SPIES GETTING ACCLIMATED TO WORLD SUPERBIKE Texan finishes second fastest in South Africa testing MIDRAND, GAUTENG, South Africa (Dec. 12, 2008) Three-time AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies continued his transition into World Superbike this week with the completion of a successful three-day tire test aboard the factory Yamaha R1 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa. Spies ended the test with the second fastest overall lap time during the Pirelli testing session. The 24-year-old Texan clocked a lap of one minute, 39.978 seconds on the 2.6-mile, 13-turn Kyalami circuit. Spies was one of only three riders to break into the 1:39 bracket joining top runner Michel Fabrizio (1:39.714) and veteran Noriyuki Haga (1:39.984), who was third in the test. Spies overcame a tumble during Thursday’s session and returned strong Friday, turning his fast time late in the day. “A lot of the riders ran qualifying tires early in the morning session while I was running a race set up,” Spies said. “That put me down in the standings a bit most of the day, but I knew we had a lot in reserve.” Spies was right. When the dust settled after a late afternoon flourish of fast times on a cooler racing surface, Spies had turned in a solid performance with the second best time. His early success is considered somewhat surprising for many longtime World Superbike observers since Spies is riding a totally new machine, still early in development, and is visiting these circuits for the first time. “I’m really happy with the bike, the team and the progress we’re making,” Spies continued. “This was the first time we had the opportunity to go out and size ourselves up against everyone in a major test. We’re ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point. There are two more test sessions this winter and I expect the bike will continue to improve as we move towards the season opener at Phillip Island in March.” Spies was surprised by the exciting atmosphere and fan attendance for the test in South Africa. “We had more fans here for testing than we do at some races in the States,” Spies said. “The fan support here is pretty amazing. It was a good week to get to know some of the other riders too. I had a lot of them come up and shake my hand and welcome me to the series. Max Biaggi came up and talked with me for awhile. That was pretty awesome for me. I’ve been a fan of Max since I was a kid.” The biggest difference Spies sees between World Superbike and its American counterpart is the fact that testing seems to be taken more seriously. “In AMA there might be two or three guys in testing who get down to business from start to finish,” Spies admitted. “There’s no lollygagging here. No one’s going around doing wheelies the length of the straightaway. Everyone pushes hard here all the time. The competition is going to be good for sure.” Spies went on to say that he was looking forward to continued testing and is more than anxious for the season to get underway. The next test is slated for Portugal in late January. More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: HANNSPREE FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT TEAMS TYRE TEST 1O/11/12 DECEMBER THIRD DAY Kyalami, Friday 12th December 2008 Fabrizio (Ducati) tops tyre development testing times at Kyalami Michel Fabrizio was the revelation of the Pirelli tyre development tests at Kyalami, South Africa, in preparation for the 2009 FIM Superbike World Championship. The 24 year-old Ducati Xerox rider headed the timesheets on every day of the three-day test: in today’s final session he was quickest on both race tyres and qualifying rubber, on which he clocked the circuit’s unofficial fastest time of 1 minute 39.714 seconds. Ben Spies also came on strong again on the final day, despite having only one ’09-spec Yamaha R1 available after his big crash on Thursday. The AMA Superbike champion powered back up to second place on soft Pirelli qualifiers towards the end. Third quickest time went to the other factory Ducati machine of Noriyuki Haga, making his debut on the 1098 F09 in place of Troy Bayliss, who retired at the end of this season. The Hannspree Ten Kate Hondas were well up in the standings after three days of testing, with 22 year-old Jonathan Rea looking promising in fourth place ahead of 35 year-old Carlos Checa in fifth. An oil leak in the morning failed to prevent Max Biaggi from making a good impression on the Aprilia RSV4 in the new bike’s first face-off against its Superbike rivals: the Italian finished the test with a positive eighth quickest time, one second exactly off the pace of the leading Ducati. Troy Corser had a harmless crash in the morning on his BMW S1000RR machine, the other major new entry in the 2009 season. The German bike is still slightly off the development pace in comparison with the other manufacturers but the experienced Australian is convinced that the potential is high. Three days of testing at Kyalami also allowed one-make tyre supplier Pirelli to develop the tyres that will be used in the 2009 championship, which gets underway on March 1st at Phillip Island in Australia. “In conditions of extreme heat we accumulated a lot of interesting data that confirms the positive development of our tyres” explained Pirelli’s Head of Racing Activities Giorgio Barbier. “The times were excellent but above all we are satisfied with performance over race distance. It’s going to be a great season.” In each one of the 14 rounds of next year’s championship, Pirelli will provide 3 or 4 front and rear tyre solutions: regulations stipulate that each rider can use a maximum of nine fronts and eleven rears. The next World Superbike pre-season tests will be from 23-25 January at Portimao (Portugal), where the development teams (one for each of the seven manufacturers present in the championship) will be joined by all the other teams. Final times: 1. Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1’39″714; 2. Spies (Usa-Yamaha) 1’39″978; 3. Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1’39″984; 4. Rea (GB-Honda) 1’40″035; 5. Checa (Spa-Honda) 1’40″170; 6. Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1’40″394; 7. Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki) 1’40″657; 8. Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1’40″768; 9. Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1’40″968; 10. Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1’41″067; 11. Corser (Aus-Bmw) 1’41″102; 12. Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1’41″562; 13. Xaus (Spa-Bmw) 1’41″996. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Xerox: FABRIZIO BREAKS RECORDS AS THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM CONCLUDES THREE-DAY KYALAMI TEST Kyalami (South Africa): Friday 12th December 2008: The Ducati Xerox Team has spent the last three days on track at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa, participating in the Pirelli tyre test session. On the third and final day both Ducati Xerox factory riders, Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, continued to make strong progress on board their 1098 F09 machines. In the first half hour of this final day, Michel went well under the 1m40s barrier, registering a flying lap of 1m39.7s on a qualifying tyre, the fastest lap ever made by a motorcycle at the Kyalami track. Noriyuki has built up confidence with his new Ducati F09, and leaves South Africa in a positive frame of mind. Nori also lapped in under 1m40, registering a fastest time today 1m39.9s, the third fastest time to be clocked this week. Michel Fabrizio “We tried qualifiers today and as I thought it allowed me to go just a little faster than I had so far. I was aiming to break the 1m40s barrier and succeeded, and even on the race tyre I managed 1m40 dead which wasn’t bad. This afternoon got more difficult as I was very tired after the non-stop riding but all things considered, I’m very happy with how the three days has gone. This winter I’m concentrating a lot on training and physical preparation so as to be as fit as possible in time for the opening round at Phillip Island.” Davide Tardozzi Team Manager “I’d say that for a first test session we are more than satisfied. Both our riders have worked very hard and the results speak for themselves, very positive. Haga has been working well with his new team and there have been no particular problems. We’re confident that we’ll be ready for the start of the new season.” TIMES: Day 3 –Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m39.7s; Spies (Yamaha) 1m39.9s; Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m39.9s; Rea (Honda) 1m40.0s; Checa (Honda) 1m40.1s; Neukirchner (Suzuki) 1m40.3s; Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m40.6s; Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m40.7s; Kiyonari (Honda) 1m41.0s; Corser (BMW) 1m41.1s; Nakano (Aprilia) 1m41.2s; Sykes (Yamaha) 1m41.5; Xaus (BMW) 1m42.0s More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Ten Kate riders complete successful Kyalami test The HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team this afternoon completed a comprehensive three-day test at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, where the World Superbike and Supersport championships will race again in May next year. Of the team’s five riders, only 2008 World Supersport champion, Andrew Pitt, was familiar with the circuit after the championships’ last visit to Kyalami in 2002. As well as learning the South African circuit near Johannesburg, the team tested different suspension set-ups and electronics packages, and new swingarm and suspension equipment on the Honda CBR1000RR Superbike. Jonathan Rea, CBR1000RR best time 1m40.035s The test has been really, really good and a lot of fun. We got through a huge amount of work and did a lot of laps. I’m in pretty good physical condition so I’m not suffering too much, but I’m pretty tired mentally. After my first World Superbike race in Portugal, which was pretty intense, it was good to get a bit more of a good feeling for the bike and I think that, with two tests still to come, we can be up at the front next year. It’s going to be a really exciting season but it’s clear we’ll have to be on it every weekend because the competition is going to be really strong. Carlos Checa, CBR1000RR best time 1m40.170s Yes, we did a lot of work here but we were not helped by some chatter which was difficult to dial out. It was my first time at Kyalami and, while the circuit is a lot of fun to ride, it’s very bumpy and one or two of the walls are a bit too close! The track surface is not everything it might be, especially at the chicane but we were able to try some different setups and some new parts to find a good direction. It was a bit difficult because of the chatter, but it should be fixed by the time we get to Portimao for the next test in January. Ryuichi Kiyonari, CBR1000RR best time 1m41.067s I like the circuit here but I was too slow! It was definitely coming better towards the end and I did more than 80 laps each day, I think. We tried some old settings to compare with the new components that we were testing and we began to find a good direction I think. I’m looking forward to a holiday back in Japan and then getting back to some more testing in Portugal in January. Kenan Sofuoglu, CBR600RR best time 1m42.8s After returning to the Supersport bike in Portugal, it was great for me to find that good feeling again. I’ve enjoyed myself very much at this test and got a great feeling for the bike. We’ve tried a lot of new tyres and new equipment but we won’t get to try the new CBR until Portugal. I think we will be strong there and I’m looking forward to it a lot. Andrew Pitt, CBR600RR best time 1m43.9s It was a good test really and we tried some new electronics, new forks and a shock. We got through a lot of stuff for the boys to look at when they get back to the workshop. The circuit was a lot more bumpy than I remember and rear grip was certainly an issue, but it’ll probably be about 25 degrees cooler when we come back in May! I’m looking forward to some time off in Australia now and then coming back strong in January to try the 2009 bike at Portimao. Ronald ten Kate team manager One of the main reasons for this test was for the riders to learn the Kyalami circuit but we had some new parts to try and some development tyres for Pirelli. On the Superbikes, we have tested new swingarm and suspension setups and electronics packages and there was a lot of variety for the riders to try. We got through a lot of work and have found a clear direction in which to develop the CBR1000RR. We’ll put this to the test at Portimao in January, when we’ll have fewer new items to try. We can be quite happy with the results of the test and know that there is clearly more to come. On the Supersport side of the garage, we were using 2008 machinery with some new parts, which were working quite well. We’ll build that knowledge into the new 2009 CBR600RR in time for its first test in Portugal. All in all, the team can go to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with their families in a very positive frame of mind. Our best wishes go to everyone from the whole team for a great holiday. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Motor Italia: Spies and Sykes put the 2009 WSB Yamaha R1 through its paces in South Africa 2009 Yamaha Motor Italia Superbike riders Ben Spies and Tom Sykes have endured some serious heat on their three day test in Kyalami. The young riders have endured track temperatures approaching 50 degrees C as they put the all-new-for-2009 Yamaha YZF-R1 through its paces on only its second outing on track. Spies was second quickest on day one with an impressive best lap time of 1’41″599(46 laps) in the African sunshine. Team mate Tom Sykes was struck down with a mysterious bug, and he only managed to put in some laps prior to returning to the hotel. Day two saw Spies fall in testing, so missing the final time on track, he still managed to improve on his day one times, finishing the day with a best lap of 1:41.049 (38 laps). Sykes managed to improve dramatically on day two with a best time of 1:42.933 (18 laps). The final day saw Spies pull in his fastest time of the test, taking second fastest honours overall and only a mere 0.2s behind Michele Fabrizio and beating Noriyuki Haga to the second spot, making him one of only three riders to break the 1.40 barrier with a time of 1:39.978. Tom Sykes was getting back on form until an unfortunate crash curtailed his testing for the day, he again improved on his times in the limited laps run with a 1:41.562. The re-entered Aprilia squad took 8th and 9th and the new for 2009 BMW factory team finished 11th and 13th. The new 998cc bike, featuring a high tech powerplant closely linked to the M1 MOTOGP bike, is currently at the very beginning of its development for the 2009 WSB season and is still relatively close to production specifications. The M1-derived crossplane crankshaft design and uneven firing interval, give very good traction to the bike and improved tyre life. The new chassis gives an unparallel feedback to the riders, improving stability and feeling out of corners. The WSB spec engine is being developed step by step, improving power output at each stage in the run up to the first race in 2009. So far the team’s minor modifications to the standard bike include a modified cam-shaft, an enlarged radiator for extra cooling and the addition of an oil cooler. The new bike has no rear sub-frame but incorporates a strengthened frame. The exhaust is unique, and was developed in partnership with Akrapovic. The standard fuel tank has also been replaced with an aluminium tank with increased capacity. The bike features the latest Magneti Marelli electronic systems. The new swing arm is also developed purely for the WSB race bike based on knowledge taken from the 2008 racing season. Since Portimao the team have changed the seating position slightly for both riders and taken the engine one step further in tuning. Ben Spies “I’m really happy with the bike, the team and the progress we’re making,” Spies continued. “This was the first time we had the opportunity to go out and size ourselves up against everyone in a major test. We’re ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point. There are two more test sessions this winter and I expect the bike will continue to improve as we move towards the season opener at Phillip Island in March. The fan support here is pretty amazing. It was a good week to get to know some of the other riders too. I had a lot of them come up and shake my hand and welcome me to the series. Max Biaggi came up and talked with me for awhile. That was pretty awesome for me. I’ve been a fan of Max since I was a kid. “In AMA there might be two or three guys in testing who get down to business from start to finish,” Spies admitted. “There’s no lollygagging here. No one’s going around doing wheelies the length of the straightaway. Everyone pushes hard here all the time. The competition is going to be good for sure.” Tom Sykes – “It’s been a tough test! I missed one and half days through this bug I’ve had so was a long way behind with laps. When I got out I still managed to get some good laps in and the team were brilliant, they improved the bike massively every time I came in. I’ve got a very sore shoulder from falling today but it’s nothing serious.” Massimo Meregalli Yamaha Motor Italia Team Manager – “In the end we tested almost everything while we were out here, tyres, different suspension set ups, different mappings and so on. We’ve found some good set ups to take forward to the next test. We’ve been waiting out for the evenings here for the temperature to drop so we could get back out on the track and try some new things. Both Tom and Ben have performed really well, it’s been really unfortunate that Tom has been held back by things out of his control. We’re still very much running in the new bike, this is only the second session since Portimao. All in all we are very satisfied, we know what our potential is and we are very happy.” The Yamaha Motor Italia Team move on to their next test in Portimao on 23 to 25th January 2009. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: BMW Motorrad Motorsport – Superbike World Championship – Test at Kyalami. Work to do, but the improvement continues. Munich/Kyalami, South Africa. The final day of the three-day Pirelli test provided Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport with both challenges and improvements, but in the end, the team left Kyalami in a positive frame of mind and ready to make further progress at the next outing. Troy and Ruben continued to try as many different ideas as possible and give valuable feedback to the team instead of chasing any lap times. Troy was happy that his fastest lap, on race rubber, was not far off the pace and a sign that there is still more to come. Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) posted the fastest lap of the test, with a time of 1:39.714. Second quickest was American Ben Spies (Yamaha), with Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) third. Troy Corser: I am reasonably happy with what we managed over these three days and Ruben and I have certainly given the team lots of info for them to work with. There was no point chasing lap times because we wanted to try different things and see what effect they had on the bike. It was so much hotter today than the past two days and it really wasn’t worth going out in the middle of the day. I think we made the right decision because hardly anybody went out either. It did cool off later in the afternoon and it would’ve been good to have gone a bit faster, but my bike had a bit of a problem and I wasn’t able to do it. I had a small crash today, when I lost the front end going into Wesbank, but wasn’t hurt at all. All in all, I am realistic about what we did here these three days and we ended up more or less as I expected, though possibly a bit better. The important thing is that we improved steadily throughout the three days and now we’ve got lots to work with for the next test. Ruben Xaus: Of course, I would’ve liked to have gone faster at the end, but that wasn’t the reason we came here. We came here to try and understand the bike and get it to do what we wanted it to do. Troy and I have different riding styles and he has a lot of experience with four-cylinders, so I always knew he would be faster than me here. But the important thing is that we have both given the team good feedback and now they will go away and work on what we have said. I am happy with our progress and happy that I finished without any crashes and now can enjoy Christmas fit and healthy and ready for next year. Rainer Baeumel, Project Leader: Yesterday we did go sideways a bit, but still managed to get a lot of useful information at the same time. Although our lap times weren’t so good, I felt that this test was very positive and it makes me optimistic about our next test. We are a new team and I am happy because everybody worked really well together and are very motivated about this challenge. It will be good for all of us to have a bit of rest now and then come back ready to continue the good progress at the next test. Final best lap times 1. Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1’39″714; 2. Spies (Usa-Yamaha) 1’39″978; 3. Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1’39″984; 4. Rea (GB-Honda) 1’40″035; 5. Checa (Spa-Honda) 1’40″170; 6. Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1’40″394; 7. Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki) 1’40″675; 8. Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1’40″768; 9. Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1’40″968; 10. Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1’41″067; 11. Troy Corser (Aus-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1’41″102;* 12. Sykes (GB-Yamaha)1’41″562; 13. Ruben Xaus (Spa-BMW Motorrrad Motorsport) 1’41″996.* More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Yukio Kagayama, Max Neukirchner and the Suzuki Alstare team left Kyalami circuit in South Africa in a positive frame of mind after three days of testing the all-new 2009 GSX-R1000 K9. A lot of work was completed in the three days, but the team used the available time well and gathered a lot of information and data, which they will take back the workshops and begin the work analysing all the information before preparing the bikes for the next test in January. Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) posted the fastest lap of the test with a time of 1:39.714. Second quickest was American Ben Spies (Yamaha) with Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) third. Max Neukirchner: “Generally I am happy about this test and the work we did here. It’s always difficult testing or racing at altitude, but we managed to try lots of different things and made a lot of progress. We changed the balance of the bike for the afternoon and I was doing a long run when the red flag came out and that prevented us getting some valuable data. We had some problems yesterday, but still went fast, but today we had problems and could not go fast! It wasn’t so hard to do good lap times, but it was hard to then shave off those fractions of a second and go even quicker. We have learned a lot about this new bike and my team and I are happy because we know that we’ll improve further at the next test. For me, it was important for me to understand this bike and I feel that I have achieved that goal.” Yukio Kagayama: “We changed the set-up today and in the morning we definitely improved from yesterday. For me, one of the problems was the bumpy track because that upset the bike a lot and made it difficult to ride smoothly. I wanted to do a lot of work with the engine, but maybe high altitude is not so good for working with the engine because we didn’t get the answers we wanted. We tried some tyres in the afternoon but when it was very hot – the track temperature went over 57 C – so the bike was not so easy to ride. But, don’t forget that this is a new bike and we have a lot to learn before we push at the front. “I feel positive though that we will meet this challenge.” Fastest laps of the 3 days: Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1’39″714; 2. Spies (USA-Yamaha) 1’39″978; 3. Haga (Jpn-Ducati) 1’39″984; 4. Rea (GB-Honda) 1’40″035; 5. Checa (Spa-Honda) 1’40″170; 6. Max Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki Alstare) 1’40″394; 7. Yukio Kagayama (Jpn-Suzuki Alstare) 1’40″675; 8. Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1’40″768; 9. Nakano (Jpn-Aprilia) 1’40″968; 10. Kiyonari (Jpn-Honda) 1’41″067; 11. Corser (Aus-BMW) 1’41″102; 12. Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1’41″562; 13. Xaus (Spa-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1’41″996. More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY OPTIMISTIC Although there were many ideas and things to try out at the three day Pirelli tyre test, Troy left Kyalami circuit optimistic about the future. He wasn’t able to challenge Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) for the fastest lap, but he was happy that his best lap (done on race rubber) was not as far off the pace as he had thought before the test began. Even a small crash today didn’t dampen his spirits, though one set of leathers are now fairly secondhand as a result! Italian Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) posted the fastest lap of the test, with a time of 1:39.714. Second quickest was American Ben Spies (Yamaha), with Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) third. Troy I am reasonably happy with what we achieved these three days because I always knew it wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, the times we did were a bit better than I thought they would be. We weren’t chasing lap times here because we wanted to get to understand the bike first and that’s why we also didn’t use any electronic aids, like traction control for example. It was really hot today and the track temperature hit 57 C and when it is that hot it is almost impossible to go faster. I had a small get-off today, up at Wesbank corner, when the front just went away from me going into the turn. We had put some stronger springs in the front shock and that helped on the brakes. It made the bike a little higher and the feeling was better, but then I lost the front end without warning and that was that. It was just a small slip and I didn’t hurt myself at all. We’ve improved steadily over these three days and that’s all one can ask for realistically. The team are all working well together and the mechanics and technicians now have a lot of data and info to think about for the next test in January next year. Now I am going to enjoy the break and spend a happy Christmas with my family and friends. Wishing you all happy holidays and a happy Christmas.