Motorcycle decals Honda Testing over for Phase One.We are ready for the Le Mans 24 hrs.

NEWSLETTER 130

Testing over and we are ready for the Le Mans 24 hrs.

A Quick Review.

It’s been a very, very busy three months, but it’s been worth it. ! Since the arrival of the first of the 2007 bikes on 2nd January several of us have worked non-stop on the project, but with a great outcome.

The first indications that we were on the right track came back in early March on the dyno. The first Superbike engine giving over 190 BHP and the flowbench indicating that over 200 BHP would be possible from the second engine. Even the modestly tuned Le Mans race engine gave 175BHP, some 15 BHP up on its equivalent in 2006. So if the peak power is good, you should see the mid-range.!! It is truly outstanding and is largely as a result of the variable length inlet stacks that are fitted as standard. These give massive gains between 8500 rpm and 10,300 rpm and will be retained for at least the 24hr races where the enormously improved mid-range power will be most useful.

Next came the test results; the first impression of the rolling chassis from each of the riders was extremely positive and each quickly gained confidence and returned competitive times. The new generation Ohlins suspension played a big part in this. Also, the Albacete tests progressed extremely quickly without too many cul-de-sacs largely due to the very high quality rider feedback – of an order that we have not experienced since the 2000 season with Stephane Mertens. By day 3 at Albacete, the testing and the feedback from Glen’s good mate Troy Corser had allowed us to conclude geometry and most of the basic suspension settings. At the end we were going faster than in 2006 by almost half a second. (For reference, Haslam and Lavilla were on the same pace as in 06, on 1.29.75 ish, which was just a little quicker than Walker. Buckingham and Rutter were on 32s. We achieved an Albacete best of 33.6, which was around the same as SERT’s fastest race lap in 2006.

The pre-Le Mans test was just as good; almost equalling our 2006 times in an air temperature of 4 deg C and a track temperature of only little more. By the end of the two day Le Mans test all riders were within a one second span and the suspension settings were very close. Two compounds of the Dunlop NTEC tyres had been tried and settings found to suit, so good progress had been made on that front as well.

The best Le Mans test time was a flat 1 min 42 sec lap, compared with our best qualifying lap of 1.41.6 secs in sunny warm conditions on qualifiers in 06.! Team Kawasaki France (TKF) and SERT were each lapping in the 40s and 41s on the same day, so we were not far off.

By the end of testing we knew exactly where we needed to be with engine, frame geometry, suspension and tyres, so we could ask for no more.

Finally, we now know that we also have a truly great rider line-up. The potential was there from the beginning, but with Didier scoring third at the Donington Park opening WSB round and Glen winning the Brands BSB opener we now know we have a top team!

Forthcoming events;

The Classic Bol d’Or at Magny Cours is over the weekend of the 14th/15th April. It is the 5th edition of the event which attracts 95 entries (55 qualify) of some of very best pre-1980 endurance Machinery. Our entry is a 1978 P&M Kawasaki which will be ridden by the C&K contracts boys Chris and Kevin Jones. The machine was tested at Mallory Park last week and apparently handled like a dream…although the brakes were not perhaps to modern standards. ! See the boys go (and stop maybe) during the two 2 hrs races over the weekend, race one starts at 19.30 on the Saturday.

Team Launch/Open day- Mitsubishi Chertsey, is on Sat12th May. The team have been invited to run a wheel change demonstration and competition, open to all comers, at the new Mitsubishi Chertsey branch starting at around noon. The event will include a ‘meet the riders (Glen and Warwick will both be there), a two-round ‘enter on the day’