Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Monday, the second day of a special two-day AMA test at Daytona International Speedway involving teams and riders from three different tire manufacturers, is going to be the critical day for everyone involved with the test.

On Monday, Dunlop’s Superstock racers will start pushing their 17-inch slicks toward race distance after limiting its riders to no more than 10 laps on any one tire on Sunday, according to the teams.

In December, Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo had his rear Dunlop explode at 180 mph while he was on lap 11 of a race-distance run. No other Dunlop rider has gone as far on a Superstock bike with 17-inch slicks as DiSalvo at either the December or the current test.

Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom will also be doing important Michelin testing Monday to evaluate tires the French company constructed based on data from its test at Daytona last December.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Vincent Haskovec will have to do extra long-distance testing Monday as Haskovec’s teammate Steve Rapp will not ride Monday. Rapp’s Suzuki GSX-R1000 developed engine problems Sunday and the bike cannot be repaired for additional testing Monday.

Likewise, Pirelli still needs to evaluate tires it specially constructed last week for this Daytona test but were unable to test Sunday due to the tires being held up in U.S. Customs at the Daytona International Airport.

At lunchtime Monday, AMA Pro Racing officials, of which there are many at Daytona, will meet individually with Pirelli and Michelin to see where they are at with regards to tires. At the end of the day, AMA Pro Racing officials will then meet with Dunlop to get that company’s tire status.

According to AMA Pro Racing Superbike Series Manager Ron Barrick, the information gathered from the tire companies will then be looked at by the sanctioning body officials, who will then decide whether or not any changes to the Daytona race program need to be made.