Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke closed out the two-day AMA tire test at Daytona International Speedway with the fastest overall time.

Late on Monday afternoon Zemke mounted what he called a “soft” Dunlop race tire (a.k.a., a qualifier) to the Honda CBR1000RR that he shared with Miguel Duhamel and turned a 1:48.20 followed by a 1:47.59.

“It was a pretty standard lap,” Zemke told Roadracingworld.com. “I just had a little more grip than with the other tires. It was good, kind of what I was expecting judging from guys’ times in the past. These times don’t mean that much if you can’t back it up in March (during the race) though.”

Zemke and his teammates, American Honda’s Ben Bostrom and Miguel Duhamel, all made long tire runs Monday on Dunlops.

Several other riders made long distance runs Monday, including Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo, Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden, Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom and Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Vincent Haskovec.

Haskovec made two long runs to test Michelin tires on his Superstock GSX-R1000, recording his best time of 1:51.87 on his 15th and final lap of the second run.

Eric Bostrom also made multiple pit-stop-distance runs, turning a best race-tire lap time of 1:49.7 on his Ducati 999 Superbike, before saying, “It’s going really good. I’m really happy with the Michelins. The back end is working really well.”

DiSalvo started Monday with a 10-lap run, which he followed with what his team said was a 15-lap run in the afternoon. On the longer run, DiSalvo started with his fastest race-tire lap (1:50.06) and a string of 1:51s (including a 1:51.02 on his seventh lap). The young New Yorker’s lap times during the second half of the run, however, were all over the map (as slow as high-1:54s) as he struggled to stay on the throttle with his tires moving around on the banking. DiSalvo’s long run ended with him running out of fuel and coasting across the finish line on what his team said was his 15th lap. With the addition of a warm-up lap, DiSalvo’s bike will not make race-distance come March in its current state of tune.

DiSalvo’s day had its highlights as well. He said he drafted past Duhamel’s Honda Superbike down the backstraightaway and, riding on a “soft” Dunlop, turned a 1:48.6. He said he could have gone even faster, possibly even a 1:47, had he known how well the soft tire gripped ahead of time.

Tommy Hayden had a much stronger 15-lap run than DiSalvo. After starting with a 1:50.7, Hayden settled into a consistent pace of 1:51s before ending the run with a 1:51.76, fuel still in his Kawasaki ZX-10R’s tank and Dunlop rubber still on his wheels on lap 15.

Pirelli representatives finally got their special shipment of 106 tires out of U.S. Customs and to the track at noon Monday. Lee Acree, Michael Barnes and Geoff May quickly set to testing the new rubber on their relatively stock Superstock Suzuki GSX-R1000s.

All three Pirelli riders went faster on the new tires, including Barnes turning a 1:50.6, his personal best lap time around Daytona, but the new Pirellis turned out to be too soft and lost chunks of tread rubber, without losing air.

According to Pirelli International Road Racing Manager Eddie Roberts, “We now know we need to adjust the compound a little. The tires are wearing out too quickly. We’re safe for Superstock, but we want to be safer for longer distances in the 200 (Superbike race), a bigger window. From our point of view, however, the test has been worthwhile.”

At the end of the day, the numerous representatives from AMA Pro Racing on hand for the test went about meeting with officials from all three tire companies, most of the race team managers and several riders to get feedback on the status of tires, safety and 1000cc racebikes at Daytona. AMA Pro Racing officials said they would not have enough information processed Monday to make any announcements regarding the upcoming AMA races at Daytona, scheduled for March 3-7.

Monday’s Best Unofficial Lap Times:

1. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR Superbike, 1:47.59 (soft tire), 1:49.2 (race tire)

2. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999 Superbike, 1:47.9 (soft tire), 1:49.7 (race tire)

3. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock, 1:48.60 (soft tire), 1:50.06 (race tire)

4. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR Superbike, 1:48.70 (race tire)

5. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000RR Superbike, 1:49.60 (race tire)

6. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R Superstock, 1:50.3 (race tire)

7. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock, 1:50.6 (17-inch soft tire)

8. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R Superstock, 1:50.71 (race tire)

9. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock, 1:51.87 (race tire)

10. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock, 1:52.28 (16.5-inch soft tire)

11. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock, 1:52.46 (17-inch race tire)