The Road To Daytona

The Road To DAYTONA

RACE WATCH

Team-Cycle World Attack Performance Kawasaki tackles the World Center of Racing

KEVIN CAMERON

THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW THE TEAM CYCLE WORLD ATTACK Performance Kawasaki came into being, what it took to get it to Daytona and how this improvised group of mechanics, crew chief, riders Eric Bostrom and JD Beach, and essential helpers fared once they got there. Here's the immediate outcome: Bostrom on the brandnew Kawasaki ZX-10R finished eighth in the second of Dayona's 15 lap AMA Pro American SuperBike races. Beach, a Daytona SportBike-class first-timer, finished fourth in the Daytona 200 on a Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Daytona is tension. Excited announc ers hailed the tight seven-rider pack at the front as the greatest racing ever seen in the Daytona 200. While Jason l)iSalvo on a Latus Motors Racing Ducati 848 EVO was taking the 200 checkers after long race delays, other riders in the same ducking-and-weaving pack were tangling and going down at 1 75 mph just off the east banking. One of their bikes, riderless, shot in front of another rider and hammered itself to scrap against the outside retaining wall. Despite the deadly fortune in kinetic energy that had to be dissipated. no one was injured. On Lap 28, Geico RMR's l)anny

Eslick was just coming off that banking when the front tire of his Suzuki CISX-R600 somehow lost traction, caus ing a low-side crash. Man and bike slid a long way, and there was time in which to see [slick managing his deceleration and staying clear of the bike. That crash, combined with Dunlop personnel find ing signs of heat degradation on several front tires during the early pit stops, caused AMA Pro Racing to red flag the race. During the 2¼-hour delay, SPEED TV timed-out to cover NASCAR truck race qualifying.

When the race restarted, there was a Lap 1 crash and another red flag. Much of the first restart delay had been oc cupied in refitting each bike with a "countermeasure" front tire, said to be a light-carcass (meaning cool-running) SuperBike front, cured in a DOT mold. None of these details can be verified because there is no one in this world as shy as a tire engineer when racing rubber is coming apart. To its credit, Dunlop did call a post-race press conference. Not only was the day extra-long but its events whipsawed everyone backand-forth between extreme fear and relief, elation and disappointment. Those who see closer racing as the salvation of our sport have plenty to think about. Will they plan on being lucky every time? Should riders practice "formation flying" until it becomes 100 percent risk-free? Maybe soothing doses of benzodiazepine for all riders? Just a few years ago, the Daytona course was shortened, eliminating the west bank ing. The official story then was that this would break the draft in super-close Supersport races, space out the field and prevent formation of the tight rider packs that were then considered liable to turn into tangled rafts of fallen and tum bling bikes and riders. Later, that idea became "inoperative." The Long Course was restored for the 200. Last season, Cycle World Managing Editor Matthew Miles conceived the

project of putting together a privately built SuperBike using one of the several top riders lacking a ride. The idea would be to see if new DMG/AMA Pro tech rules would really allow a modest, nonfactory team to be competitive. As it turned out, the Cycle World Attack Performance Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 American SuperBike and rider Eric Bostrom started on the front row by their third event. How, in a down economy, could this be? Where did the not inconsiderable money, parts and per sonnel come from? They came, ultimate-

ly, from the opportunity that this team offered (and from Miles' address book!). At the end of that modest epic, it seemed wrong to switch off what had been created. Would Kawasaki like to join with Cycle World and Attack Performance to prove the reliability of its new 2011 ZX-1OR? The eventual de cision was "yes," but it didn't come un til February. Richard Stanboli at Attack Performance had race-prepared ZX-6R cylinder heads and quick-fill gas tanks in boxes, so it made sense to broaden the program to include entries in the

be Eric Rostrom ,i~ SuperBike,: and fl~strom and~rising star K) Beaôh in Daytona SportBike--the 200. That left six weeks in which to prep six bikes and fit in four track tests-one at Daytona itself, 3000 miles away from the team's California headquarters. Going racing used to mean picking up a crated Yamaha TZ250 at a dealer, setting it up, then putting it, spares, gas cans and tools into your van and driving to Daytona. Today, it requires equipping new bikes with aftermarket suspension, wheels, brakes and data system with sensors and racing ECU. Bodywork has to be found, painted, fitted and all spon sor decals positioned as per agreement. Then loading it all in your 18-wheeler. Meanwhile, who's paying? And when? Corporations accelerate slowly, and decision-making requires endless phone calls, meetings, compromises. Yes, people and organizations want to par ticipate-that was the great discovery in assembling last year's CWteam. But they want favorable terms. Getting to "yes" feels every day as though every thing is unraveling. Half of the February Daytona tire test was rained out, giving time to finish machine build. SuperBike engines were ready but stock. Redline? "We'll plug it off at about 14,000," said Stanboli. "The Suzuki last year was 14,400. We'll feel our way." Stanboli was positive, busi nesslike. He writes his own software, his company machines its own trick pieces. Crewmen routed wiring for sen sors, fitted forks, wheels, brakes.

With better weather, Bostrom went out. As he came by the first time, the crew exhaled tension. "It's stable!" someone said. The new electronic reality takes get ting used to. Stanboli explained, "The bike ECU starts on just the crank sensor with a wasted spark. Once the engine fires, it `finds' the cam sensor and switches off the wasted spark." Bostrom was in twice for a tooth off the backgearing up! The monitor shows Eric at 186 mph. "And it's bone-stock," dead panned Stanboli.

Testing is its own world: suspension changes, ride heights. "The bike is piv oting around the rear~' said Bostrom. "The front is diving too quickly." He did more laps, came in and said, "The front is light in NASCAR Four. It's push ing." There is discussion of the effect of the winter repaving of the oval. More grip means harder acceleration-and a lighter front that pushes. Back to California, building engines, hoping the 20mm-longer kit swingarm may be approved (it wasn't), a test at Buttonwillow, another at Chuckwalla,

Led by crew chief Richard Stanboli, Attack Performance built six motorcycles-two American SuperBikes and four Daytona SportBikes-in just six weeks. Kawasaki employees Jeff Herzog (kneeling) and Joey Lombardo provided at-the-track support.

always generating information and problems. Every time the big truck rolls out, it must be a fully stocked operating base for the team. When Stanboli can't be found, he's "up in the office" at the front of the trailer with the laptop open, trying to find the pattern of a solution in the rows of wiggly lines that graph sus pension travel, rpm, throttle angle. Dutchman Sander Donkers is our veteran data man, always nearby with his long blue cord to plug into the latest information flood. The X-Y pad on his laptop is worn shiny in the middle from use. That 7-pound laptop is a thousand pounds of file cabinets. Daytona is just Thursday, Friday and Saturday now. Thursday was cold, with rain in the morning. Everyone needs the time because "ready" has only compara tive meaning. There is always more to do. Practice began. No more NASCAR Four push. Why not? Bostrom said, "We have a new [rear suspension] link. It was just blowin' through the old one." One of the 600s gets through the speed trap at 174. There is chatter. Traction control on the SuperBike isn't working-the toothed discs on the new wheels are too far from the sensors. Front/rear balance isn't right. Bostrom is in the pit again, bouncing on the front with a look of concern on his usually so cheerful face. Mike Fitzgerald, our Ohlins tech, has one 600 front end apart. "I'm basically

putting the SuperBike fork on this bike. Eric likes the way it copies the bumps." No moment is empty. Friday morning: No chatter but it's cold. Cold tires don't grip and can't chatter. The heavier SuperBike has grip. Timing says Bostrom is 10th in 200 practice. Beach is fourth. Things are looking up! On the SuperBike, Bostrom's 194 mph is fifth-highest top speed. Where did he get 8 mph since the February test? As he comes past start! finish, the engine makes a crackling sound; it's into the rev-limiter. Time to take a quarter-tooth off the back... There are two SuperBike races, Friday

and Saturday, 15 laps each, on the 2.9mile Short Course. Just a few years ago, we were told that Daytona can't allow anything going more than 180 mph on its track-tire loading is too great, the consequences of tire failure too negative. Okay, the 200 became a middleweight race (Formula Xtreme) and SuperBikes use only the east bank ing and infield. SuperB ike Race 1: One of the Aussie Dave riders, number 26, dives under Bostrom in Turn 3, loses the front, takes out both bikes. That's racing-today, anyway. Four men pull parts off our second SuperBike like it's their day job,

making one good one out of all the best bits. Graves Yamaha rider Josh Hayes leads the restarted race, pursued by the Rockstar Makita Suzukis of Blake Young and Tommy Hayden. Hayes does everything perfectly ("He hit all his marks," said Young later) but it's not enough. The others grind their way forward. It's Young, Hayden and Hayes at the end. "I've got four motorcycles to build overnight," said Stanboli. It's a long one. Bright lights, cold pizza. The crashed SuperBike spent 12 seconds on its side, running. No oil. Saturday morning, on the dyno, it checked okay. Later that morning, it tripped the timer at 199.07mph. Do we believe it? In 1974, that timer said 193 for a bike with 80 fewer horsepower. Little details: Service life for 600 top ends is 500k (310 miles), and 1000k for the bottom end. Nobody changes oil in these four-strokes--they just add. The oil lasts as long as the engine. The crew set up the overhead gantry that supports the lines for air tools over the pit lane, and the practice gas/tire

change stops were run. Today, Bostrom's bike has grip. Yesterday "The tire was like a stone. I think it was a bad tire," he said. Hayes led SuperBike Race 2 with big, smooth slides. Bostrom finished eighth. Again, the Suzuki man, Young, takes it. Now, I hear that Beach chunked a front tire this morning. And his 600 went through the speed trap at 180 mph.

The Daytona 200 started and the previously described events unfolded. In the subsequent Dunlop press confer ence, we learned that they had examined "every square inch" of Danny Eslick's front tire and found nothing wrong. Eslick described that tire as "tuckin' and tuckin" all around the circuit. Respect for all parties makes it hard to reconcile their statements. Experience shows that multi-brand tire competition forces each maker close to the edge to keep the others from get ting between. A spec tire is believed to improve safety by making such brink manship unnecessary, allowing the provision of generous safety margins. AMA Pro Road Racing is a spec-tire series, and Dunlop, the sole provider, explained that the uncontrolled variable had been a track temperature higher by 23 degrees Fahrenheit than expected. Other questions arise. Much has been claimed for a tight connection between closer racing and spectator attendance. The 2011 Daytona 200 was racing as close as it can be made-actual contact. Look at the footage. Look for spectators. A few days after the races, the DMG/ AMA issued what can only be called a letter of apology, which cleared up the causes of the delay, questions about the winning bike having been "over the wall" during that delay, and the decision-making processes throughout. This is a welcome departure from the haughty tone of previous management. There is hope. Team Cycle World Attack Performance Kawasaki rider JD Beach was officially scored fourth in the Daytona 200. He led the race twice and showed judg ment in staying with, but not within, the turbulent lead group. He is a force to reckon with. There will be other races.

"The crashed SuperBike spent 12 seconds on its side, running. No oil. Saturday morning, on the dyno, it checked okay. Later, it tripped the timer at 199.07 mph."