Both Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus were not far off the pace either on their first day of testing with the new BMW S1000RR machines, the Australian in a respectable ninth place and the Spaniard in tenth. Day 1 times: 1. Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1’41”204 (66 laps); 2. Spies (Usa-Yamaha) 1’41”599 (46); 3. Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1’41”713 (69); 4. Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1’41”730 (31); 5. Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki) 1’41”755 (39); 6. Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1’41”846 (51); 7. Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1’42”446 (29); 8. Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1’42”744 (62); 9. Corser (Aus-Bmw) 1’42”975 (33); 10. Xaus (Spa-Bmw) 1’43”274 (41); 11. Checa (Spa-Honda) 1’43”418 (10); 12. Rea (GB-Honda) 1’44”496 (16); 13. Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1’46”780 (16). DAMIAN CUDLIN TO MOVE TO THE USA? Firebird Raceway in Phoenix Arizona, saw its lap record which stood for two and half years, fall to Australian charger Damian Cudlin on the weekend. Making his debut appearance in the US, Cudlin was entered under the Evan Steel Performance banner for the weekend and took the opportunity to test for the ESP Team, a highly respected squad in the AMA series.
Piloting ESP supporter Dave Ciesielski's 2004 GSXR750 on the Saturday, Cudlin got to grips with the tight and twisty Firebird circuit before making a late change to a 2006 GSXR1000 on Sunday morning. In what looked likely to be a difficult switch with just 5 laps of practice on the machine, Cudlin stunned onlookers as he blasted his way from the 7th row of the grid to win the opening SBK race. "That was a lot of fun to jump on the 1000 after riding the 750 on Saturday. Dave gave me the use of his baby to learn the track, which was really good of him, but when Chris Hernandez offered me his bike I couldn't wait to ride a 1000 in anger around here." Cudlin smiled. I want to thank the pair of them for giving up their machines. I don't think I'd lend my bike to some dodgy looking foreigner." With some further changes made to the set up of the Suzuki for
race 2, Cudlin looked in control as he stormed to the front before a red flag
caused the race to be stopped. Re-griding for the 2nd start, Cudlin got another
blistering jump off the line before running into brake problems on the 3rd lap.
Forced to ease the pace Cudlin coasted to 2nd place as the crew got to work
changing the brake system for the final feature race. With his worst start of
the weekend, Cudlin entered the 1st turn mid pack before being forced to run
into the dirt after heavy contact with another rider. Undeterred Cudlin put in a
determined display and caught, then passed leader Kane Lasky on his ZX10R
Kawasaki. Building a healthy lead Cudlin laid down his fastest times of the
weekend, "That was a great way to end a weekend which overall was pretty challenging. Evan, Phil and Dave all worked their butts off getting the changes done to the bike that I needed and I think we did a good job in the time that we had. I want to thank them for giving me the chance to show them what I can do." said the young Aussie. "It was nice to break the lap record, but if I come back again it'll be going lower than that." Cudlin is now assessing his options for an attack on the AMA
series in 2009 where it is believed he is most likely to ride despite a WORLD ENDURANCE IN 2009 OFFICIAL FIM PRESS RELEASE The FIM will maintain the same system of permanent teams. The maximum number of permanent teams admitted for 2009 will be twenty, and the list will be published early January. The permanent teams commit themselves to take part in all the rounds of the World Championship, except to the Suzuka Eight Hours whose participation in it will be facultative for cost reasons. A Superpole qualification system will be put in place for the fastest ten teams of the qualifying practices. This additional stage would take place on the day prior to the race. This stage will be run under dry conditions only. Regarding the calendar, the 8 Hours of Oschersleben will be held on Sunday 31 May (with finish at night). The round in Albacete, on July 4, will be of 8 Hours (instead of 6). The 8 Hours of Doha will take place on Saturday 14 November (instead of 7 November). 2009 Endurance World Championship Calendar April 18/19 France Le Mans (24 H.) PIECES OF HISTORY FOR SALE
With the recession starting to bite, even peoples prize
possessions can be found up for sale. Mandy Kainz (Yamaha Austria) has to make
room for new toys in his garage and has two Yamahas up for sale - they are both
going as a "set" MANDY: Interested parties contact me HERE and I'll put you in touch... NEC MOTORCYCLE SHOW 2008 AND THE RUMOUR MILL IS WORKING OVERTIME... Ok, here goes...firstly, there was a rumour that Sylvain Guintoli would be riding for SERT Suzuki at some time this year. After a chat with the Suzuki race bosses at the N.E.C. show this week, that one is not going to go ahead. Sylvain himself refutes the rumour. Dominique Meliand looks like he's still going to be running the team, even though he's desperate to retire - but SERT have had their budget cut 50% this year and will only be running the one GSXR1000 with Vincent Philippe, Julien Da Costa and A.N. Other. LATEST - news just in that Julien Da Costa will be racing a Kawasaki alongside Simon Andrews in the British Superbike Championship in the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team...so, what's in store now for SERT?
Another team to be in the rumour mill is GMT94 with David Checa, Sebastien Gimbert alongside...Julian Mazuecos? (it is rumoured). With budget cuts rampant, we could also be losing quite a few teams from the usual line-up...but Maco Moto will still be there, Phase One of course (who will also be doing selected other events, including the Isle of Man TT)...and brits Alfs Motorcycles will be back again at Le Mans in 2009. More NEC Bike Show pictures... Also at the NEC Show was Ruben Xaus, officially unveiling the new WSB BMW...along with "Long Way Round"s Charlie Borman...
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