From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Foggy’s Phillip Island fillip

CARL Fogarty is eagerly awaiting the start of the new World Superbike season following his Foggy PETRONAS Racing team’s latest test, in Australia.

The four-times world champ stayed at home in England while riders Troy Corser and James Haydon got to grips with the challenging curves of the Phillip Island circuit, near Melbourne. The team move on next week from Australia to Sepang in Malaysia, home of petroleum giant and team backers, PETRONAS.

And more positive results from the last three days of action have left Carl anxious for the racing to start, at Valencia on March 2.

He said: “I knew Troy would go fast for us at Phillip Island. It’s his home circuit and suits his style. By the second day he was doing the same lap times that the leading riders achieved last year. James has also made good progress over the last few days and it will have done him a lot of good to test there before we go to race there at the end of March.

“We still have a number of areas on the Foggy FP1 to work on, but we think we know the solutions. So we are hopeful that there is more to come and we are also working closely with Michelin.

“The heat and humidity of Malaysia next week will provide us with new challenges, but we now have more horsepower and torque from the engine and, although testing time is still crucial for us as this stage of the development of the bike, we are all looking forward to the start of the racing as the potential has been shown.”

Troy Corser said: “I am feeling like part of the bike now. The handling of the bike is very good and engine feels stronger and cleaner than before, and the new clutch systems worked well. I produced the lap times relatively easily so, overall, I’m reasonably satisfied.”

James Haydon said: “To come away from here 1.3 seconds down on Troy is very encouraging, especially in very windy conditions. We have made nice steps forward every day and I have made big improvements in the chassis, especially at the front.”

The three-day test at Sepang starts on Friday, January 24.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Pascal Picotte will ride factory Yamaha YZF-R1 and YZF-R6 Yamahas in the 2003 Parts Canada Superbike and 600cc Sport Bike Championship, according to Picotte’s manager, former racer Alan Labrosse.

“That’s correct,” said Labrosse. “It’s the Yamaha Canada factory team. Picotte is actually the rider and the owner/operator of the team.” Labrosse added that Picotte would ride on Dunlop tires and has no plans to add a teammate.

Picotte rode for Ducati Austin Racing in 2002 and was believed to be at the top of team owner Terry Gregoricka’s list for a second slot on the 2003 team beside Anthony Gobert, provided additional sponsorship was found.

“Pascal was being considered, that’s correct,” confirmed Labrosse. “I spoke to Terry on Monday this week, and as of yet, he doesn’t have the sponsorship. So, I mean, we can’t hold out forever.”

Picotte, 33, came on the scene in 1989 with an eighth-place finish in the AMA 600cc Supersport race at Loudon. Picotte rode for Yamaha Canada in 1990 and finished ninth in AMA Superbike and fifth in AMA 600cc Supersport at Loudon. Picotte started the 1991 season with Yamaha Canada but also rode to his first AMA National win, in the Pro Twins class, on a Fast By Ferracci Ducati. Picotte rode for Ferracci through 1994, winning the 1992 AMA Pro Twins National Championship and scoring his first two Superbike race wins in 1994. Picotte had an injury-plagued 1995 season with Muzzy Kawasaki but still managed to qualify on the Superbike pole twice, podium in two other Superbike races and finish on the 600cc podium twice. Picotte rode for Yoshimura Suzuki in 1996-1997 and won an AMA Superbike race at Mid-Ohio (in 1996), won four 750cc Supersport races and finished second in that Championship (in 1996) and won four 600cc Supersport races (in 1997). Picotte rode for the Harley-Davidson/Gemini Racing Superbike team from 1998-2001, finishing on the podium twice in 1999. Picotte started the 2002 season with HMC Ducati but was released from the team after personality conflicts arose during the Daytona race weekend. Picotte then joined Ducati Austin Racing and went on to finish fourth in the 2002 AMA Superbike Championship with a best race finish of fourth at Mid-Ohio. Picotte only finished outside of the top seven three times in the 2002 AMA Superbike Championship.

Picotte was unavailable for comment at post time.

Other riders represented by Labrosse, which include Miguel Duhamel (American Honda) and Jordan Szoke (Corona Extra Suzuki) have their rides settled for 2003, but young Canadian Andrew Nelson is still unsigned for 2003. In 2002, Nelson finished 16th in the AMA Supersport Championship with a best race finish of 11th, 24th in the AMA Superstock Championship with a best race finish of 11th, eighth in the Formula USA Sportbike Championship with a best race finish of fourth, and finished on the podium at Canadian Nationals and WSMC races at Willow Springs on a Honda CBR600F4i.

In other news from north of the border, young gun Kevin Lacombe, 19, has re-signed with the Orion Motorsports Honda factory team to ride an RC51 in the Parts Canada Superbike Series and the new CBR600RR in the Yoshimura 600cc Sport Bike Series. Lacombe contended for the 2002 600cc class Championship, before crashing in the final race, and finished fourth in the Superbike Championship, with a win in the final race of the season at Shannonville.

Frank Trombino has left the Orion Motorsports Honda squad to return to Yamaha. Trombino will race a YZF-R1 in 2003. Trombino won the 2000 and 2001 International Motorcycle Supershow Pro Open Sport Bike Championships with Yamaha.

Kawasaki Canada has resigned veteran Owen Weichel to campaign a ZX-7RR in Superbike and the new ZX-6RR in 600cc Sport Bike. Weichel will team with Matt McBride, who will ride a ZX-6RR in both Superbike and 600cc Sport Bike.

Ending a five-year relationship, Fast Company and Suzuki Canada will not work together in the 2003 Parts Canada Superbike Series. Fast Company Suzuki won the 2002 Parts Canada Superbike Championship with Jordan Szoke and the 2002 Open Sport Bike Championship with Francis Martin in 2002, both riding GSX-R1000s.

Suzuki Canada will back Coors Light Racing Blackfoot Team Suzuki with Martin and Clint McBain, the 2002 Canadian 600cc Sport Bike National Champion, racing GSX-R1000s in the Parts Canada Superbike Championship and GSX-R600s in the 600cc Sport Bike class.


More on Canadian racing, from a press release issued by Coors Light Racing Blackfoot Team Suzuki:

Blackfoot Racing Announces Road Racing Plans for 2003

Blackfoot Racing, in partnership with Coors Light Racing, Suzuki Canada Inc, Parts Canada, Alpinestars, HJC and Yoshimura is pleased to announce their Professional Road Racing program for the 2003 Parts Canada Superbike Championship.

For the third consecutive year, Blackfoot Racing will continue to work closely with Suzuki and Parts Canada to campaign the 2003 Parts Team with current Canadian Champions, Clint McBain and Francis Martin.

“In addition, we are very pleased to announce for the second year the primary sponsor for the Suzuki Factory Team will be Coors Light Racing. Together with the tremendous support we are receiving from all of our sponsors we believe that we will be able to assemble the most competitive and professional national road racing team in the 2003 series,” said Blackfoot Racing co-owner/team manager Pat Chambers. “With the strong media coverage of the series by all the Canadian national magazines in addition to the television coverage across Canada, the series will offer enthusiasts and fans an exciting year in road racing.”

1999 Canadian Superbike Champion and 2002 Canadian Open Sport Bike Champion, Francis Martin will be joining Coors Light Racing Blackfoot Team Suzuki to compete in both the 600 Sport Bike class as well as campaign the new Suzuki GSXR1000 in Superbike. Martin has been aboard the awesome Suzuki GSXR racing bikes for the last 3 years as a title contender and has the ability and speed to again achieve his goals as a repeat champion.

Current Canadian 600 Sport Bike Champion Clint McBain will be returning to the team to carry the number one plate on board the 2003 Suzuki GSXR600 as well as campaign the awesome new 2003 Suzuki GSXR1000 in Superbike. Coming off his most successful year racing, McBain posted a banner year, winning his first Canadian National Championship as well as finishing second in the Open Sport Bike class.

The “2002 Canadian Tuner of the Year”, Chuck Downie will be back with the team as chief technician with the responsibility of building the championship contending Suzuki racing bikes. As well, renowned suspension tuner Joe Skidd, will again for the second year, be looking after the team’s suspension and chassis setup as well as working as Racing Director for Blackfoot Racing Inc. Also for his second season with the team, Doug Clavier will also be working closely with both Downie and Joe Skidd on the setup and maintenance of the equipment. The team’s hospitality and statistical co-coordinator, Jacquie Matechuk, will also be back for the 2003 season.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been working closely with Blackfoot Racing Inc. for all their support to date in assisting us to assemble the Coors Light Racing Blackfoot Team Suzuki effort.” added Chambers. “We are looking forward to another Championship season with everyone for 2003 and look forward to continuing our relationships.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

CC RaceHer and North County Lunatics (NCL) will be hosting a Sportbike Night at Margarita Rocks, an Oceanside, California nightclub, Thursday, January 16 and every Thursday night through February.

CC RaceHer is a new company which is selling a 2003 calendar featuring photographs of female sportbike riders local to the San Diego/Southern California area. CC RaceHer calendar girls will be on hand at the Sportbike Night to sign the calendars.

CC Race Her founder and CEO Monique Navai tells Roadracingworld.com she is also trying to produce a line of sport riding gear designed by women riders for women riders at reasonable prices.

North County Lunatics is the riding club with which most of the CC RaceHer calendar girls ride.

Margarita Rocks, (760) 967-7699, is located just off Interstate 5 at 212 N. Tremont Street in Oceanside, California.

The event is sponsored by North County HyperSports, FastTrack Riders, RLR Performance and MotoPro.

For more information about the Sportbike Night, go to www.ccraceher.com or www.margaritarocks.com.

From a press issued by the PR Group on behalf of Keith Code:

LE TRUC DE LA POIGNEE’ in any language is…
A TWIST OF THE WRIST!

Keith Code, the world’s top motorcycle riding instructor, heads to Belgium to oversee the French translation of “A Twist of the Wrist” Volume 1!

The first instruction manual for motorcycle riders, A Twist of the Wrist Volume 1, written by motorcycle riding guru Keith Code in 1983, will now be translated into French. Code developed the training techniques covered in the book over a six year period while training more than 2500 riders and getting results that either improved lap times or increased rider confidence.

“This is the first French translation”, says Code, whose state-of-the-art riding classes are offered throughout the US, UK, Europe and Australia.

The German translation for Volume 1 was completed in 1985, followed by Volume 2 in 1994. Each became a best seller within a year of publication and they remain so today. “Not that surprising,” says Code, “the whole reason we translated in the first place was due to requests from riders in other countries. We seem to be filling a need that is there.”

A Twist of the Wrist Volume 1 has also been translated into Japanese. The video based on the book has been translated and subtitled into Spanish, German and Japanese. “These projects are ongoing due to requests for at least seven other language translations, so we’ll be busy in 2003,” says Code.

Keith Code is the founder of the legendary California Superbike School, a traveling motorcycle academy that teaches state-of-the-art riding and safety techniques to cyclists of all skill categories – from national champion racers to weekend pleasure riders – over 100,000 to date. Code is the Author of the books A Twist of the Wrist Volumes 1 & 2 and The Soft Science of Road Racing Motorcycles. A Twist of the Wrist Volumes 1 & 2 are also available on Audio-CD read by the Author and the Interactive CD based on Volume 1 has just been released.

The website for the school is: www.superbikeschool.com. The direct phone number to the USA school is: 323-224-2734

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

According to a report in the Tuesday morning edition of the Journal de Montreal newspaper, Pascal Picotte has reached an agreement with Yamaha Motors Canada Limited to run in the Canadian Superbike National series, in the Pro Superbike and Pro 600 Sport Bike classes.

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.”