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Vicki Schouten (16)
Vicki is our Online Editor. She is also one of Canada's top female road racers having won the 2009 Expert Women's Championship and is one of a select few females to hold a Pro Road Race license in Canada, racing against the guys. She continues to dabble in road racing and has been known to try her hand at ice riding as well.
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Andy Cule's Supermoto blog (4)
Andy Cule is a Canadian Pro Supermoto racer. Andy had a tremendous first year in Pro in 2011, finishing second in both the Canadian National Supermoto and Ontario Provincial Supermoto Pro Open classes, as well as placing second in the CAN-AM ENAC's SMX class. Andy's hungry for a championship in 2012!
Dan Kruger (2)
Dan Kruger is a Montreal-based Superbike racer competing in the Pan Delta Series in China. He finished third in the series’ Superbike standings in 2011 and will race the series again in 2012 on his Monster Energy-backed Kawasaki ZX-10R. Kruger also finished 10th overall at the renowned Phillip Island 8 Hour Australian Endurance Championship in November 2011.
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Colin Fraser (7)
Inside Motorcycles road test editor and columnist, road racer, race director…the list goes on. Fraser has been a part of the motorcycling and racing scenes in Canada for 30 years. The man is a wealth of knowledge and will be blogging from his memory bank of noteworthy stories, races and events.
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Andrew Trevitt (7)
One of Canada's best known motorcycle racers and journalists, and former road race champion, Andrew has returned home to Canada following a successful stint in Los Angeles. While he continues to freelance as senior editor for L.A.-based Sport Rider, Andrew also joins the Inside Motorcycles team with a bi-weekly blog.
View Blogs...Remembering the First World Superbike Race – Part Four
Posted by IM Admin
Twenty Five years ago, the newly invented Superbike World Championship opened up at Donington Park in England, with an event that few involved fully understood in terms of structure and rules, but few can argue with from a 2012 perspective. If it’s important to start a new series off with a crazy, exciting debut, then Donington 1988 certainly delivered.
North Americans were the acknowledged Superbike class experts, but the FIM rules were based on AMA guidelines as well as both the World Endurance (very big at the time, especially with the Suzuka eight hour race in Japan at Honda’s home circuit) and the TT-Formula One Series. When the Isle of Man lost World Championship status in the late 1970s, the TT-F1 class was established to provide a “real road racing,” production based category that would be centered on the Isle of Mann.
TT-F1 (street circuit) stalwarts were suspicious of SBK, and the fight for an event at Assen in 1988 helped save TT-F1 as a World title series. To some extent, SBK relied on TT-F1 regulars to fill the grid fir their first few races.
As well, TT-F1 was a class for four-strokes, not the 125cc/250cc/500cc established hierarchy of the Grand Prix premier series, and attracted the small European builders such as Bimota and Ducati.
1987 TT-F1 World Champs Bimota were undoubtedly the favorites for the new Superbike world crown, partially because they had made it clear that the new series was their primary focus –the small Italian boutique builder pulled out of TT-F1 to put all of their trick alloy eggs in the SBK basket.
Honda U.K. supported Carol Fogarty would win the 1988 TT-F1 title from three other Brit based racers and use that success as an eventual springboard to the World SBK tour. Eventually, even with Isle of Man support, the TT-F1 World Championship would disappear as street circuits became less popular and the upstart SBK tour built steam.
Bimota also dumped their quick but erratic long time leader and TT-F1 title winner, Virginio Ferrari (a late 1970s Kenny Roberts G.P. rival) and picked rising stars Davide Tardozzi and Stephane Mertens to ride their new YB4s. The beam framed YB4s were ground breaking for their time, featuring Yamaha’s trick five valve per cylinder engine mated to Bimota-sourced fuel injection. Did the Rimini-based firm actually produce the 200 units required for FIM homologation? Bimota probably built the required number, over time, eventually.
The biggest shock in the Donington paddock was the Ducati transporter, complete with the first official viewing of the iconic 851, “Superbike” written large across the fairing. This was the street bike debut of a prototype racer first seen in “Battle of the Twins” action at Daytona as well as the Bol d’Or 24 Hour event.
1981 500cc Grand Prix Champ for Suzuki, famed charmer Marco Lucchinelli, was on hand to handle this sole Desmo twin, and the bike was so “one off” in build quality that it was hard to imagine that the tooling existed to produce 200 identical machines. Nonetheless, FIM reps had visited Bologna and viewed the required number of Ducatis. Today, every single one is a collector’s item!
The Japanese manufacturers had agreed to support Superbike through distributor/dealer teams, and it would be a while before the major influence of the Italian companies caused the big Jap builders to go all-in. As mentioned earlier, the restriction on over-bore and requirement for stock carbs discouraged Suzuki and Kawasaki, while Yamaha’s aluminum framed FZRs had yet to replace (on the track) the now-outdated steel-chassis FZ model.
Even without direct manufacturer support for SBK, some TT-F1 stars (including Anders Andersson’s Suzuki effort) and well-supported World Endurance teams (Suzuki and Kawasaki France) would provide a solid presence in the first couple of seasons.
The primary Japanese machine expected to feature in the inaugural Superbike Championship season was a Honda. The “big H” had made a solid commitment to the production-based categories with their ground-breaking, brand-new, ultra trick, and very expensive, RC30. The v-four design featured an alloy frame and single-sided swing arm, but most of those entered at Donington were close to stock in set-up.
While the RC30 would eventually stamp its mark of authority on most production-oriented classes of international racing, it would become a solid symbol of success at the Isle of Man. Hence it was no shock that Honda U.K. supported Donington entries for local heroes Joey Dunlop, Roger Burnett and Kenny Irons. Soon, all kinds of RC30s from every country in Europe would be filling the majority of the SBK grid.
The Honda pilot who didn’t quite fit with the rest of this factory-approved group was American Fred Merkel. The former AMA Champ had been dumped by American Honda, and had reinvented himself as a Superbike missionary when Italy started a series for street-based machinery in 1987. Riding for famed owner(and former bike builder) Oscar Rumi, Merkel did wonders on a kitted VFR, and knew all about the secret, non-kit trick bits required to make a v-4 Honda perform.
Merkel liked the RC30 to look at, but wasn’t happy with the level of tuning provided by the over-the-counter “kit” parts. He thought the RC30 was heavy and lacked top end against the Bimotas, but was committed to racing the bike “as is” – with the belief that solid early showings would put him on the short list for the best, updated tuning parts.
As every Honda-supported insider would soon learn, you needed to show well at events leading up to the home race (in 1988, it was late August at Sugo) to be entitled to the un-listed bits that would ensure that you were one of the few “haves” that got the most from your v-four.
One lesson I was taught when I first started racing was that you should always be either on the throttle or on the brakes, as time spent without one or the other applied is lost "coasting." By coasting, you are letting engine braking (or lack of it) control your speed, rather than controlling it yourself with the throttle or brake. Granted, there are some rare occasions where it may work out correctly that the engine provides just the exact amount of braking you want. But more often than not, you — the rider — can do better. Sometimes coasting indicates the rider is overcautious getting on the throttle at the apex of a turn, but an extended amount of coasting can indicate that there is an opportunity for a burst of throttle (and corresponding braking), and that opportunity is being missed.
Using data acquisition, we can look more closely at time spent coasting, and pinpoint areas that could use some attention from the rider. My article in the current issue of Inside Motorcycles talks about utilizing sensors that are already on your bike with a data acquisition system, and here we can use the throttle position sensor and brake switch in particular. Combining the two signals using a math channel, it's possible to find exactly how much time during a particular lap that a rider spends coasting.
The graph shows data for two riders at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada on the same bike — a stock Suzuki GSX-R750. On a typical lap of just under two minutes, the less experienced rider coasts for 12.5 seconds. The more experienced rider, lapping three seconds faster, coasts for just 4.7 seconds. While some of the difference is accounted for in shifting and the transition from throttle to brake at the end of each straight, a significant chunk of the time is found when each rider releases the brake and applies the throttle at the apex of each turn. The less experienced rider takes up to a second for that transition, while the more experienced rider is typically in the 0.3-second range.
Picking up the throttle quicker reduces time spent coasting, and it also settles the bike's suspension and takes load off the front tire. It's worth noting as well that, in some cases, just picking up the throttle is not enough; at higher speeds or in an uphill turn, it can take as much as 30 percent throttle on a middleweight bike just to hold a constant speed. Any less, and you can consider it coasting.
Another big difference between our two riders is in combinations of corners on the track. Where two corners are close together — for example, at about the 1000-foot mark on the diagram — the more experienced rider fits in a burst of throttle followed by a very short braking period in between, while the less experienced rider uses just a modest amount of throttle and relies on engine braking for slowing into the second turn. These short sections make up another large portion of the difference in coasting time, and have a larger effect on lap time as well.
Keep in mind that while having a data acquisition system is useful for putting numbers and graphs to coasting and seeing improvements, it's not a necessity. Like many aspects of riding, once you are aware of the issue and keep it in mind while on the track, you may find it quite apparent.
A number of people have asked about what it takes to prepare their motorcycle for a track day. Getting your sportbike ready for your first track riding experience is actually a lot easier than you might think.
While it’s still best to check with your track day organizer as to their technical requirements, the majority of the items you need to address are similar for all track day organizations.
As you get more proficient at track riding, you may wish to speak to the local tire vendor about the track day tire options that best suit your needs, but for your first track day this is not necessary.
This picture of Casey Stoner at last year's Spanish Grand Prix at Catalunya shows the Australian using every possible centimetre of the track mid-corner. It illustrates, quite graphically, the importance of riding as closely as possible to the apex in each turn. Other pictures show Stoner even riding right over the curb at the apex of some corners. Keeping such a tight apex in a corner shortens the overall distance, even if only by a small amount, and in turn saves time that can add up to a significant amount over the course of a lap. To a certain extent, missing an apex and taking a wider radius around a corner is not that critical, because you can carry more speed on that bigger radius. That extra speed, however, cannot be enough to offset the extra distance travelled unless lateral acceleration (and lean angle) also increases.
A look at the relationships between speed, time, distance and lateral acceleration shows that this is especially important in slower corners. Turn 5B at Mosport—now Canadian Tire Motorsport Park—has a radius of approximately 10 metres and covers a 90-degree arc. Miss your apex by just one metre here and the extra distance will cost you close to a tenth of a second, even if you increase your speed accordingly. Because speeds are higher in faster corners, the time lost is not as great. But there is another aspect to consider: Miss an apex in any turn, and you are essentially extending the straights before and after the corner. For example, in a 180-degree turn such as the turn 4 carousel at Shannonville, if you are one metre wide at the apex of the turn you are adding two metres in distance travelled—one on the preceding straight and one on the succeeding straight. You can't offset that distance no matter how much additional speed you can carry in the corner; it is simply extra distance that must be made up.
The reality is that most trackday riders and many racers don't use that last metre of pavement at the apex. And when they do use those wide lines, they don't increase their corner speed accordingly. This ends up making the fast corners as critical as the slow turns. Obviously, the absolute shortest distance around the track is not the quickest, but it's important to not add any unnecessary distance. It may sound trifling to be worrying about a metre here and there, but it adds up over a full lap. With GPS-based data acquisition, it's possible to measure accurately the actual distance a rider travels on a lap of the track, and the results can be quite surprising. Even with expert-level riders, I have seen variances up to 15 metres from lap to lap on a typical track, which translates to as much as half a second. Races are won and lost on much less than that.
Another benefit of monitoring distance around the track is that it gives a measure of consistency. When I worked with WERA racer Javelin Broderick last summer, I had him think about distance and making his apexes each lap for an entire track day. Over the course of the day, his variance in distance from lap to lap dropped from 20 metres in the first session to just three metres in the last session of the day, a significant reduction. Lap times likewise came down and became more consistent.
Casey Stoner and other MotoGP riders are obviously working hard to minimize unnecessary distance around the track to save every last tenth of a second in lap time, but even club racers and trackday riders can realize significant benefits from some attention in this area.
Remembering the First World Superbike Race – Part Three
Posted by IM Admin
It’s hard to imagine now, but 25 years ago the World Superbike series staged its first ever event at Donington Park in the UK Midlands as part of a busy April long weekend of racing. The crazy busy program included Eurolantic (formerly Match Races) Challenge events at Brands Hatch, just south of London. The series then moved on to Donington, where the Sunday Superbike races would be followed by the completion of the Eurolantic Series on the Easter Monday bank holiday.
SBK technical inspection prior to on-track activity at Donington made it clear that there was a set of rules as specified by the FIM, and the British ACU organizers were going to apply the standards, as you would expect for a World Championship round.
This was something of a problem for the North American contingent, since “our” bikes differed from the new World standard in two main areas: displacement and carburetors. Most American and Canadian racers over-bored to pick up a little engine size, usually around 20cc's, but the FIM Rulebook required stock displacement. Carbs were required to match those provided on the homologated road machine, and again most North Americans had aftermarket racing carbs from Mikuni.
Paddock gossip at Donington suggested that some allowances could be made for the North Americans, but in the end the rules stood as printed, no exceptions – back room dealings didn’t cloud these results.
American Honda did not officially support the activities of Bubba Shobert at the event, but there was no doubt the flat track ace turned road racer had something to prove in his first real England outing. The year before, Shobert had travelled to the UK for the Easter series, but broke his wrist in a crash while practicing for the Brands Hatch opener. In his much-anticipated 1988 UK race debut, Shobert wanted to feature.
Previously, Fred Merkel, Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Rainey had used the Match Races as a springboard to the GP scene, and Shobert planned to take the same route—hence his decision to take advantage of the Eurolantic Challenge start money offering as a boost for the first-ever World Superbike event.
While several of the national distributor teams entered the brand new and trick Honda RC30 at Donington, Shobert was on the ultra well-developed VFR, an earlier version of Honda’s potent v-four platform. Shobert’s bike was in fact ex-Rainey, probably the most aggressively developed machine at the track, and that included some very trick non-homologated unobtanium carbs—or at least that was the rumor in the paddock.
Of course, tuners will tell you that you can always have one item installed to pass through tech and then substitute the preferred part prior to taking to the track. The problem is, if you do well, you will have to attend a post-race inspection too—right after impound—with little chance to swap out parts.
At Yoshimura-Suzuki, the beautiful AMA series GSX-R750s of Doug Polen and Scott Gray featured lots of trick mods, and their bigger displacement and aftermarket carbs meant that an entry for Sunday’s pair of Superbike races was out of the question. The stars of the Daytona 200 a month earlier would be spectators for the World Superbike opener, then rejoin the action on Monday for the completion of the Match Races.
Shobert, on the other hand, wanted to race on Sunday, and did. However his VFR was delayed after the warm-up lap, and missed the start due to some kind of vapor lock or similar problem. From there, Shobert charged through the pack, setting the fastest lap of the weekend, but not figuring in the results.
To this day, some argue his delay was real, while most view Shobert’s start-line difficulties as a way to show his pace without having to undergo scrutineering.
It’s also interesting to note that the Donington opener was scored on aggregate, similar to Motocross GPs of the day, with the two race results combined to offer one overall standing. This meant that you needed to do well in both rounds, and Shobert was out of it before things really got going. For the next set of races, round two at the Hungaroring, and every World Superbike event since, the result of each race stands separately, every race scoring series points.
And what of the two Texas-based AMA stars? Polen edged Shobert for the unofficial title of top individual scorer for the Eurolantic Challenge, with four wins to Shobert’s two. No one else won a race, but the depth of the U.K. team meant they earned the team title for the home squad. The Brits finished with a total of 586 points, the injury-depleted Americans next at 570. The Euro crew, most of whom didn’t both to race on Monday following SBK One at Donington, were third at 287 points, and UK Two was the the last place team at 281.
You might have noticed that my training blog, which is normally published on Tuesdays, has arrived a day late this week. I have to confess, it’s because I have fallen victim to the cold and flu season, just in time for Spring! Awesome.
Falling ill is something that happens to all of us at one point or another throughout the season. Whether it’s the common cold or flu or something a little more serious, the question you often hear from athletes, including motorcycle racers, is “Should I train when I am sick?”
While very little research has been done on training when you’re ill, the general rule of thumb is that if the symptoms are above the neck and you have no fever, then it’s safe to train (unless you’re talking about a concussion and that’s a whole other matter that I’ll talk about at a later date). My own rule of thumb has been to listen to your body. If you’re feeling worn down and you start to show signs of illness, taking 1-2 rest days from training will provide your body with a much needed break.
During that time, you’ll want to get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water and lay off alcohol and coffee that will only serve to dehydrate you.
Should you decide to continue training despite having a cold or minor illness, then you might want to consider scaling back your training and reducing the workload and duration of your exercise sessions until you feel better. Consider doing light, easy cardio sessions or reducing your strength sessions by 25%. There are in fact some studies that suggest that exercising while you have the common cold does not do any harm, and may in fact even make you feel better. Of course, it’s important to use common sense, and if you’ve got a fever or aches and pains it’s likely best to avoid training. If your symptoms worsen with training, then you should refrain from doing your workouts until you are feeling better.
If you’re following a training plan and you opt to take a few days to recover from illness, the next question a lot of athletes often ask is, “Once I feel better, where do I pick up my workout program again? Do I start where I left off or attempt the next scheduled training session as if I never took time off?” This is a tough call, but any trainers I have ever had throughout the years have always told me to simply begin with the next workout on my training plan, without trying to make up the lost workouts. If you’ve been training on a regular basis, it’s okay to miss a day or two and jump right back into the swing of things once you’re better. The situation is of course a little different if you’re off due to illness or injury for more than 2-3 weeks, at which point you probably want to consult with a doctor about your return to training, and ease yourself back into your workouts.
At the end of the day rest is just as important as training and our bodies are very good about telling us when we need a break. If you’re sick with a common cold or flu, then listen to what your body is telling you and give it the rest it needs. If you treat your body with proper rest, water and nutrition, you’ll bounce back in no time!
Analyzing GPS data - lateral and longitudinal acceleration
Posted by IM Admin
In the current issue of the magazine and in my last blog, I talk about GPS-based data acquisition systems and touch on some of the GPS channels available. As a tool to improve your riding, the accurate position data and segment times available from a GPS-based system are the most useful information, but the lateral and longitudinal acceleration channels are also very helpful. Longitudinal acceleration refers to acceleration in a straight line, with a positive value to indicate what we normally call acceleration and a negative value for braking. Lateral acceleration is an effective measure of cornering performance and what automotive people test on a skidpad.
One common misconception that many riders have is that "faster" is better, and that speed is the most important variable. But in reality, on the racetrack we are trying to minimize the lap time; more speed does not always equate to less time. For example, you can go faster in a given corner by taking a wider line, but because you are going further it may actually take you longer to complete the same arc. Lateral and longitudinal acceleration data is irrespective of speed or distance, and gives a much more accurate representation of performance than does speed alone. In general, more lateral acceleration through a given corner or more longitudinal acceleration on a straight corresponds to quicker lap times.
There are limits to lateral and longitudinal acceleration based on physics, the motorcycle and the tires used, but mostly it comes down to tires and traction. For example, most motorcycles are capable of braking at just over 1 G of longitudinal acceleration, limited partly by the rear tire coming off the ground but also the front tire locking up. Acceleration in a straight line is limited by the engine's performance, but - again - also by the rear tire's traction. And lateral acceleration is determined almost completely by the tires. How close a rider gets to these maximum values is one indication of effort and skill, and is easily seen in the raw lateral and longitudinal acceleration data.
For experienced riders that can regularly reach those limits of lateral and longitudinal acceleration, the next aspect to consider is how quickly the rider can get to, and stay at, those limits. Expert-level riders can get to maximum braking of 1 G at the end of a straight in about 1 second, and hold that level of braking through the entire braking zone. Likewise, expert-level riders quickly and smoothly transition the motorcycle to maximum lean (and maximum lateral acceleration) and hold that value all the way through the corner. Manipulation of the raw GPS data helps here; math channels can show braking G or cornering G separately, and a derivative channel will show the rate of change.
Another measure of riding skill is how well the rider combines lateral and longitudinal acceleration by trail braking into a corner or accelerating out of a corner while leaned over. This can be shown graphically in several ways, but the most interesting method is to use an X-Y plot of the two acceleration channels. This plot, commonly referred to as a G-G plot, effectively shows the traction circle and how close the rider is to utilizing the maximum available traction (shown by acceleration) at any given time. Some data acquisition software allows you to create such graphs; with others you may have to export the data to Excel and make your own.
The G-G plot shown here displays data from an entire practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's Classic Course, with Javelin Broderick aboard his Yamaha YZF-R6. You can quickly and easily see how hard Javelin is braking and cornering, as well as how much trail-braking he uses and how much acceleration while leaned over. Any points outside the general cluster of the graph require further investigation from both safety and performance aspects. This is just one way to combine and display the lateral and longitudinal acceleration data, but is generally considered the best for showing the most information in a simple format.
If you have been following my blog, you’ll notice that I’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about some specific drills, exercises and routines that help you become a faster motorcycle racer or trackday rider. I know what you’re thinking, “That’s great Vicki, but I’m still fairly new to this sport and I just want to learn the basics!” Good news, you’re not alone, and sometimes even the pro’s have to go back to basics once in a while.
Whether you’re new to trackday riding, or you just want to hone your skills, there are a number of track riding schools in North America to suit your needs. Here are three of my favourites.
The program is taught in a three-phase approach, with the first phase involving a one-day program that covers corning, lines, counter steering, lean angle, traction, throttle control, upshifting, downshifting, braking, body position and other track riding basics. Phases 2 and 3 help riders further perfect the basics and introduce techniques that lead to more precision and confidence on the track and are also taught in a one day program each.
Having taken the first two phases of the FAST riding school, I would highly recommend this course to both beginner and advanced riders. Michel and his instructors offer a tremendous wealth of both knowledge and experience and all are very friendly and approachable. At least half of the Canadian road racers I know learned from the FAST Riding School at some point in their career. Michel and his crew are extremely passionate about the sport and Michel has forgotten more about riding motorcycles than most of us will ever learn. In my opinion, Michel Mercier is one of the best things to happen to Canadian road racing and I’m happy he continues to share his wealth of knowledge and experience through his schools.
Taught at Shannonville Motorsport Park, the track is also quite beginner friendly with no blind corners or elevation changes, and plenty of run-off room in the event of off-track excursions. Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki motorcycles are available for rent along with appropriate riding gear, or you can bring your own motorcycle and riding equipment.
I’ve recommended the FAST Riding School to several friends and not once have they been disappointed. Book early as space in the FAST Riding School tends to fill up quickly! Often courses are sold out as early as February or March. Book now as I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
The school is divided into classroom sessions and on track sessions and cover key points such as visual awareness, body position, lines and reference points, gear selection, braking and staying smooth and building confidence. In addition to the small instructor to student ratio, extra instructors also circulate the racetrack taking on board video footage of all riders. The video is then downloaded and reviewed in the classroom sessions and everyone gets a turn being critiqued on camera!
Road Atlanta is much more challenging and technical than Shannonville Motorsport Park, with plenty of elevation changes and blind corners to keep everyone honest. It is similar to Mosport in terms of the track design and remains today one of my favourite racetracks.
Originally a Suzuki-only school, riders can choose between Honda CBR600RR’s or Suzuki GSXR600’s available for rent as well as Arai helmets and Dainese riding gear. New for 2012, riders can also bring their own motorcycle of any brand (in the past your motorcycle had to be a Suzuki or Honda).
In addition to the standard 2-day program, premium 3-day packages are also available both at Road Atlanta and once a year at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
I’ve taken Kevin’s school 4 times and I really enjoy his approachable nature and attention to detail. Kevin continues to offer guidance and advice to some of the top racers in MotoGP, who better to learn from if you decide to head south!
One of the things that I like about Jason is that he operates one of the few track-riding schools where the owner himself continues to compete on the racing circuit. Jason competes in the FIM World Endurance championship and remains up-to-date with current motorcycle riding techniques; the fact that he has a number of AMA championships and a World Endurance Championship title under his belt also doesn’t hurt.
The STAR Motorcycle School is held at a number of racetracks across the United States including Thunderhill Raceway (California); High Plains Raceway (Colorado); Texas World Speedway (Texas); NOLA Motorsports Park (Louisiana); Blackhawk Farms (Illinois); Heartland Park (Kansas) and the recently opened (and very fun!) Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, in southern California.
Riders can bring their own motorcycles or choose to rent a Suzuki GSXR600 or Suzuki SV-650 motorcycle. Prices for both courses and rentals are very reasonable and I’m looking forward to hitting up one of Jason’s schools soon!
While there are plenty of other riding schools out there, these are my top three picks for motorcycle schools in North America. Honourable mention should also go to the Penguin Racing School in New Hampshire. It's one of the oldest schools in the United States and I know lots of Canadians have made the short trip from Ontario and Quebec for the training. If you’re interested in learning how to ride on the track or if you’re looking to improve your riding or racing skills, the FAST Riding School, Schwantz School, STAR School or Penguin Racing School are three great places to start!
2012 is shaping up to be a really exciting year for supermoto racers in Ontario. Supermoto Ontario (SMO) has announced a two-race regional and national series to be held at Shannonville Motorsports Park. So mark these exciting weekends on your calendars — June 17th and September 16th. These two dates will also include practice on the Saturday from 5:30 until dusk, with the racing taking place on Sunday. These two dates make up the regional series as well as the national series. The national series will have the supermoto racers shredding asphalt and banging bars in Ontario and Quebec; trust me, it will be an all-out war!
The limited number of races will push riders to race hard for a podium position. This is an open invitation to anyone who raced supermoto in past years to dust off their wheels and brakes and come out to battle once again! I am expecting to see some old rivalries renewed, and new ones formed in the upcoming season.
Supermoto Ontario is looking to add sponsors to sweeten the deal for racers. They plan on providing championship winners with prize packages at the end of the year. This will give riders an extra incentive to push their bikes and skills to the limit in pursuit of the championship. I am so stoked for the upcoming season! SMO has secured a number of sponsors already including Maxima oils, who have donated product for the series. Check out Maximausa.com for product information and be sure to support those who support you. Mission Cycles, a local KTM dealer located in Angus, Ontario, has offered all SMO riders special tax-included pricing for all purchases. Every rider knows the costs associated with their motorcycle, and we can all appreciate an amazing offer when we see it, so be sure to call Mission Cycle with your pre-season wish list in hand. Don’t leave it to last minute!
Nineonenine designs are the official graphics sponsor for the 2012 race season, so contact them to replace those tired looking number plates. If your bike looks anything like mine, it's a necessity to freshen up for the upcoming year. Some other friends of SMO who need mention are Pete from Supermoto Specialities,who is a knowledgeable guy and a tireless supporter of supermoto. I want to take a moment and thank Shannonville Motorsports Park's owner Jean Gauthier for supporting the plight of supermoto and SMO, and making his awesome world class facility available for 2012.
SMO is also working with Shannonville to make changes in the dirt section. Here’s what’s happening: The guys have started making arrangements to introduce a new berm turn after the first table-top jump to make the dirt battle more exciting while keeping safety in mind. The new berm will enable riders to carry more speed through the dirt and provide two race lines for rider preference. Some riders with motocross backgrounds can really impress with the amount of speed on slick tires. In addition, a new rhythm section before the first steel ramp will level the playing field, changing the previous dirt track corner to a more technically challenging obstacle.
All of these additions and modifications have been carefully considered with one thing in mind. Make the existing track more challenging for riders, while making the race action more exciting for race spectators! Talk about bang for the buck. Great work guys!
Supermoto Ontario is sponsored by NineOneNine Designs, Mission Cycle, Maxima Oils, Artisan Complete, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and SuperShow Events,
Remembering The First World Superbike Race – Part Two
Posted by IM Admin
The first ever World Championship Superbike race was much anticipated, but not well understood. A new series has new rules, and the format for the Superbike tour was tweaked regularly in the years leading up to its debut at Donington Park in April of 1988.
The series was imagined as a place for privateer and national-level teams to showcase their street bike-based building and riding abilities. The big Japanese manufacturers promised not to participate directly, although that didn’t last too long.
However it was also necessary to include “real” road racers as much as possible, since Superbike organizers were planning to draw from the similar TT-F1 class, a series based on mostly street venues with mostly UK-based (especially Irish) racers.
Another key element was to include as many European based manufacturers as possible, since they could no longer afford to compete with the never ending development cycle of the Japanese-dominated Grand Prix tour. Ducati, as usual in money trouble but recently purchased by Cagiva, were considered crucial to the success of the new street bike racing class.
Ducati had been busy developing their groundbreaking, fuel injected, belt drive cam version Desmo 851 twin, a bike that first appeared at Daytona as a prototype in Battle of the Twins action in the hands of former 500cc World Champion Marco Lucchinelli. World Superbike would be the perfect place to show off the bike that would turn out to be crucial in the turn-around of the famous marquee.
Of course, Ducati also got a displacement bump to equalize their twin-cylinder design against the four-cylinder opposition, a rule decision that continues, and remains controversial, to this day. While the bikes were theoretically permitted to go as big as 1000cc’s compared to the 750cc fours, Ducati’s initial homologation standard bore/stroke ratio allowed the 851 to go up to 888cc’s.
However, by the end of the first season of Superbike, the Ducati had reportedly grown to well over 900cc’s — apparently development briefly got in front of homologation!
Meanwhile, Italian custom constructor Bimota had gone from building one-offs for various Grand Prix classes to getting in bed with a Japanese Manufacturer (Yamaha) and producing some of the most desirable and exotic sports street machines available. The unique custom fuel injected, five-valve headed, Yamaha-powered YB4EI was perfect for the new Superbike class, and organizer Steve McLaughlin convinced the squad to abandon their 1987 title-winning TT-F1 effort.
The small specialist builders (like Bimota and Ducati) were only required to produce 200 of a given model for SBK race approval, compared to the 1000 unit build requirement to homologate the Japanese machinery. Officials visited Italy to account for the build, and a sufficient number of bikes were displayed – although no one believed Ducati had anywhere near 200 units of the 851 Superbike built at the time of the Donington opener.
Stories abounded of a leisurely accounting at Bimota base in Rimini, with 25 bikes checked in a storage room, next a trip to see the dyno; 30 units in the court yard, then a break for coffee; 15 bikes now parked near the dyno, then a long lunch. How long does it take to change to ID plates and push the bikes around the shop, anyway?
Most SBK category fans know of all the special homologation bikes built for the specific goal of providing a strong base for World Superbike class equipment. Honda’s now very collectible RC30 vee-four was the most famous, but two Suzuki GSX-R750 versions were also featured — the LTD and RR models — as well as the eventual production of Yamaha’s fearsome OW01 and various Kawasaki Ninja 750cc limited edition RR versions.
At Donington, only Honda fielded a strong group of their new machines: brand new distributor-prepped RC30s with the official race kit, built primarily for Endurance Racing. The top Honda was expected to come from the Brit squad of Joey Dunlop and Roger Marshal, although former factory favorite Fred Merkel, now based in Italy, also showed up with a Pirelli-shod RC30 (most of the front runners were Michelin-equipped).
Behind the scenes, the big story of the first SBK race involved the difference between AMA rules and FIM standards for the new World Series. While everyone involved believed that AMA bikes, on hand for the Trans Atlantic Trophy Match Races, would be legal “as is” for SBK, this was not the case.
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