2003 World Superbike Tech

Chris Walker and James Toseland run 998 F02's. These are supposed to be Troy Bayliss' and Ruben Xaus' machines from last year. The British pair isn't doing a bad job on them, Toseland being the first rider to break Hodgson's winning streak this year in the British round. It must be said, though, that these aren't much quicker than the private-run 998RS's of Pier-Francesco Chilli and Regis Laconi. Those private 998s were actually faster by a few mph than the ex-works Ducs. How trick are these ex-works 998? Just cast an envious look at that MOTOGP-grade Ohlins fork with external gas reservoirs, worth by themselves one or two new 999s..

The 998/916 always had a slight fairing ground clearance problem when wearing slicks, but this? Walker leans it really hard!

Anti-lock clutch on one of the DFX team bikes alleviates rear wheel chirping when hard braking and downshifting. As in all 998-999, timing belts run free in the air. This saves some weight on belt covers though it's better not to think about what would happen if a tiny stone flew into the area. Extra-short footpeg brackets are a Ducati trademark thanks to the extra-long engine that places the swingarm pivot almost at the same point as the footpeg. Compare to the situation in the Suzuki pics and you'll understand just how much shorter engines are nowadays.

The plumbing is pretty crazy, starts with twin pipes from the cylinders that join just above the rear wheel hugger, split again and then rejoin into one silencer and exit through twin openings. Lets just call it a 2-into-1 -into-2- into-1 -into-2. Routing nightmare or not, it seems to work.

Works 999s carry additional air entry points besides those found in the upper fairing. These air conducts start between the two halves of the radiator and bring fresh air to the lower part of the airbox.

Neat and tidy. Dedicated stands hold body parts safely without scratching expensive paint jobs. The pit box floor was covered by the British HM Plant team with interlocking plastic tiles, the orange areas define the working areas in the box.

Foggy Petronas FP1

Things started well for King Carl. Early SBK rounds saw reasonable placings for the new machines. Then things got sour. Monza wasn't kind either to the FP1s. The things were hardly getting to 180 mph at the straight's end, slower than the factory Ducati 999s by 15 mph, about level with the privately-entered R1 Yamahas.

That, from an engine that was originally planned to do war at MOTOGP and changed application over to SBK at the last minute. Speeds say that it's putting down 180 bhp at the most. It is a very innovative engine though. A 900cc triple with a reversed head, intake at the front, exhaust at the backside, tilted-backward cylinders block. If you look closely you'll see the strangely angled cylinder block hiding behind the front engine mount. Without any exhaust pipes at the front, the engine and especially its crankshaft can be extremely close to the front wheel. In theory this bodes well with current trends towards front wheel loading, but in practice Corser seemed to have handling problems on top of his engine troubles. Don't know who designed the thing, and while it may not be the mass-centralization marvel you'd think it would be, it sure looks super cool.

The FP1's Ram-air system feeds its airbox by passing around the steering stem in ZX6R/RC51 fashion. Over the air intake there are enough black boxes to run a jumbo jet, there's engine management paraphernalia, data acquisition and more. Initially the 900cc unit was born as a 990 for MOTGP with pneumatic valves (as in the Aprilia Cube MotoGP bike) positioned radialy; it was claimed to develop 210 hp. In SBK configuration the valves are returned by good old springs and are parallel. Thing is that this year it seems that 200 hp are needed to stay on top of things in SBK, too. It's a cruel world.

The FP1 gives an impressive show, though, with plenty of flames shooting out from the pipes on over-run. It was too much of a good thing. Corser and Haydon went out of the second race in Monza with their seats and asses literally on fire!

And, how narcissist can you be? Only Fogarty could put a billboard-sized close-up of his eyes in the pit box.

Honda RC51

Kawasaki ZX-7RR

The old 750 unit is still able to pump out some 180 horsies, not bad at all for a real old geezer.

Really makes you want to put aside a nice ZX-7 so your grandsons will know in 20 year's time what sort of dinosaurs we used to ride. A modern classic.

Just as I was thinking about the Kawis spare parts situation, this was being dragged into the pit lane.

That's what was left from Ivan Clementi's bike after falling and being hit by Xaus's Ducati.

Talking about the Kawi's oversized parts, these Dumbo ears are the air intakes, crafted in trendy Carbon-Kevlar. The red box is the data acquisition unit made by 2D and the downloading connectors for a PC can be seen under the instrument cluster. Italian suspension makers Bitubo are testing the racing waters by supplying the green meanies their top of the line front fork. It has a pressure equalizing tube between legs and an external gas reservoir (right of the red box).

Suzuki: this thing already has 200 hp, some say 210 and as soon as it starts behaving himself around corners, Ducati is going to be in deep trouble.

Suzuki GSX-R1000

This year though, Soozook's decision to stay against all odds in WSBK is going to pay-off big time. The GSX-R1000 based racers are already collecting podium finishes. In one or two years, when Yamaha and Kawasaki will return to SBK after failing to do much about the Hondas in MOTOGP, Suzuki will already have a well-developed tool. I just hope that Suzuki won't start redesigning the thing every two years, something that hampered the development of the GSX-R750 in the past. Restrictors or not, this thing already has 200 hp, some say 210 and as soon as it starts behaving himself around corners, Ducati is going to be in deep trouble. In the fast Ascari chicane it was hard not to notice the Soozooks limits. Nevertheless, when Gregorio Lavilla started exiting corners with his rear tire power-smoking, the Italian lads in the pressroom were shouting: Capirossi!

One of the amazing things is how stock this bike looks. The bike of Vittorio Ianuzzo, Lavilla's team mate, is not even a full factory effort but the boy placed the thing on the first row of the grid at Misano. Compared to Lavilla's bike, Ianuzzo's looks almost like a SuperSport. Fabrizio Pirovanno, the team manager has said "everybody can build this bike at home." The Brembo calipers stand out as well as the many frame geometry adjustment possibilities.

Lavilla's bike sports an adjustable swing arm pivot and a chain-tensioning wheel. Race setup means a very high tail and to keep the chain tension at the extreme angle of the swingarm, a tensioning wheel is needed.

Special sprocket cover and quickshifter switch can be seen too.

One of the amazing things is how stock this bike looks.

It's a bit of a mess up here. Notice the carbon fiber ram-air ducts and the deflectors that guide cooling air into the radiator.

A Showa damper calms down steering while a radial Brembo pump supplies braking line pressure. Funny to see in a works bike, plastic overflow bottles that seem like they've been bought at the nearest drugstore. Even funnier is the little paper tag attached to the bottle. Any Japanese readers out there?

Yamaha YZF-R1