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Developing Dominance
How does he do it? How can Australian Mat Mladin dominate AMA Superbike racing in this age of international superstars and over-achieving machines? Cycle World caught up with the three-time champ to discuss the development of his new Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, his riding style and his outlook on bike setup.
Q: You ’re coming off a GSX-R750 that dominated at one point but struggled visibly last year. How do you view the differences between that and the 1000?
A: In Superbike trim, overall horsepower is definitely up, but certainly not as a direct percentage of engine size. Torque numbers are way up and the acceleration is incredible. You can touch the throttle at 6000 rpm, and if you’ve got it at the wrong lean angle, it will spin the tire up. The 750 wouldn’t spin the tire until 12,000. It’s a very different animal when it comes to the motor.
As far as the rest of the machine, Suzuki has done a great job on their new chassis. To me, it feels more like the old GSX-R750 from a couple of years ago that was my favorite racebike ever, just with more power and torque. Now, we can overtake people in a straight line. We can get in the draft of the V-Twins and make a pass, where before it was impossible.
Q: So much time and effort goes into developing a Superbike. Could you walk us through the steps you’ve taken > to get to this point?
A: I guess we have to start with the bike’s initial laps at the Daytona tire test last December. It was a “bitsa,” between a 750 and a 1000, because Suzuki was still developing parts. The AMA made up the rules-which I think they’ve done a great job with-but they came in a bit late and everyone was waiting to see what to do.
But at Daytona...I mean, I did five laps and right away it was good. The races I’ve done there, 1:51s and some 1:50s was the race-winning pace, and I dropped into the 1:52s with a bike that had never seen the racetrack before.
The main thing we’ve been working on from Daytona to today is the rear suspension. That, and the way the bike delivers the power, where the torque is in the power curve-all the things you need to work on to stop the bike from spinning early and to make the tire last longer.
Other than changing a few fiddly bits, that’s about it. My crew and I came across a rear shock we liked at the Fontana (California Speedway) test, and we haven’t even changed a clicker on it since. But that’s the sort of rider I am. I’m a big believer in the fact that I’m a human being, and sometimes you get out of the right side of the beef sometimes the left, and there’s no point in trying to tune the bike because you’re half a second off the pace. Sometimes, you have to step back and say, “Hang on a second, maybe I’m not giving this everything I’ve got...”
Q: When you find something that works at one racetrack, will that then become your starting point for the next? Do you expect to vary bike setup very much through the season?
A: That’s a good question, and it’s something I’ve spoken with my guys about a number of times. With the old GSX-R750, the one that really suited my style and I really loved, we changed it minimally from track to track. Yeah, okay, there was a fork-spring change here or there because the track was harder on braking and we had to get some more spring in the fork to stop it from bottoming out. But other than that, and gearbox stuff to suit the track, we made very few changes. When it came to rake angle or offset or things like that, we made very minimal changes throughout the year, and that bike worked well everywhere. We’re finding the same thing with the 1000.
When I find a suspension setting that I like, I then don’t go one or two clicks.
If I want to try something, I’ll go four or six clicks, because I can’t feel one click.
I like to make a big change, so if it does do something, I can say, “Ah, okay, that’s what it does. Now, let’s go the other way and see what it’s doing.”
Q: Are there particular areas where you consider yourself stronger than other riders?
A: To be honest, the only place I make up any time is on the front tire. Not so much on the brakes in a straight line-there are lots of guys who are good at that-but the next bit, on the brakes, when you’re searching for grip in the initial part of the corner.
Using the front end hard is how we won so many races on the 750. We certainly didn’t have speed or acceleration, and we had to make it up somewhere else. That part of my riding really came into its own a few years ago, and I’m improving now.
I’m very much the sort of rider that doesn’t believe in staying wide as long as possible. I believe in getting on the brakes and getting to the middle of the corner. When I’m behind someone in the draft, I start going toward the inside of the corner a lot quicker than most. It’s something we had to do in the past when we were sitting in the draft and didn’t have enough power to get past. The only way you could do something was by pushing the brakes way into the corner.
To me, it’s a challenge to try and work the front tire. A lot of guys out there can spin the rear tire, fry them up and get sideways and all of that, and nowadays with 200-plus horsepower it’s real easy to do. But in the end, you have to make up time somewhere else.-Mc£ Ienatsch > At the pinnacle of Pikes Peak sidecar racing is Scott Whitney’s V-Rod powered sidehack. Negotiating the 12.5-mile, 156tum Colorado mountain course in 14 minutes, 58.47 seconds while climbing over 4000 feet without guardrails is enough to make one feel they can do anything. Like, say, the Paris-to-Dakar Rally?
Dakar-ley-Davidson ?
Yes, it’s true. Whitney’s victory at Pikes Peak has propelled him to contest the grueling Dakar Rally this coming winter.
Whitney plans to use his Pikes Peakproven chassis and engine combination, but with added fuel capacity, suspension travel and ground clearance. The chassis is an EML MX Special manufactured in Belgium, slightly tweaked to house the nearly stock Harley-Davidson V-Rod engine. Mods are limited to mild intake tweaks and a custom exhaust. Rolling on double-bead-lock 15-inch rally tires front and back with a 13-incher for the monkey to hover over, the whole package weighs in at a svelte 725 pounds without rider or co-pilot.
Geared down from a top speed of 105 mph for the Pikes Peak race, Whitney has opted for a lower final-drive ratio, limiting the top speed to 95 mph. A wise move, as the rabbit rarely wins in Dakar.
On average, one brave sidehack pilot and monkey enter the Dakar each year.
If Whitney finishes, he will be the second person to do so on such a mount and the first to do it with a Harley-Davidsonpowered machine. -Mike Keller
America’s Team
In an effort to finally win the 2003 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), held this year in Forteleza, Brazil, the U.S. has stepped up with a full-fledged > powerhouse team of top off-road riders. AMA Grand National Cross Country series champ Rodney Smith (Suz) headlines the six-rider Trophy Team, along with Fred Andrews (Kaw), Ty Davis (Yam), Mike Kiedrowski (Suz), Mike Lafferty (KTM) and Jason Raines (Yam). GNCC series promoter Racer Productions is coordinating the effort with former National Enduro champ and ISDE Gold Medalist Jeff Russell in place as the team manager for the sixrider trophy team. More than just showing up and racing, Russell and Smith will go to Brazil to preview the course. Smith, a former Brazilian motocross champ, knows the local Portuguese language, which in conjunction with the trip will give the team a better idea on how to best prepare. Plus, they’ll have to teach Kiedrowski to change tires from a place other than a pit chair!
Italian plastics giant Franco Acerbis, who likes to throw some partymanship into his motorcycle races, will promote the 78th ISDE this year. No better place than Brazil! Promoter of such events as the Nevada and Incas Rallies, and always a big supporter of the ISDE, Acerbis is even thinking of adding more excitement to the event with a Supermotostyle final moto. This on top of already having the event based out of a vacation beach resort!
Qualifying for the remaining 34 open positions will take place at two qualifiers, one in Idaho and the other in New York. This allows riders to compete at the Olympics of Motorcycling on club teams, including the Junior Vase effort for riders under 23 years old, a Senior team and a Female rider.
Training camps will take place throughout the summer as the team will try and change their focus from the U.S. style of 3-hour GNCC racing to sprinting through special tests that last only minutes. Do we stand a chance, as no American team has ever won the event? “I hope we can win, but that is going to be tough-we’re playing their game,” says Smith, team captain, multi-time gold medalist and three time top American at the ISDE. “Realistically, I’m hoping for a podium so we can get the ball rolling and keep a strong Six Days effort going for years to come. Finally, someone stepped up and supported us, sending a strong team, and we can concentrate on riding.” Jimmy Lewis
