Loads of torque, immense chassis and no electronics, the 2012 Fireblade and GSX-R1000 are a mono-wheeled salute to the last in a

dying breed of pure, full-bore road sports bikes

Words Emma Franklin Pics Jason Critchell

kings of the road

Road test GSX-R1000 v Fireblade

6

I’ll get abuse for saying this, but: sometimes these ‘ultra’ litre bikes leave me cold. OK,

so I’d be lying if I said blasting around on something with nigh-on 200bhp and

electronic safety nets didn’t get my fun gland twitching. But then so does playing

Grand Teft Auto on the Xbox. To me, running over prozzies and dealing skag in

console-based virtual reality is a lot like riding an S1000RR on a trackday. It’s naughty,

it’s out of the ordinary and it’s billed as being risk-free. Sure the do-gooders don’t like it

and it’s not very politically correct, but sod them, it’s not doing any harm. Or is it?

Just as violent games are teaching kids it’s OK to slap a hoe if she cuts into your profits,

ultra litre bikes dripping with tech are teaching riders that every cack-handed action

doesn’t have an equal and ouchy reaction. Where’s the finesse? Where’s the respect?

So the GSX-R1000 and Fireblade are something of an alternative. On the forked road

that has divided the modern litre bike market, they’ve wheelied and wheelspun down

the path signposted ‘real world’. So that’s where we are, Matt and I, far from the hyper-

real environment of a track-based press launch in deepest, darkest Leicestershire.

7

12

13

Can this triCked-up wsb bike live with the MotoGp prototypes?

MotoGP Preview

CRT is a new kind of MotoGP machine, designed for our times (i.e when there’s bugger all money about) Words Mat Oxley Pics Jason Critchel, Gold & Goose

26

Until this year, unless you were someone like

Casey Stoner, there was only one real way to

go MotoGP racing: lease a prototype MotoGP

bike from one of the factories, for around £1.2

million each. And that’s just 12 months rental

fee – the bikes have to returned to the factory

at the end of the season.

It’s a rubbish deal and that’s why’s Dorna

have created a new formula to get more bikes

on the grid. Claiming Rule Team (CRT) bikes

can be powered by tuned superbike engines

and are therefore bargain-basement by

comparison. Cost is about half that of a

factory prototype lease fee and you own the

hardware. No wonder that almost half this

year’s 21-strong grid is made up of CRT bikes.

But cheap doesn’t make a race bike. Fast

makes a race bike. So will these CRT bikes be

fast enough to chase podium finishes, like the

best privateer bikes could in the ’80s and ’90s?

At first it looked like they had no chance.

When Colin Edwards tested his Suter BMW at

the first Sepang tests he was six seconds down

on Casey Stoner, which would have him

lapped in the Malaysian GP. And when Randy

de Puniet had his first run on Aprilia’s ART at

Valencia he was three seconds down, which

would have him getting lapped too.

But the better CRT bikes are on a steep

learning curve. A few months later at Jerez, de

Puniet and his ART (which stands for Aprilia

Racing Technology) were less than six tenths

off the 800cc MotoGP lap record. Meanwhile

Edwards returned to Sepang and halved his

disadvantage to three seconds.

At that kind of pace the fast Aprilia riders

should indeed be fast enough to live with –

and stuff – a few prototypes. Even Valentino

Rossi had better watch out if he’s having a bad

day. On the other hand, the slower CRT riders

will probably get lapped, which should mean

plenty of entertainment as Stoner barges his

way past the dawdling backmarkers.

But right now there’s no way any CRT bike is

going to beat Stoner.

Dorna have already made it clear that they

don’t want to continue with two different

kinds of bikes delivering different

performance. In May they will tell us about

MotoGP’s longer-term tech regs. Tere are

two options: either speed up the CRT bikes or

slow down the prototypes.

No prizes for guessing what’s going to

happen. Dorna are already talking control

ECUs and rev limits to give CRT riders a

chance of running at the front. You can

imagine what the factories think about that –

they spend tens of millions to go racing and

Dorna want their bikes to be no quicker than

the privateers. Tat’s why Honda have already

threatened to quit.

MotoGP could be in for a rocky ride this next

year or two. Te global economic meltdown is

changing the face of the world as a whole and

the world championship. Hopefully, what

emerges from the confusion will be a healthier

series with bigger grids and better racing,

even if the bikes won’t be quite as exotic.

James Ellison during his inaugural test of the new Aprilia ART Claiming Rule machine

at Jerez in March. But is he going to be able to run with the prototypes?

27

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Darren Clarke’s 1996 Kawasaki ZX-7R P1 was just a £1,000 trackday tearaway before he transformed it

into a top runner in Golden Era Superbike

Words Jon Urry Pics Jason Critchell

Working class hero

Golden Era Superbike Kawasaki ZX-7R

92

“I bought the ZX-7R in early 2010 from a mate. He did

me a good deal because he wanted it to go to a good home

as he had owned it from new. Well, a good home where it

was going to get abused!

“It was a road bike with tax and MoT and the first thing

I did with it was an evening trackday for a laugh. Ten it

just kind of sat in the garage. I’m one of those people who

never really gets around to doing anything with a bike,

but then I started buying a few trick bits…”

Darren Clarke is exactly the kind of person PB loves – a

bike fan with a weakness for eBay and a nose for a

bargain. With the ZX-7R sat in his garage, Darren’s

resolve finally broke and the ‘trackday bargain’ soon

developed into something more substantial.

“Once I started buying parts I got carried away,” he

admits with a laugh. “When I got the bike it had a full

Akrapovic system and carbon air tubes but, best of all,

my mate had put kit Kawasaki cams in the motor.

Other than that it was a stock ZX-7R.”

What is Golden Era Superbike?Run by Thundersport GB, Golden Era Superbike is a brand new class for 2012. Essentially trying to replicate the golden era of superbike racing the class is for pre-2000 750cc inline fours, 950cc triples and 1000cc V-twins, plus some post-2000 machines where the spec hardly changed. There are no rules about engine tuning but the chassis has to be standard, or from that era at the very least. Forks/front ends from later bikes can be used. More at: www.thundersportgb.com

Round 5-621-22 April – Mallory Park

Round 7 25(Fri)-26 May – Oulton Park GP

Round 8-923-24 June – Snetterton 200

Round 10-1128-29 July – Rockingham

93

104

105

The firsT Time...

“Te first time I rode the Suzuki GSX-R1000 was 2002, the year that

1000cc inline fours were allowed to race in British Superbikes. I had

taken the 2001 title on the Ducati 996 and I actually got to ride the

Suzuki alongside it before the season started – with Performance

Bikes! Te magazine had set up a comparison test between the two

bikes at Rockingham circuit. I did ten or twelve laps on the Ducati and

then jumped on the GSX-R that James Haydon had been developing for

Crescent. At that point I realised just how much work we had to do to

turn the Suzuki into a championship contender…

“Obviously the Suzuki was very early in its development, but I came

away from that test thinking ‘this is going to be a hard year’. Te major

issues with the K2 were the lack of midrange power and the chassis. It

certainly wasn’t lacking in top-end but after the Ducati, which had

loads of power everywhere, the GSX-R was gutless with a brutal top-end.

It was also too stiff. I remember when I first crashed it. Te accident

came about exiting a corner after the slide due to the repercussions of

the tyre gripping and tying the chassis in knots! It threw me right over

the headstock. We made the chassis more plyable

and after seven or eight months of hard work we

eventually had a motor with power everywhere.

It all came together at Brands Hatch in June and

we became the first 1000 to win a BSB race. We

knew that for 2003 Suzuki had a new GSX-R1000

and we were feeling confident for the season

ahead.

“As soon as we tested the GSX-R1000 K3 we

knew we had something special. It was smaller

than the K2, which suited my five-foot-six height,

and the engine was stronger. With a race bike you

need power, but there is no point having it up the

top of the rev range, you need a strong motor low-

down so it is rideable and the K3 had this. During

pre-season testing in Spain we were faster than

the competition – we were happy and 2003 was

looking good. Tis all changed at the first round…

“During practice at the Snetterton opening round we didn’t test a

qualifying tyre in the K3. It proved a big mistake: I went out for the first

time on a qualifier in Superpole and highsided, breaking my collar

bone. If that hadn’t have happened I honestly think we would have

taken the 2003 title. Shakey had a tremendous start to the season but if

you add up the points I scored in the second half of the season, when I

was fit compared to him, I would have taken the title. Although having

said that he was protecting a lead, so may have been going easy! I always

remember Paul Denning saying at the end of 2003, when we had

finished in second place, ‘John, you can’t win the championship on the

first race of the year, but you can lose it’. Tis was true of our 2003

season and I was determined to make 2004 our year.

“Te 2004 season was a battle between myself on the GSX-R and

Michael Rutter on the Fireblade and at various points we both tried to

gift each other the championship, we were making so many silly

mistakes. Te Ducati was still a great bike but the fours had finally

caught up and this was going to be their year. Michael’s Fireblade was

as strong as the GSX-R and at some rounds it only came down to tyre

choice – his Dunlops versus my Michelins. I think we had the GSX-

R1000 putting out around 208bhp in 2004 and that’s without any kind

of traction control, it was a weapon.

“Te season eventually went down to the final round at Donington

Park. Michael needed to win and I had to finish in the top six in the first

race to take the title. Donington had been a cruel track for Crescent in

the past; it is where Chris Walker lost the 2000 title and that stuck in

my mind – a championship is never won until it’s won, but I took third

and wrapped it up. Crossing the line was such a tremendous feeling, a

mixture of relief and accomplishment. It was job done and a huge

thank you to the team.

“Te 2004 BSB title is very special to me. It was the culmination of

three years of blood, sweat and hard work. We broke engines and bones

turning the GSX-R1000 into a championship-winning machine and

the success was purely down to the determination of everyone at

Crescent and Suzuki. Tat GSX-R1000 K4 was the best bike I ever rode

in my racing career. It still holds a very special place in my heart today.” Pics D

ou

ble

Re

d Interview

Jo

n U

rr

y

Who is John Reynolds?John Reynolds, or JR, is

a three times British

Superbike champion

who has taken the title

on a Kawasaki ZXR750,

Ducati 996 and Suzuki

GSX-R1000. JR has

competed in 500GPs

with Padgetts on a

YZR500 and WSB with

Suzuki and Kawasaki.

He is currently Suzuki’s

race director and helps

develop the GSX-R

road bikes.

A 1000cc inline four won the British

superbike Championship

by John Reynolds

122

101

Donington, 2004: JR celebrates his hard-won victory, securing the championship