News And Notes From Thursday At California Speedway

News And Notes From Thursday At California Speedway

© 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Pascal Picotte On A Mission On Michelins

Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati Racing’s Pascal Picotte will race his new 2001-spec Ducati 996RS on Michelin tires with motors built by Advanced Motor Sports’ Jeff Nash at California Speedway, confirmed Team Manager/Crew Chief/Truck Driver Lance Baker Thursday afternoon in his team’s garage at the Fontana, California track. With a smile of pride on his face, Baker described the hectic 11 days that brought him and Picotte to the Yamaha Superbike Challenge.

“On Monday (March 25), I got the word that the deal was done,” said Baker. “Tuesday (March 26), I flew up to Wisconsin and picked the bikes up from the HMC shop. I got back to Texas Thursday (March 28), dropped the bikes at AMS, pulled the motors and then went back to Austin. This past Tuesday (April 2), I went back to AMS, put the motors back in the bikes and started driving to California.

“A lot of things happened at the same time to get us where we are today.”

Baker said that both Ducati North America and Ducati Corse in Italy contributed to making the acquisition of the bikes happen, saying, “If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here.” Baker then confirmed that his team had just finished a tire deal with Michelin’s Ron Wood, and that plans were already in the works to receive update kits from Ducati Corse that would bring the 2001 bikes up to current 2002 998RS Testastretta specification. The Austin/Bleu Bayou team expects to have the updates complete by the Sears Point round of the series.

In the meantime, the smile Picotte wore through off-season testing was replaced by a look of determination. “I’m going to kick some ass,” said the seasoned French-Canadian. “No, I mainly just want to score some points. We just put the bikes and the team together in a couple of days. We’re basically starting from scratch. I’m still new to the Ducati. I know the 2002 bike will be better when we build it, but I’m glad to be here for the double-header. I just want to score some good points in each race, have some time to build the new bikes and maybe test once before Sears.

“Riding on the Michelins is gonna be a learning curve, but in the long-term it could pay off. By going to a different tire brand we may be able to get an advantage.”

Picotte took care to point out that he wouldn’t be able to race at Fontana if it weren’t for the opportunity presented by team owner Terry Gregricka, Baker, race engineer Tom Bodenbach, mechanic John Rawls and friend Paul Fournier. Baker worked with Picotte on the Muzzy Kawasaki Superbike in 1995, and Picotte worked with Bodenbach for four years on the Gemini VR1000 Harley-Davidson team.

Picotte ended the conversation by saying, “I’ll definitely be on a mission to beat those guys (HMC).”

In other news Thursday, the American Honda Superbikes of Nicky Hayden and Miguel Duhamel were being fitted with new bodywork, freshly painted to go along with a co-promotion of Universal Studios’ “The Skorpian King” feature film.

In addition to racing his Corbin Kawasaki ZX-6R in Supersport, 2001 AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion Jimmy Filice will run the Number One plate on a 2000-model Yamaha TZ250 with help from Bruce Lind and James Siddall. When asked why, Filice said, “I don’t know how many more times I’m gonna get to run a #1 plate. We’re a little behind with our 600 program and a good result would help out.”

Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki team coordinator Rich Doan will serve as Jamie Hacking’s chassis tuner at California Speedway due to a newly-hired crew member quitting the Suzuki squad shortly after last week’s test at Laguna Seca. With Crew Chief Tom Houseworth at his side, Hacking said that he had confidence in Doan’s ability to get the job done.

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