From press releases issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Troy Corser put his local knowledge to work on the first day of the Foggy PETRONAS Racing test at Phillip Island.

The Australian former world champ was setting lap times that were quicker than his best qualifying times of his previous visit, in 2001, within just six laps of action at the coastal circuit near Melbourne.

And James Haydon quickly got to grips with the circuit to end the day on a positive note on his Foggy FP1 bike.

Under a cloudy morning sky, which sent temperatures plummeting from the sweltering heat of the previous day, Corser was clearly pleased with the new package at his disposal.

He was also able to brush off a customary skirmish with a seagull, which didn’t fare quite as well as the rider!

Troy said: “We have got new engines out here and they have a lot more power and better grip. I surprised myself at how quickly I got down to the times I did.

“The new slipper clutch is working well and we did some work on the mapping, which also helped. So, hopefully, there is a lot more to come as I wasn’t really pushing.

“It was also good to see that we didn’t have to make radical set-up changes from the last test at Valencia, which is a very different circuit, which proves the chassis is working well.”

James added: “There was no point in me pushing too hard to try and match Troy round here on the first day. It took a while to get into my rhythm but I ended up with 12 quick laps in a row which was good to end the day on a positive note.”

Test diary: A late night in the garage left two of the team members locked out of their rooms after leaving their keys behind a reception that wasn’t used to working Foggy PETRONAS Racing hours. But, in the face of spending the night sleeping on the beach, one resourceful team member (to remain nameless) managed to use a breakfast table knife to work the door lock.

January 15, 2003 – Carl Fogarty admitted that his Foggy PETRONAS Racing team had hit the targets the four times world champion had set for this Phillip Island test – and a day early.

And he also revealed that news from the second day at the Australian circuit left him wishing he had made the trip Down Under.

The team boss was reacting to times posted by his two riders, with James Haydon slicing more than two seconds off his best lap from yesterday as he continued to master the circuit, and Troy Corser making similar progress on home territory.

Carl said: “I’ve heard some pretty exciting stuff today, so I wish I was out there.

“The times that Troy was setting are as fast as the top boys and I know there’s a bit more to come. We are already achieving the targets I had in my mind before the team got there.

“We are still having one or two problems but we seem to know the solutions. So it’s ‘So far, so good’ – with one more day to come!”

Troy was delighted with the progress made today. “I was pushing the Foggy FP1 today, but not really ‘racing’. I’ve made progress with tyres and I am very happy with the set-up. We are not that far away. I just hope that this progress continues for when we test in Malaysia in front of PETRONAS.”

And James was again pleased with further significant progression up the learning curve. “I’m pretty confident I could have got into the 35s if I had been able to do more laps. And I’ve still to do laps on the better tyres.”


Test diary: The Corser family, including Dad Steve and brother, Dale, descended en masse from New South Wales today, but none made their presence felt more than Grandpa, more commonly known as Pops. The man has a back-slapping greeting that can dislodge your front teeth. This is, after all, a guy who wears a T-shirt to races saying: ‘Grandpa Corser – The Gene Machine: Injections Free!’

From a press release issued by the FIM:

Superbike & Supersport World Championships
Changes to the Rules for the 2003 season

The Superbike Commission, composed of Messrs. Claude Danis (FIM), Paolo Alberto Flammini (SBK
International), Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA) and Giulio Bardi (Team representative), has unanimously decided to introduce the following modifications to the Road Racing World Championship Regulations for Superbike and Supersport (for immediate application – see also Press Releases issued on November 8 and December 20, 2002 – www.fim.ch, news ):

SPORTING REGULATIONS
1.15 Qualification for the Race
(…) Any rider who has not qualified at the end of the last qualifying practice cannot take any further part in the event.

1.19 Start Procedure
(…) On returning to the grid the riders must take up their positions with the front wheel of their motorcycle up to or before the front line and between the side lines defining the grid position and keep their engines running.
(…) Anticipation of the start is defined by the motorcycle moving forward when the red lights are on.

1.23 Flags and Lights used to provide Information:
Flashing Blue Lights
Will be switched on at the pit lane exit at all time during practices and races.

1.26 Interruption of a Race
If the Race Director decides to interrupt a race due to climatic conditions or some other reason, then red flags will be displayed at the finish line and at all marshals’ posts and he will switch on the red lights around the circuit. (…)

TECHNICAL REGULATIONS
2.4.6.10 Fairing/Body Work
(…) For 2003 only, 4 cylinder 1000cc will be allowed to modify the homologated fairing. These modifications are allowed to accommodate the air intake. These modifications must have the least possible change to the appearance of the homologated fairing or the overall appearance of the homologated motorcycle.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Simon “Ronnie” Smith, a racer and freelance motorcycle test rider for Britain’s Performance Bikes magazine, was killed Friday, January 10 in a street accident near his home in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, according to a British website.

For more information, see www.motorcyclenews.com

From a press release issued by Kawasaki:

KAWASAKI RIDERS SLASH TIMES IN SEPANG

Sepang ­ Tuesday, January 14th, 2003: On their first two days of testing in the new year at Sepang, Malaysia, Kawasaki Racing Team stars Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt slashed their previous best times on the Malaysian circuit by almost a full second. Small improvements on the chassis and suspension settings of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP racer made all the difference in the bike¹s handling on the exit of the turns, with further improvements being expected from a new chassis featuring an adjustable swing arm pivot. Japanese test rider Akira Yanagawa also rode to his best Sepang lap time so far, after having solved chattering problems on his Ninja ZX-RR. German Alex Hofmann continued his task of Dunlop tyre testing aboard a previous prototype of the Ninja ZX-RR with carburettors instead of the new fuel-injected version, concentrating on the best possible input for tyre manufacturer Dunlop rather than the chase for the best lap time around the fast and challenging Sepang circuit.

Garry McCoy (39/33 laps ­ best time in 2:06.55):
“I had a few dramas on the first day, because someone had stolen my boots and my gloves. I had to borrow a set from Alex Hofmann, which are a size under mine, and by lunch time, I had sore toes. Luckily enough, another box with Alpinestars gear arrived in the afternoon, and my worries were over. As far as the bike goes, we started off with the settings from our last test, and the problem that we had back then in December occurred again. On the exit of the turns, it seemed to be hard to get on the gas, there was a lot of pumping on the rear end, and if you got on the gas real hard anyway, the bike would buck like a wild horse and wasn¹t very comfortable to ride at all. We started to fix the problem in the afternoon, and today, I got more of a feeling for the bike. Having less rear shock pumping gave me additional confidence and allowed me to go a little bit harder, which is why I improved my lap time by almost one second. Today, we also used a new chassis with an adjustable pivot point for the first time. I’d requested this chassis back in December after doing a few laps on Akira Yanagawa’s bike, which had a different swing arm pivot and seemed to suit my riding style very much. We first wanted to confirm that the new chassis did similar lap times and that it actually felt the same, so we started off the way we left off with the older chassis instead of going straight to a different pivot position. When we later on wanted to go through the first changes on the pivot point, it started to rain. It’s unfortunate that the weather put us out, but tomorrow is another day, and I’m looking forward to see what more we can achieve!”

Andrew Pitt (40/44 laps ­ best time in 2:06.80):
“We made some steps forward again which is good. We tried some different tyres, we tried some different rear shocks, and we made the bike more comfortable to ride. Even though Garry is using a different swing arm and different settings to mine, I initially had the same pumping problem. It seems to be one of the characteristics of this bike, because it always had this pumping problem exiting the turns over the bumps, and it is something we are all trying to improve. Well, we reduced it quite a bit today, and when you reduce that, it gives you more confidence to open the throttle harder. For tomorrow, we have a couple of more things with the chassis to try. We’ll give it a shot with what Garry had today, basically trying to get the bike even more comfortable, to improve the confidence-feeling and to make it a bit easier to do good lap times!”

Alex Hofmann (49/35 laps ­ best time in 2:09.01):
“I caught a cold on new year’s eve, and I was ill on the days leading up to this test session. Therefore, I needed a while to find back to my rhythm and to feel good on the bike again. We haven’t changed much on the set-up since our December tests in order to get the same feedback from the bike and the tyres, and we just continued to go through many different tyre constructions and tyre compounds. We did a lot of work that doesn’t reflect in better lap times: Whenever I would have very good grip, the bike would start to chatter, but I didn’t really have a chance to work on fine-tuning our settings. Whereas the others built up and improved their chassis set-up step by step, I just kept sorting through stacks of tyres!”

Akira Yanagawa (40/33 laps ­ best time in 2:07.08):
“I am happy with my progress, but my lap time is still slow ­ 2.07 is not fast enough! We initially had chatter problems, which we almost fixed by this afternoon, thanks to another linkage system for the rear suspension, which felt really nice. But once the chatter was gone, the next problem arrived. The front now feels too soft, I don’t have a lot of confidence going into turns. We then changed the front fork set-up, but then the rain came. The nicest surprise apart from the different linkage system was a new Dunlop tyre that I tried just before the track got soaked ­ it was so good that I dropped my lap time instantly by more than half-a-second!”

From a press release issued by Clear Channel Entertainment, Motor Sports:

Privateer Test Days Scheduled For Anaheim 2 and Atlanta

AURORA, Ill. (January 14, 2002) – Clear Channel Entertainment’s Motor Sports division announced today that two privateer test days will be held throughout the 2003 season of THQ World Supercross GP and the AMA Supercross Series. The first session will be held on Thursday, January 16 at Edison International Field from 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. and the second will be held on Thursday, February 18 at the Georgia Dome from 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

“Through our great relationship with Edison International Field and the Georgia Dome, we are offering the privateers competing in THQ World Supercross GP and the AMA Supercross Series an extra day of practice on an official supercross track,” said Todd Jendro, director of supercross, Clear Channel Entertainment – Motor Sports. “Clear Channel Entertainment will continue to work with the various venues on the schedule to make this opportunity available to privateers. Those dates will be announced once they are scheduled.”

Today’s supercross tracks present technical dynamics to privateer riders that demand precision, and the privateer test day will help the privateers hone their supercross skills.

“We (the privateers) do not have the luxury of training on the highly sophisticated supercross tracks that the factory guys do,” said Ryan Clark. “This test session helps close the gap between the privateers and factory riders, and I would like to thanks Clear Channel for this. Any extra time on the track helps us out.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Fastest Lap Times At Sepang, Tuesday, Malaysia Time:

1. John Hopkins, Suzuki GSV-R, 2:06.0
2. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, 2:06.5
3. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki ZX-RR, 2:06.6
4. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki ZX-RR, 2:07.0
5. Akira Yanagawa, Kawasaki ZX-RR, 2:07.1
6. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki ZX-RR, 2:09.1
7. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:08.8
8. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:08.9
9. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:09.3
10. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:12.2



Note: The Suzuki MotoGP team is taking Wednesday off and will resume testing Thursday.

From a press release issued by Team Pro-Motion:

Announcing the Team Pro-Motion new website creation. Just released the Team Pro-Motion Sportbike club’s new website is a reflection of brand new programs that have come to development over the past seven years. “The sites main objective is to be clean and organized having a simple approach. Team Pro-Motion has reflected on what many of the members have commented on in past years and has brought to life the true essence of what really matters…the members and riders” says Glen Goldman, the Team’s owner.

Upon review of the new programs you’ll notice not only extremely reasonable track rates, but a whole new way to express yourself while participating. The all new GP Moto Cup Racing Series will be launched with Cosmopolitan Motors as its major sponsor. Over 20 80cc GP machines have been readied for competition as riders may opt to reserve one of the little screamers in an attempt to battle their friends to a first place victory. 10 races will be scheduled (schedule to be released shortly) to run during a regular team track event. Cosmopolitan Motors of Hatboro Pa www.cosmotor.com will be making the Rieju RS-1 motorcycle ready to compete and available for delivery should you feel the need to park one in your garage.

The whole package race ready should sell for just under the $3000 mark, making racing just that much better. Team Pro-Motion also is focusing on the young market making this racing event available for new riders of 14 years of age or more.

Last on the site the Advanced Rider Training school headed up by racer Michael Himmelsbach has now added a 2-day Pro school. The school will cover all the necessary facets that play a key role in rider personal development and is geared for an intermediate to advanced level of rider. ART-BASIC school taught by long time instructor Robert Lombardi will set his focus on bringing new riders into the track environment and seeing to it they get the right start.

Visit Team Pro-Motion Sportbike Club at www.teampromotion.com for all the details.

ph – 215-671-8660 ~ fax – 775-242-5720

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

QB Phase One, which won the Endurance World Championship in 1993 and in 2000, is seeking young riders with money for the QB Phase One Junior team.

A posting on the team’s website, www.phaseone.co.uk, states that the team is looking for riders under the age of 23 with an International (FIM) racing license and “backing.”

The Junior team will run a Suzuki GSX-R1000 like the QB Phase One team of Mike Edwards and Jason Pridmore with support from the same group of mechanics.

For more information, contact Phase One Suzuki Team Manager Russell Benney at Moxhill House, Comwich, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA5 2PN. Telephone/FAX 01278 652 439 or go to www.phaseone.co.uk.

From a press release issued by USGPRU:


The USGPRU announced initial sponsorship and contingency for the 2003 season today.

These include sponsorship renewals from 2002 sponsors GP Star Hollywood, Silkolene, VP Racing Fuels, Braking Italy, Motion Pro and CCS/F-USA.

New sponsors for the 2003 season include Bridgestone Tyres with committed payouts to 8th place at all USGPRU events and EBC Brakes.

Total payout and contingency for the 2003 16 race USGPRU 125GP National Championship has already passed US $30,000 with more sponsors being added every day.

The first race of the USGPRU 125GP National Championship is scheduled for February 1st & 2nd at Willow Springs International Raceway on the Streets of Willow Road Course.

Payouts for the 2003 season are as follows:

CCS/F-USA – Over $6000 in total cash awards Paying 1-3 at all US events

VP Racing Fuels – 1st – 10th All events

Bridgestone Tires – 1st-$75, 50, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 20 – All events

GPStar Hollywood – 4th-8th $50, 40, 30, 25, 15

Silkolene Lubricants – $30, 20, 10 ($100 Championship Bonus)

EBC Brakes – $30, 20, 10 ($100 Championship Bonus)

Braking Italy – Product Awards

Motion Pro – Product Awards

Additional information on the USGPRU and the US 125GP National Championship can be found on the official USGPRU web site at www.usgpru.org.