From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

SUTER JOINS PETRONAS RACING PROJECT

24 January, 2002

CARL Fogarty today welcomed the news that Eskil Suter has been appointed as the engine developer for the Petronas race and road bike projects.

The former racer’s Swiss company, Suter Racing Products, will now assume responsibility for the ongoing manufacturing development of the GP1 engine.

The design phase of the engine which was carried out by Sauber Petronas Engineering, a joint venture with the Malaysian petroleum giant Petronas, has been completed.

Suter will be responsible for producing an engine to be used by the Foggy Petronas Racing team in the World Superbike Championship this year and will be calling on the experience of Petronas engineers.

Carl said: “This is the best of both worlds for us. We have had the best engine designers involved and now our backers Petronas have chosen the best engine developers to turn our bike into a competitive machine.

“This way, we retain the F1 expertise while also calling on the experience of Eskil Suter, who has an impressive background in the world of motorcycling and is very positive about the whole project.

“It makes me very comfortable to know that the engine will now be developed by people who know motorbikes inside out.

“He will be working closely with my team to make sure we meet our deadline of being on the World Superbike grid for the Laguna Seca round in July.”

Suter Racing Products will also be responsible for developing the engine for the Foggy FP1 road bike, which is hoped to be publicly revealed before the fifth round of the championship at Monza.

From a press release:

DUCATI CORSE PRESS INFORMATION

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Testing – Kyalami (South Africa)

Thursday 24 January 2002

DUCATI’S 2002 WSBK CAMPAIGN GETS UNDERWAY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Ducati Corse kicked off its 2002 World Superbike Championship campaign in South Africa on Thursday with the first day of a three-day Michelin tyre test session at the high-altitude Kyalami circuit on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

The Italian manufacturer was present with brand-new 2002-spec Ducati 998R Factory bikes for reigning world champion Troy Bayliss, from Australia and his young Spanish teammate Ruben Xaus, winner of two races last year.

The first day of testing began late morning and revolved around general suspension set-up work, and putting some mileage on the new bikes on standard tyres.

Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada), who ran a total of 56 laps in hot weather (track 52° C/ air 30° C), was feeling confident after recording a best time of 1:43.5.

“I didn’t push too hard today because I had to get to grips with the new bike after a few weeks away from the track”, declared the 32-year-old Australian.

“Even though we are running at more than 1700 metres altitude, I can feel the new engine has got a lot of power”, he added.

Teammate Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) completed 15 laps before having a harmless slide at Turn 3. The 23-year-old Spanish rider’s best time at that point was 1:46.9″.

Testing for the Ducati Infostrada team at Kyalami continues Friday and Saturday.

The third factory rider Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M), from California, will bring the team up to full strength at next week’s scheduled SBK Winter Tests at Phillip Island, Australia.

From a press release:

AMA Takes Motorcyclists’ Message on New Emissions Standards to the Environmental Protection Agency

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reiterated its concerns that new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions regulations could spell the end of two-stroke off-highway motorcycles during a visit to the EPA’s vehicle emissions testing facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on January 22.

The AMA delegation, led by Edward Moreland, vice president of AMA government relations, also discussed with federal officials proposed emissions standards for road motorcycles that are soon to be released.

The AMA delegation also included Director of State Affairs Sean Maher, and Legislative Affairs Specialists Royce Wood and Imre Szauter.

“We were encouraged by the open exchange that we had with the federal officials, and we look forward to providing the EPA with more insights into how riders would be affected by their proposals,” Moreland said. “We want the EPA to know that riders are watching these proposals very closely and are concerned.”

The EPA has proposed national emissions standards covering off-highway motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) only slightly less stringent than the requirements now in place in California, which severely limit the use of two-stroke motorcycles. Currently, there are no national emissions standards governing off-road motorcycles and ATVs.

Under the standards, which will be finalized by September 13, new off-highway motorcycles and ATVs would be subject to strict emissions requirements that would be phased-in beginning in 2006. Full compliance would be required by the manufacturers in 2007. Also, ATVs would be required to meet even tougher standards beginning in 2009.

The requirements wouldn’t affect machines built through 2005, but would apply to machines built in 2006 and thereafter. The EPA said it expects that manufacturers will meet these new, stringent off-highway standards by using four-stroke engines exclusively for trail machines. The EPA has proposed exemptions for off-road competition-only machines, which would mean that two-stroke motocross bikes would be unaffected.

The AMA delegation urged EPA officials to create separate emissions standards for four-stroke and two-stroke motorcycles and ATVs, considering safety, cost and performance. The delegation also argued that the federal government has significantly overestimated the amount of use of off-highway motorcycles and ATVs nationwide, resulting in projections that suggest those vehicles are responsible for more emissions than they actually are. And the Association suggested officials fine-tune the exemption for competition motorcycles so that enduro and other types of competition machines besides motocrossers are available to amateurs.

On the street side, the EPA has indicated that it will release proposed emissions standards for public comment within the next couple of months. A draft of the proposal obtained by the AMA indicates that the EPA wants to adopt a two-tier standard already approved in California on a delayed basis.

The first tier of California standards will go into effect in 2004, with the second tier scheduled for 2008. The federal EPA is proposing to adopt the same standards, but on a two-year delay, meaning tier one would take effect in 2006 and tier two in 2010.

Road motorcycles built before the 2006 model year would be unaffected by the new regulations and would remain legal to ride.

If adopted, the new federal emissions regulations are expected to result in increased use of fuel injection and catalytic converters on new motorcycles.

The draft proposal contains no new anti-tampering provisions.

The delegation also discussed catalytic converters and brought up cost and safety issues associated with their use on motorcycles.

The proposed regulations aren’t expected to differ from the draft obtained by the AMA. Important provisions contained in the proposal include an exemption that gives small manufacturers until the 2008 model year to meet the tier-one national emissions standard. Those manufacturers — with sales of fewer than 3000 bikes a year and having fewer than 500 employees — wouldn’t be required to meet the tougher tier-two standards.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

A new feature of AMA Pro Racing’s upgraded timing and scoring system debuted Wednesday at Laguna Seca, giving riders split times for what may be the first time ever. The new system’s benefit, which has been available in FIM competition for at least the 2001 season and most likely longer, is as a tool for riders to see where they are strong or weak compared to their fellow riders.

The 2.2-mile Laguna Seca track was separated into three segments. The first segment starts at the start/finish line on the front straight and runs to the pedestrian crossover bridge near turn four. The second segment runs from the bridge to the corkscrew. The final split time is measured from the corkscrew to the start/finish line.

From split times provided by AMA Pro Racing, the quickest rider in segment one was Anthony Gobert on his Yamaha Superbike at 32.676 seconds. Miguel Duhamel was the next-quickest rider in segment one, followed by Nicky Hayden and Kurtis Roberts, just hundredths of a second behind. Eric Bostrom was 0.8-second slower than “Go Show” through the first split.

The first split time spread from the fastest 600cc rider, Damon Buckmaster (34.063), to the slowest 600cc rider, Tony Meiring (34.707), was only 0.7-second.

The gap in first-split times from Gobert’s fast Superbike time to Buckmaster’s fast 600cc time was about 1.4 seconds.

Nicky Hayden was the fastest in split two with a time of 18.856 seconds, followed by Roberts, Duhamel, Gobert and Bostrom. The spread between Hayden and Bostrom’s second split times was 0.3-second.

Buckmaster was again the fastest 600cc tester through the second split at 19.953 with Roger Lee Hayden the slowest at 20.373. Meiring went from being the slowest 600cc rider in the first split to the second-fastest in the second split. The second-split time spread among 600cc riders was 0.4-second.

The second split gap from fastest Superbike time to 600cc Supersport time was 1.1 seconds.

Anthony Gobert was again the fastest Superbike in the final timing segment with a 34.545, just quicker than Hayden, Roberts, Duhamel and Bostrom. The difference between Gobert’s and Bostrom’s times was 0.46-second.

Buckmaster completed a sweep of all three segment times among 600cc racers Wednesday morning with a time of 35.832 as Meiring slipped back to the slowest time again. The difference between Buckmaster’s and Meiring’s third segment times was 0.5-second.

The difference in third-split times between Gobert’s Superbike and Buckmaster’s 600 was 1.3 seconds.

Overall, Gobert’s best Wednesday-morning Superbike lap time of 1:26.328 was 3.55 seconds faster than Buckmaster’s quickest 600cc Supersport time.

Note: Anthony Gobert turned the slowest 600cc lap time Wednesday morning on the AMA scoring system at 1:34.727. Considering Gobert’s best unofficial lap time of the test was a 1:29 Tuesday morning, his 1:34.727 was not taken into consideration as an accurate example of Gobert’s speed in this analysis.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Yamaha factory 600cc Supersport rider Aaron Gobert crashed out of the AMA test at Laguna Seca Tuesday, January 22 when he tucked the front wheel of his Yamaha YZF-R6 on the approach to the Corkscrew.

“I came flying up over the hill coming toward the corkscrew,” said the 21-year-old Aussie on Wednesday. “You put the brakes on full hard there, but I had no grip and the front just tucked. I put the brakes on all the way and nothing happened. It didn’t do any stopping. The data says 212 kilometers per hour (131.7 mph) has been my average speed there so far in the test. So I hit the ground going over 200 kph (124 mph).

“I did just like Doug Chandler when he fell in the World Supers a couple of years ago. I slid right through the gravel trap, across that part on the inside of the corner and back across the track at the bottom. I slid a long way. I never though it would end. I thought for sure I was going to hit a wall or something.

“I hit a water drain with me leg. Either that or the gravel trap twisted me left ankle up. I went to the hospital and got it X-rayed. There’s nothing broken. It’s just sprain, and I may have stretched some ligaments or tendons. I’ll be alright in a week or so I reckon.

“I couldn’t put any weight on it yesterday, but I can put some on it today. There’s also a lot less pain today than there was yesterday. I’ll be ready to go when we test at California Speedway in a couple of weeks.”

Meanwhile, as we spoke to Aaron Gobert, Anthony Gobert had lowered his best lap time to a 1:25.550, just a few hundredths off his own Laguna Seca track record of 1:25.507. According to Aaron Gobert, Anthony did his lap time on race tires.

From a press release:

“I’m very happy to have signed a deal with my former teammate Carl Fogarty to ride the Foggy Petronas bike in the World Superbike Championship. It is a very exciting project and there is really good backing to it, so I’m sure the bike will be competitive within a year or so. I’m particularly excited because it’s a three-year deal, so I haven’t got to worry what’s going to happen next year. With a new bike, the first year is all about getting the thing ready to race and ironing out the problems, so this year will all be about testing and then ready for our track debut at Laguna Seca on July 14th. It’s going to be an interesting weekend, because Laguna is not the easiest track to debut a new bike, but that’ll add to the fun for sure.

“I visited Foggy and saw a prototype of the bike recently and I’m impressed with the team and how they are going about the business. I don’t think that the finished product is going to look much like what I saw, but it’s going to cause a bit of a stir for sure. Foggy and I actually get on pretty well and I know that my experience developing bikes (like the Aprilia) is one reason why he asked me to join the team. My aim this year is to get the bike in the very best possible condition to be competitive and try and get some good results before the end of the year. Next year we will be stronger and more experienced and we’ll be chasing some podiums, and in the third year, I’d like to think we’ll be competing for the title! I’m very positive about the whole project, because the back-up is there in bucket-loads and everybody involved is so enthusiastic. I can’t wait to swing my leg over the bike and start. In the meantime, I’ve been working out and getting fitter, so when the time comes to ride – I’ll be ready.

“Winter is a time I like to use to catch up with my family and friends back in Australia. I went to my parent’s farm and chilled out for a while, but it wasn’t long before I started getting active again. We built a bit of a dirt-track at the farm and I’ve out most days riding around with a young kid Joss Foster. I’ve been banging bars with him on the dirt-track we built and it’s been real good fun. He’s pretty good at it too!
I’m helping him out because I think he could be a real prospect. I got him a 250 Aprilia and although he’s only sixteen and only started racing recently, he became the youngest rider to get an ‘A’ Grade in Australia. It’s good to be able to put something back into the sport and it’s fun for me because he’s an Aussie! It’s also keeping me on the ball, keeping ahead of him!

“Lamborghini have asked me to take part in a support race for the F1 Melbourne GP, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it really. It’s about the time my new team will be testing and my job comes first. Obviously, it would be fun to race the Lambo in front of a massive crowd, but we’ll have to see what happens nearer the time. I’d say at the moment it’s unlikely, but it’s nice to be asked and maybe I can have another go after the season finishes.”

From a press release:

Wednesday, January 23, 2002

EDWARDS BACK INTO RHYTHM, AT KYALAMI

Castrol Honda’s Colin Edwards began his 2002 campaign with a shakedown on the opening day of a four-day Michelin tyre test at Kyalami, South Africa on Wednesday.

Edwards, a winner of World Superbike races at Kyalami in the past two years, was in relaxed mood after his opening day display as he bids to regain the World Superbike crown after winning it in 2000.

“We always knew today was about settling in again and from that point of view it’s been a good day,” said the 27-year-old Texan.

He added: “We spent a lot of the day setting up the new SP-2 machine with a view to testing some new Michelin tyres later in the test. The Kyalami circuit was very dusty and dirty so most of my day was about cleaning up the surface.”

Edwards concentrated on the front suspension settings of his 1000cc machine, using just two sets of tyres all day.

“We wanted to try and get a good feel from the machine, we improved it a lot but it’s still not quite there, we¹ll achieve that tomorrow,” he reported. “The dirty track affected traction and there was only me out there all day so it all got a bit painful. But we¹re here to prepare for the season. not to just try and get a fast lap at this track.”

Edwards recorded a fastest lap, late in the afternoon, of 1:43.32, just 0.4s outside the existing lap record for the 2.65-mile circuit on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

He is joined at the Michelin test from tomorrow by Ducati’s Troy Bayliss and Ruben Xaus.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

According to times recorded by the official AMA Pro Racing scoring system, Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert posted the quickest time Wednesday morning during factory team tests at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca.

The eldest Gobert brother lapped at 1:26.328 on the 2.2-mile road course aboard his Yamaha YZF-R7 Superbike on Dunlop tires. Gobert’s own Laguna Seca lap record from the 1999 season stands at 1:25.507, according to the 2001 AMA media guide.

Unofficial Wednesday Morning Lap Times:

Superbike:
Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, 1:26.328
Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:26.450
Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:27.018
Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:27.175
Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:27.652

600cc Supersport:
Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:29.876
Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:30.524
Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:30.544
Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:31.297
Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:31.335
Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:31.400
Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:34.727

Formula Xtreme:
Jake Zemke, Honda CBR929RR, 1:29.150

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

World Sports Racing has won the last three AMA 250cc Grand Prix Championships, but team owner James Siddall and latest rider Jim Filice have not finalized their plans for 2002.

Siddall says that while his team will campaign with 2001 AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion Filice in the AMA National Series, their effort won’t necessarily be in the 250cc class.

Asked about team sponsorship and manufacturer involvement, Siddall simply said, “It’s an ongoing process.”

Siddall said he expects to be able to release more information after the upcoming Indianapolis Dealers Show, scheduled for mid-February.