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RACE WATCH
KTM dominates Dakar
Sorry if I sound a bit jaded, but was this year's Dakar Rally a bit boring? After BMW'S withdrawal from rally racing last year (want to see my pink slip?), this left KTM as the only manufacturer with a factory team, and all of the top riders ended up going orange. Actually, it was only a little boring on the surface, because if you looked past the total dominance of KTM, there was a hell of a battle at the front and terrific racing that lasted for most of the 16 days and 5860 miles between the start in Arras, France, and the traditional finish in Dakar, Senegal.
And what made this great racing even greater was the fact that it was taking place between the traditional KTM weapon-a roughly 700cc Single-and the company’s new star of Dakar, the LC8, a booming 950cc of V-Twin rally rocket. This was the first Dakar outing for the LC8, and it was placed in the capable hands of last year’s winner Fabrizio Meoni, not to mention his teammate Giovani Sala, drafted as Meoni’s “waterboy,” following along to lend a hand (or parts) in case of emergency.
Alongside was an army of Singles riders. Past winner Richard Sainct was back on a French KTM team, with Cyril Depres and Jean Brucy, all former BMW guys. Juan Roma led a strong Spanish team with Esteve Pujol and Jor di Arcarons, as well as Chilean rider Carlo De Gavardo. There were a few privateer entries riding other brands, but KTM machinery, competitive even in standard form, made up the majority of the non-factory entries, too.
After a few crappy days through the cold of France and Spain's sort-of cere monial stages, the real racing got under way in Africa. Apparently there were no team orders, as all riders went for broke right from the start. In a move typical of Meoni, the Italian stayed calm and wait ed until the extremely fast and vast stretches in Mauritania to pull out the stops and take some chances. He let his big Twin breathe to the tune of a 7minute advantage in that stage, which put him into the lead over Roma by just a few minutes. It was enough to put Me oni in control of the rally. The usual fol low-the-leader game ensued, Meoni giving up a minute or two on the days Roma started behind him, then gaining them back the next day when he started behind Roma. Meoni's accomplishment was that he held on even in the tough, technical stages where his Twin was thought to be a disadvantage.
But the battle came to an end during the 14th stage, where rally organizers placed a secret checkpoint that caught many riders off-guard so badly that they missed it entirely. The worst part was that by the time they learned of their; mistake, most riders didn’t have enough fuel to return to the missed check! Roma was one of them. He attempted to ride cross-country to the secret cheek, only to get stuck in a box canyon, where he panicked, crashed and essentially threw his race away.
Meoni kept a cool head and found the proper way, winning only his second stage of the race but securing the overall victory with it. With a 45-minute lead over Alfie Cox, Meoni essentially only had to trailride to Dakar. Past winner Sainct managed to make the secret check and moved up into third position. De Gavardo, meanwhile, ran third most of the race, but also lost time missing the secret check.
Some think the Dakar Rally has gone soft with its shorter format, but the fact is the racing was close and exciting, making it excellent for TV viewing, one of the most important aspects of the race. It may have been a one-brand show, but it was a hell of a show. And trust me, the Dakar Rally will never go soft.
-Jimmy Lewis
World Super Yikes?
As the World Superbike Series rushes headlong into its 15th season, seldom have there been so many factory riders in with a chance of championship success, but so few factory machines lining up on the startline. Because of this, naturally enough, seldom has there also been more disquiet from those within and without the World Superbike paddock.
In fact, the entire world of roadracing-MotoGP, WSB and all the highprofile domestic championships on the planet-are about to be thrown into a sort of uncertain vortex as Grand Prix fourstrokes take to the track this year. Of that, there is no question.
Less clearcut is whether this vortex fragments and splinters the sport of roadracing even more than it is now; or whether the vortex is, in fact, a beneficial centrifuge, which will separate the warring factions into their rightful levels of size and positions of influence.
One thing that the recent past has made clear to those close to the two world championship series is that the main players on the world stage are now the manufacturers. And that has had a bigger effect on Superbike racing’s future than any other thing.
The Motor Sports Manufacturers’Association (MSMA), which represents the Big Four Japanese bike-makers plus Aprilia and Ducati, is now the leading powerhouse in racing. More so than GP promoters Dorna, more so than WSB kingpins the Flammini Group and more so than the blue blazemti at the world championship sanctioning body, the FIM, who are increasingly a rubberstamping body, guided along by the pursestrings of the promoters and the coercion of the manufacturers.
Until now (in a world where twostrokes were limited to the role of fast but irrelevant GP prototypes), World Superbike was the obvious place for direct promotion of saleable large-capacity racer-replicas, and the manufacturers helped the series prosper.
But with MotoGP going four-stroke and undoubtedly getting the best technology and coolest bikes, WSB marketing relevance will no doubt diminish, even when the blanket lOOOcc limit for Twins and Fours belatedly takes effect in 2004, since all this will do is truly make Superbikes a watered-down version of MotoGP.
All this seems like bad news for Superbike racing, even with the 11-pound weight differential now favoring the 750cc four-cylinder machines, meant to help them battle the onslaught of Twins and keep some diversity at the front of the field alive.
But is it all doom and gloom? Not necessarily. While a change of development focus in favor of the more prestigious MotoGP class diminished the number of machines on the WSB starting grid it definitely hasn’t affected the number of riders capable of winning races-or the championship.
Although Castrol Honda is down to a single rider, as are the factory Suzuki and Aprilia teams, with Ducati’s continuing multi-rider efforts there are nine factory bikes on the grid at the start of this season, and at least six of them are genuine championship challengers. All Twins, of course...
Ducati has got three, maybe four, of them, with Troy Bayliss, Ruben Xaus and Ben Bostrom on factory tackle, and Neil Hodgson riding what is expected to be a competitive privateer Ducati.
Aprilia may be back down to a onerider team, but what a rider: Noriyuki Haga. Castigated as a GP failure after a single season, Haga returns to Superbikes armed and ready. He wasn’t slow during pre-season tests, despite problems with his RSV Mille, which makes him a dark horse for the title.
The last factory rider in the frame is “Texas Tornado” Colin Edwards, Cas-> trol Honda’s Lone Star in more ways than one. His solitude in the Castrol pit garage is not a new phenomenon after his recent-season experiences with either curiously slow or medically incapacitated teammates. Situation normal for Edwards, then, especially after his good showings in pre-season testing.
The other factory riders not in the frame are the ones on four-cylinder
bikes, all of whom are new signings for their respective teams. Former AllJapan Superbike Champion Hitoyasu Izutsu and Britain’s Chris Walker will attempt to hold back the V-Twin tide on the Eckl Racing Kawasaki ZX-7RRs, while Gregorio Lavilla swaps Kawasaki green for Alstare Suzuki GSX-R purple and yellow.
A vintage year dawning for WSB? Per-
haps not in depth of field, but at the sharp end the battles will be as acute and cut throat as ever. If only between the boom ing factory V-Twins and their well proven riders. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
Gordon Ritchie
Mladin's magic
Three-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki team have managed to buck the trend seen in virtually every other major Superbike series on the planet. For as Twins the world over (usually Ducatis, but also Hondas and Aprilias on occasion) take win after win and championship after championship, Mladin keeps chalking up victories for the Superbike traditionalists, using his fourcylinder GSX-R750.
Certainly, this is not an accident, although he’s been under some pressure from one Nicky Hayden and his Honda RC51 V-Twin. These are the two riders who most recently have shown consistently the ingredients necessary to win, Mladin, reigning AMA Champion, and Hayden, who won four straight races at the end of last season.
Mladin and his team are universally respected for the speed and diligence with which they pursue an optimum setup during practice. No one puts more real testing into a session, or is more ruthless in evaluation.
Honda is Honda. The RC51 now has power no one can match, but as last season showed, problems can penetrate the Honda development system, causing engines to stop running with “electrical problems,” the generally accepted euphemism for major mechanical failure.
American Honda’s crew went to Japan early in the off-season, where they built the 2002 RC51s Hayden and teammate Miguel Duhamel are using this season. Unlike last year, they actually got to test the bikes before departing for Daytona. I asked Honda crew chief Merlyn Plumlee how Hayden’s late-season ’01 recovery came about.
“The motorcycle really wasn’t a lot better,” Plumlee surprisingly reveals. “What was better was that we-and Nicky-got back on track.”
Daytona 2001, with its hardships for Hayden, had set the team back not only in points but in attitude. Later, at Road Atlanta, there were further undisclosed glitches, as well as a mounting horsepower deficit. But then came improvements in the Showa fork, some new exhaust pipes and a renewed awareness that they could win. The latter point was most important.
“What changed most was Nicky and the crew,” says Plumlee. “Any time we beat those guys (Yoshimura Suzuki), it’s a big deal for us-I have a ton of respect for Ammar, Reggie and the others.”
Ammar Bazzaz and Reggie O’Rourke, along with Peter Doyle, are the major force behind Mladin’s on-track success. So even though the Yosh GSX-R never comes to the line with the kind of overkill bhp that the lOOOcc Honda does, the experience that Mladin has with his team yields something else: ingenious ways to apply more of what power they have, in more situations.
Team data-acquisition expert Bazazz said recently that, “Having Peter (son of veteran Australian race engineer Neville Doyle) on the team has brought a fresh perspective, a breath of fresh air.” New to the team prior to the start of the 2001 season, Doyle was on hand at a Willow Springs test as the Yoshimura team and Mladin-having trouble making the bike steer-tried to adapt to what was then an all-new motorcycle to them.
“We were ready for another steeringhead change,” says Bazazz. “Instead, that’s when Peter and Reggie moved Mat forward.” The simple solution of using a thick seatback pad to move Mladin forward on the motorcycle had the result of making the machine steer positively out of corners, resulting in faster lap times. Doyle has done more than this, as well, improving many oth-
er aspects of Mladin’s bike.
“Peter’s brought some new ideas for engine development and aerodynamic improvements, both quantified in testing and in the wind tunnel,” says Bazazz. “Peter’s influence has opened up some areas that were stagnant-it’s easy to get set in your ways.”
As to outright power,
Bazazz says the team has
always been competitive, even at ultra-fast tracks such as Brainerd, despite the 250cc displacement given up to the Twins. Mladin’s main complaints have usually centered on offcorner acceleration, however, where there is some deficit.
One of the things that keeps Mladin ahead is how the team’s test sessions are sort of like computer programs, with no time or action wasted.
Says Bazazz, “That is the key, one of
the pieces of the puzzle. Mat’s not looking for an excuse. His focus and determination, coupled with a flow-chart-like approach, it’s really become quite refined.” There has been discussion of what displacement limits the AMA will adopt, as World Superbike readies itself for a lOOOcc limit for both Twins and Fours.
Whatever future AMA rules may be, if Mladin and company are rolling a bike to the startline, do not bet against them.
Kevin Cameron
