Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp ran a GSX-R1000 AMA Formula Xtreme bike in practice and some CCS races Thursday and Friday at Daytona International Speedway to test tires and to test how competitive the 1000cc four-cylinder machine would be under the new-for-2003 AMA Superbike rules.

“For here, I think it could be competitive,” said Rapp. “I only did 20 laps on it ever, and I did 1:52s on it. If you can do 1:52s in the (Daytona) 200, you could be in the top five.

“The only problem would be tires. I can only run a few laps on a tire, and I need to be able to run 20 laps. If we’re going to race it here, they’re (Michelin) going to have to send some of those MotoGP tires over here. We’re running 17-inch slicks, which I think makes a smaller contact patch leading to more problems.”

According to Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki Crew Chief Keith Perry, the stock-bore bike that Rapp rode during the test is basically legal under the new AMA Superbike rules. “It’s virtually the same. It probably has 0.5mm or 0.75mm too much cam lift, but the rest of it is within the (new) rules,” said Perry. “It hasn’t been optimized for here yet. We were still working on gearing the last time (Rapp) was out. There’s more in it for sure.”