Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jamie Hacking recorded the fastest times in the Superbike and 600cc Supersport categories Tuesday morning during the Dunlop tire tests at Daytona International Speedway.

Hayden grabbed everyone’s attention early-on, with his first flying lap of the day on the 2002 Honda RC51. Hayden turned a 1:50.754 on a race tire, the fastest lap of the test by half-a-second. Hayden made a series of small changes to the bike in between short lapping sessions and went into the lunch break with a best time of 1:50.402 on a race tire.

According to Honda Team Manager Chuck Miller, the 2002-spec RC51 is supposed to be faster, lighter and have better handling but he did not know exactly what had been changed on the bike. Miller said that Hayden agreed that the bike was better in all three aspects. Miller also said that the single 2002 bike would be shared between Hayden, Miguel Duhamel and Kurtis Roberts.

After clocking a 1:50.81 on his last lap of the morning on a 2001 RC51, Roberts said that he was looking forward to getting on the new bike. Roberts, sporting a new Shoei helmet and Teknic riding gear, felt that the new bike was obviously better and faster. Many riders have changed personal equipment sponsors with Joe Rocket and Shoei increasing their presence among AMA professional riders.

Eric Bostrom turned his fastest time of the test so far at 1:51.081 just before becoming Tuesday’s first crash victim. Bostrom lowsided in the second horseshoe when he lost the front. Bostrom said, “It was no big deal. It seemed like I was going too slow to crash.”

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin and crew are continuing to test new parts on their 2002 GSX-R750. According to Yoshimura team members, Mladin, Yates and Hacking all have 2002-spec Superbikes, but Mladin was testing the team’s one-off parts before handing them down to Yates and Hacking for further evaluation. After testing a new, dual-canister exhaust on Monday, Mladin and crew were trying different fairing/windscreen/ram-air intake system combinations on Tuesday.

In the 600cc Supersport world, Hacking spent all morning turning laps on his GSX-R600 with new Crew Chief Jerry Daggett turning the wrenches. Hacking lapped at 1:54.432 to lead all 600cc testers. Other riders who dipped into the 1:54s on their 600s in Tuesday morning’s near-perfect weather conditions included Aaron Yates and Anthony Gobert. The key to Yates’ improved performance was “getting some sleep,” said Yoshimura Suzuki’s Chris Weidl. “Aaron was a little tired yesterday.”

Tuesday Morning’s Unofficial Times:
1. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:50.402
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:50.81
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:51.081
4. Pascal Picotte, Ducati 998, 1:52.398
5. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:52.434
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:52.489
7. Mike Hale, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:54.170*
8. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:54.321
9. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.432
10. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:54.773
11. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.799
12. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.892
13. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.018
14. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.223
15. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.392
16. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.655
17. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:55.935
18. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:57.995
19. Tripp Nobles, Buell Firebolt XB9R, 2:10.972

*Cut chicane on fast lap.