Last April 25th, since I wasn't racing, i decided to go to the races anyway, took my camera with me, and enjoyed my other hobbye (sports photography). Since I know many people on the pit lane, I started to talk to all the racers I know.
More relevant to CBRWorld, are the ones racing CBRs. So read on for some cool info !
First of all, I talked to Luis Carreira, once a uncontested winner of our CBR 600 F4i Racing Cup races, last year he raced a CBR 954 RR, and now up with the big boys racing a CBR 1000 RR. He had been breaking his bike in in the previous week-end at the Estoril track day, with his bike completely stock:
This week-end he brough his new Repsol sponsored bike to the races. Here he is, racing his new CBR 1000 RR (number 3):
[image]http://www.cbrworld.net/upload/images/img5964_1.JPG[/image]
[image]http://www.cbrworld.net/upload/images/img5965_1.JPG[/image]
[image]http://www.cbrworld.net/upload/images/img5966_1.JPG[/image]
He finished second (behind a ZX-10), and had a really great race, going veru fast everywhere, except oin the straights, losing a bit to the leading Kawasaki. Last year he raced a fully prepped Honda CBR 954 RR, so this time I was curious about his opinion on his new CBR 1000 RR. This is basically what he said:
"Well, I didn't have a sponsor deal until too late, so the bike is completely stock. And Mario, I mean COMPLETELY stock ! We only changed the brake hoses for some steel braided ones, changed fairings and put on some racing tires. Brakes are stock, brake pads are OEM !!! We are wearing discs and several brake pads on a single day. I think my discs are warped after the race. We sure need some racing material. Oh, wait, we got the exhaust pipe yesterday at 4 PM and we managed to put it on. But we don't even have a Power Commander yet, let alone any decent tuning !!! That's what was making me loose ground to the ZX-10 on the main straight ! We have ordered all the necessary material, but it's taking too much time to get here. I guess the late sponsorship ended up also contributing for our late orders, and now many other teams in Europe are getting their stuff before we get ours...".
I enquired about his feelings on the new bike, and how it compares to the "old" 954 RR.
"Well... let me put it this way. I am making better lap times with this bike completely stock, compared to my times on the fully prepped and tuned 954 ! What I feel is much different is how more stable this bike is under accelerating. I notice more weight, or feels like it, but it's not really a bad thing. The new bike pulls forward, not skyward. On the 954, maybe because it was so agike and nimble, it was hard to come out at full gas and not starting to wheelie out of a corner, but this new bike just kicks you in the ass and pulls your arms forward, not up. I think that's why the RCVs do so well in MotoGP, I guess. It's true it helps the rider and makes it easy to go faster, you're not struggling, you're focused on riding the lines. I noticed the Kawasaki was having some problems out of the corners wheeling many times, so I guess once I have my bike tuned a bit, I can do even better than today."
I can't wait to see his next race, when he races a more prepared CBR 1000 RR.... :)
Good luck Luis !
Mario Sobral