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RACE WATCH
World Superbike gets late start
The 1998 FIM World Superbike series was scheduled to kick-off March 15 at Indonesia’s Sentul circuit, but instead began one week later at Australia’s Phillip Island. The Indonesian round was officially rescheduled to September 27 due to a conflict with the country’s elections, but the region’s recent economic woes also played a role.
Having signed to ride for Sito Pons’ MoviStar Honda effort in 500cc Grand Prix competition, 1997 WSB Champion John Kocinski will not defend his crown. Instead, fellow American Colin Edwards has joined Aaron Slight on the Castrol-backed Honda RC45s. Edwards is Slight’s fifth teammate in as many years.
Many consider Slight to be the odds-on favorite to win the ’98 championship. The RC45 is at the peak of its development, as is Slight. Brit Carl Fogarty also has high hopes of winning another championship for Ducati. He is teamed with Italy’s PierFrancesco Chili on the factory 996s. Australia’s Troy Corser, the ’96 series champ, is also back aboard a Ducati. >
American Scott Russell has returned for his second year with the Yamaha squad. The Georgian is campaigning the same bike he won with at Daytona, and is pitting with 22-year-old Japanese hotshoe Noriyuki Haga. Fellow countryman Akira Yanagawa heads up Kawasaki’s effort, while Australian Peter Goddard and Brit James Whitham are racing Suzuki’s fuel-injected GSX-R750. (The new TL1000R will not compete in WSB until 1999.)
In pre-season testing at Malaysia’s Shah Alam circuit, Yanagawa was quickest on his ZX-7RR, with Haga posting the second-quickest time ahead of Slight, whose RC45 sported a conventional swingarm in place of the usual, single-sided unit. Chili carded fourth-fastest. He was the only factory Ducati rider to test; Fogarty sat out the session, still recovering from an off-season knee operation, while Corser missed out due to illness. Other highlights included the heat (95-degree ambient temperature), and a delay to clear monkeys off the racetrack. The latter should not be a problem at Laguna Seca on July 12, when the WSB circus makes its only U.S. appearance.
The Ducati contingent was at fullstrength for the second round of tests at Phillip Island. After three days, Chili had the second-fastest time, followed by Fogarty and Corser. Unfortunately for them, Slight was quicker yet, having bettered his pole-winning time from last season.
At the season-opener in Australia, Fogarty led from the third lap, and was never seriously challenged. Second place went to local hero Corser, followed by Haga. Slight crashed on the last lap while battling with Corser for second. The New Zealander remounted to finish ninth. The second leg of the event was all Haga. The Yamaha rider survived challenges from Chili, Fogarty and Slight, who came home second. Neither Edwards nor Russell were a factor; they finished seventh and tenth in the first leg, and seventh and eighth in the second, respectively.
The outcome in Australia seems a likely precursor for the rest of the season. Despite the points deficit, the 32-year-old Slight is primed to win his first world championship, chased by the Ducatis of Corser and Fogarty. Look for Yamaha’s Haga to act as the spoiler, winning several races. As for the Americans Edwards and Russell? Say your prayers. -Paul Seredynski
Parker triumphs at Daytona
NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt wasn’t the only multi-time series champion to break the Daytona curse this year. Eight-time (and reigning) AMA Grand National Champion Scott Parker squeaked out a thrilling victory at the Daytona short-track event, taking the checkers ahead of Terry Poovey by a mere .63 of a second.
“I’ve won nationals,” Parker says, “and had maybe two phone calls. After Daytona, I got all these messages and faxes. The status of this one race is amazing.”
The 36-year-old Michigan native dedicated the win to former AMA Grand National Champion Ricky Graham, who died earlier this year in a house fire.
Dirt-track heads toward new millennium
Despite its highly competitive nature, the AMA Grand National Champi onship is contested on machinery that, for the most part, is no longer avail able. Grids are filled mostly by HarleyDavidson's venerable XR-750, as well as the odd Honda RS750. All of which makes it difficult for enthusiasts to root for something they can't buy, or worse yet, ever hope to ride.
This should change with the help of the Professional Motorcycle Racing Owner's Group (PMROG). "If some one's going to stop making parts, you have to do something," says Jim Landes, president of PMROG. For his part, Landes is converting two current sportbikes-a Ducati 916 and a Honda VTR1000F-into AMA Project 2000 prototypes (see Clipboard, October, 1997). Both machines were donated by their respective manufacturers, and are being converted to oval duty by Rick Canode, who tunes for Brett Landes, Jim's son.
Both the Ducati and Honda use pro duction engines and frames, giving them a stock appearance. "I don't really want them to look like a standard dirt tracker," Landes says. "They're Project 2000 bikes. I want them to look like something from the year 2020. If peo ple come to see a new bike, it should look like a new bike."
Sticking with the stock frames should help reduce costs. Landes expects Project 2000 to be a “claimer” class, meaning that the bikes could be purchased for, say, $25,000 each. “Not cheap,” Landes says, “but at least not any more expensive than current dirt-trackers.”
Gary Stolzenburg, a PMROG member and owner of F&S Harley-Davidson in Dayton, Ohio, has also been working on two Project 2000 bikes: one based on a Harley Sportster 883, the other a Suzuki TLIOOOS. Unlike the Ducati and Honda prototypes, however, both of Stolzenburg’s bikes use purpose-built dirt-track frames. “To make these things handle and turn, we’re going to have to use a dirttrack frame. In a big circle, maybe (you could use a stock frame), but on a tighter track, it could be tough.”
The frames were made by C&J Racing Frames of Fallbrook, California. Building a frame around a modern sportbike engine is nothing new, claims C&J owner Jeff Cole, who says the company has been making dirt-track replicas for enthusiasts in Japan for several years.
There’s nothing radical about the frames, either, Cole explains. They’re basically modified versions of the latest XR-750, with another inch or so added to the 883 to accommodate its longer Evolution engine. Regarding the TL, Cole says he didn’t even want to see the stock bike’s frame or rotary-damper rear suspension. Instead, he designed his own single-shock setup. “The geometry is similar to a current dirt-tracker, including modifying the frame for a dirt-tracker tank and seat,” he says. In finished form, the C&J-framed bikes bear little resemblance to their production counterparts. In fact, if it wasn’t for their powerplants, the bikes would be indistinguishable from late-model dirt-trackers.
Another problem that will have to be addressed on the Suzuki is power, as in, there’s too much of it! “I think we’ll tear the tires right off of it if we can get the power to the ground,” Stolzenburg says. “You get a 130-horsepower engine in a bike that can do 170 mph on the straight, how are you gonna turn that thing on a mile track?”
The plan, Stolzenburg declares, is to detune the TL engines to about 105 horsepower, ditching the factory fuel injection for the dual-intake-runner, single-carb setup employed on the prototype. “We think it will mellow it out,” he says. “We want less horsepower-manageable, tractable horsepower.”
Testing is expected to begin immediately, possibly following practice for an upcoming Grand National event. “We’re testing the waters, and testing the fans,” Stolzenburg says. “We don’t know if we’ll ever race these things. We’re just trying to see what’s out there.” -Paul Seredynski
Jamie James back in action
Following a one-year layoff, 1989 AMA Superbike Champion Jamie James is back on bikes. The “Ragin’ Cajun” crashed his Don Tilley-backed Harley-Davidson VR1000 at Phoenix, then finished 13th in the Daytona 200, one position behind factory Harley pilot Thomas Wilson.
“I’m having a lot of fun,” James says. “I feel good about the performance.
The bike was very stable, which never hurts at Daytona, and I enjoy working with Tilley.”
James retired from roadracing at the end of the 1996 season to pursue a career in car racing. He will contest the remaining rounds of the Superbike series.
Get your kicks at Route 66 Raceway
M idwestern motorcycle fans now have another venue at which to witness AMA Superbike and Grand Na> tional dirt-track racing. Better yet, Chicago’s all-new Route 66 Raceway will feature both disciplines on the same weekend, August 8-10.
Roadracers will take on the 16turn, 2-mile road course, located 3 miles south of Joliet, Illinois, on Historic Route 66 (now called Route 53), while the dirt-trackers will challenge the banked, half-mile oval. The new facility also features an NHRA dragstrip.
“Route 66 Raceway is the first major motorsports facility in the Chicagoland area, and the second largest stadium in Chicago,” says track CEO Dale Coyne.
For more info, call 815/722-5500.
Gibernau to replace injured Aoki
i/apan’s Takuma Aoki, who finished third in the 1997 500cc World Championship on a factory Honda NSR500V, remains hospitalized following a crash at Honda’s Tochigi test track near Tokyo, Japan, earlier this year. Middle of the three racing Aoki brothers, Takuma is presently paralyzed from the waist down. Prospects for a full recovery appear slim.
Meanwhile, Honda has named Spaniard Sete Gibernau as Aoki’s replacement. “I will not waste the incredible opportunity that Honda has given me,” he said. Last year, Gibernau finished 13th in the series on a Team Rainey Yamaha.
TT tribute
If you’re among the masses making the annual pilgrimage to the Isle of Man for the Tourist Trophy races this year, take note: In addition to a flurry of hot competition, the June 1-12 event will feature a parade celebrating Honda’s 50th anniversary. The lap of honor will include Jim Redman on Mike Hailwood’s 500, Stuart Graham on an RC77, Tommy Robb aboard a 250cc Four and Luigi Taveri on a five-cylinder 125. Also expected are the Yamaha OWOl that Carl Fogarty raced to a TT lap record and several rare Nortons, such as the works spaceframe 750, and the ex-Peter Williams and Dave Croxford monocoques. For the Ducatisti in attendance, eight-time World Champion Phil Read will circulate aboard Hailwood’s TT-winning Ducati. □
