MIST Suzuki Racing

Gareth Jones, 21/03/08 - 24/03/08
Racedays.net

After arriving in the UK 2 weeks ago, I was eager to get on a bike and get some testing in before Round 1 at Valencia in Spain. Up until only a few days before we left Australia, it was our intention to come to the UK and ride in the R1 Cup, running in conjunction with the British Superbike Series.

However, we became aware of the Mist Suzuki team and shortly after speaking with them, we were keen to race the FIM European Superstock Cup aboard Mist Suzuki’s GSXR 1000 K8. We met with Mike, the team boss, shortly after landing and discussed testing with the team at Valencia. All went well and we booked our flights to Valencia the next day. I was looking forward to the opportunity to ride this series as it was fast tracking my goal, which was to look at this series for 2009.

We arrived at Valencia for the test and met my team mate Matt Bond. I was quite excited about getting onto the track and hopefully start getting the bike sorted for Round 1, only a week and a half later. I had no doubts that this was definitely going to be a hard task as I’ve never ridden a Suzuki and never ridden a European track before. So there were a lot of things to get right and not a lot of time to do so. Mike and Matt made me feel very welcome in the team and we were all eager to get the bikes sorted.

I got the basics in position and headed onto the track, keeping in mind we had 4 days to get it working, so a slow and steady approach would be the way to go. I spent quite a few laps getting a feel for everything and coming in to make changes every few laps, just to get the best possible feel for the bike and reaction to changes. Day 1 went quite well and on the last lap of the day I had brought my time down to a 1:41.7. I was happy as I knew we had a long way to go with the bike and with myself getting comfortable on it.

The following day we started out with a fresh set of tires and continued to change some geometry in the first session, however only a few laps into the second session as I came into turn 1, which is pretty fast, I changed my line to avoid some traffic, and I moved out onto some cracker dust that had been put down the day before after some oil was dropped. This resulted in a fast crash. The front just folded like I was on a wet track when I was almost straight up and down on the brakes. I end up deep into the gravel of turn 1 and surprisingly I didn’t really injure myself apart from a hyper extended wrist. The crash caught me totally by surprise so I was really annoyed and frustrated to see the new bike looking pretty messy. It was not great, but fixable at the track. Dad later informed me I did a 1.40.1 on that lap.

I didn’t feel good about this at all, especially as it was my first test with the team, but these things happen in racing and Mike and my Dad got straight onto getting the bike back together. Unfortunately my luck didn’t get much better and I wasn’t able to get back on track that day. The next day we put a fresh set of tires in to start the day, however when I went out we had a really bad vibration coming from the rear of the bike, especially around right hand corners. Finding this very strange, it took some time to eliminate a lot of possibilities, and we eventually found the tire to be out of round! How’s the luck. I understand this isn’t uncommon, although I have never come across it before. Out the window went that set of tires and in went an old set. I had one more new set left and one more full day so I didn’t do too many more laps in order to save tires until we had the bike feeling better. I had a lot of trouble getting a comfortable setup, my major problem being an almost complete lack of front end feel. We didn’t have the facilities to make an internal change so Mike and I persisted with what we had for this test knowing that we could make the necessary changes for the race round a week later.

Next day came and we didn’t get on track until around lunch time as the track temp was cold and wind was quite strong. We tried another geometry change in the afternoon and finally threw in out last set of tires when there was next to nothing left on what we had, this was a good exercise to get a feel for the Suzuki on worn tires.

Once again I headed out and found the vibration was back again. I came straight in and didn’t think it was possible to get 2 tires out of round. This time, not nearly as pronounced, but still there. Nevertheless I went back on track, put 2 more laps in and to my surprise broke into the 39’s. All in all, it was a very trying time, and with all things considered it certainly was not one of the best tests I’ve done. Mike was very helpful and did his best to get everything the way I’d like it. So I’m sure it will be onwards and upwards from here, and I’m very eager to get on the track and amongst it at Round 1. I’m confident of getting the Suzuki sorted to suit my riding style, and I’m looking forward to working closer with the Mist Suzuki team.

Matt Bond, 21/03/08 - 24/03/08
Racedays.net

After a successful test in Almeria I was looking forward to jumping aboard the new bike and seeing just what changes there were from the old machine to the new. I also couldn’t wait to meet my new team mate, Australian Gareth Jones, and his parents, Glyn and Gill.

Day One.

As soon as we wheeled the bike out into pit lane it felt different. The bike felt a lot lighter, sharper and more nimble. It was as if someone had completely removed the front end of the bike and just left a single strip of metal with some bars and a wheel. It was a quite odd feeling.

On track the prepared engines felt really crisp and smooth on acceleration and had a load of top end grunt also. The initial set-up on the bike wasn’t too bad, thanks to using the settings from Almeria as a base. A few tweaks here and there helped keep the bike settled on the brakes and turn in, and once the new performance friction pads had bedded in, the bike was stopping really well, and felt very stable.

After a couple of sessions it was apparent that the forks were at their limit, and although Gareth decided to put the new Ohlins cartridge items into his bike, I opted to stay with the standard set until day two. I just focused on the lines I was using and the reference points I was going to be using over the test weekend.

Day Two.

With the new forks fitted it was time to do some hard laps to get a feel for the new cartridge kit and to find a good setting from which we could work on and improve the bike.

The front end was noticeably different and gave loads more feedback and feel, especially mid turn at the apex. It did feel odd at first until the fork settled in and got some oil around itself, after this we just focused on getting it to travel the full stroke length and compress at the correct rate when braking hard.

We made a few more changes to the rear end to try and help the bike maintain side grip and also we raised the rid height just to help turn the bike faster. It put more emphasis on the front end of the bike as well, which was good as it helped me to carry more corner speed and hold a good line on the mid turn and exit of the tighter bends.

It was gutting to see Gareth hit the deck at turn one about half way through the session, especially when we’d both started going forward and posting some top lap times. I just focused on continuing our forward progress, and get a decent qualifying lap in for the afternoon’s “Open Race”, which would see all the fast guys out in a time trial event.

With a rolling lap starting the race it was a bit manic with riders n bikes all over the track on the opening lap and I just had to dive up the inside of some of the 600 guys entering the first turn. A couple of laps in and I had settled into a comfortable third place and began to chase down the two riders in front, one on Superbike and the other being Jonathan Gallina, who I will be competing against in a couple of weeks! I made a few mistakes and had to relax back into my rhythm and once done my times started to improve once again and then it started raining and I just pulled straight in, there was no point in risking falling in a fun race that didn’t mean anything to be honest.

Day Three.

With the weather back to the expected glorious Spanish sunshine of the first day I was keen to get in a large amount of laps and try some new set-ups with the ride height of the bike, with the plan to help keep the bike balanced, but maintain turn in and lower weight transfer from opposing ends of the bike, also.

The first half of the day went well with the new set-up taking a bit of time to get used to as it all felt too slow and unstable, but after a number of laps and a few more tweaks to the suspension we managed to pretty much sorted any worries I’d previously had.

Being higher up on the bike certainly helped improve the feel and feedback form both the front forks and rear shock, and it really reduced the weight transfer when braking hard. It meant I could brake later than before and still turn in just as hard, making it easier to ride the circuit, and helped make the lap times more consistent as well.

I spent the afternoon just focusing on my riding techniques to try and help me find out what I needed to do to improve my lap times. It was mainly standing the bike up onto the fat part of the tyre and firing out of the turns which were my priority. I gained a clear idea of how to do this after following Gareth for a few laps; it was amazing to see how different we each ride the bikes. I tend to run more corner speed, whereas Gareth tends to stop, turn and fire out. I guess we can both learn little bits from each other over the season!

Day Four.

The final day of our test was going to be used to further improve the set-up on the bike and also to push hard towards improving the best lap time I had already set. Some laps in the morning were fairly clear as many of the riders form the previous days had gone home, but some new guys had turned up for the track day and were extremely dangerous and very slow! I had some really close calls when they just decided to sit it up mid turn n pretty much stop on the racing line while I’m coming through at full pace! It’s not the best situation in the world.

Anyway, we still got in some useful testing and pretty much had the bike dialled in really nicely, after solving a few rear end grip issues. The bike was now turning good, holding the line superbly and had just the right amount of traction and spin when exiting the bends. The only problem we had been with trail braking and turning in while braking, but this was something we can resolve back at home, by removing a few mils of oil from the forks.

We put a new rear tyre in the bike and kept the 20 lap old front tyre in and just gave it three laps to go hard and see what we could come up with, lap time wise. It was really good, the bike felt smooth and fluid and despite the lack of front end grip and the problem with the brakes I posted my fastest lap, at 1.40.1.

It was really good, a big improvement over last year and now I just can’t wait for the opening round. It’s going to be good and I’m really looking forward to seeing and racing the whole new field of teams and riders. Ciao for now!

Mike Edwards, 08/02/08 - 09/02/08
Racedays.net

With the first two of our 2008 bikes stripped down as part of the build process and two test sessions planned for March everything seemed to be going smoothly for the race team. A sudden change of plan was required when the first test was cancelled at short notice.

Our friends at Racedays.net kindly offered us space on their Almeria test but given the short notice there was little we could do to prepare the 2008 bikes in time so we opted to use the spare 2007 machine that we had bought when we needed another engine back in August last year. We fitted our spare rear sets, bodywork, exhausts and steering damper, loaded it in to the van and set off for the 1550 mile drive to the South of Spain.

We were concerned initially as to whether the test would be worthwhile as our Ohlins fork internals, braided brake lines, clip ons, etc. had yet to arrive and we still hadn’t managed to source the Yoshimura ECU and other parts we needed to build a competitive SuperStock bike. Regardless even some time on a standard bike would be useful as Matt hadn’t ridden since the last round in early October 2007 and was bound to take some time to get back up to speed.

It was the first visit to Almeria for both Matt and the team and everyone was soon running through regular process for learning a circuit, defining reference points and other drills we go through. There were plenty of well known faces in the paddock to help with the Racedays MasterClass, a more intensive level of tuition from respected racers, including Leon and Ron Haslam (Factory Honda rider in British SuperBikes and ex-500GP respectively), Jeremy McWilliams (ex-British SuperBike, ex-500GP and ex-250GP) and Iain Macpherson (ex-British SuperBike and ex-World SuperSport). The class was fully booked so we had to work on Matt’s riding approach and techniques together as a team.

Rather than being out of practice Matt took to the new circuit quickly and after some advice on a couple of corners was soon picking up speed. The format of the Racedays.net event is plenty of Open Pitlane time coupled with a qualifying session and a variety of races to keep things interesting. Initially I wasn’t keen on Matt racing but it soon became clear the only way he was going to be able to learn from the instructors was to race against them I relented albeit it under strict instructions to stay our of trouble. I have to admit to being swayed by the fact that he qualified second overall just behind Leon Haslam and 1.4 seconds faster than Jeremy McWilliams and Ron Haslam.

We sat out most of the final Open Pitlane session to conserve our last set of tyres although Matt did a couple of laps following some advice from Ron on one particularly complex section of track where he was struggling to turn the bike fast enough. After declaring himself happy with the new approach to the corner and spending some more time talking through his lines through each of the corners it was time for the race itself.

Matt got away well and led in to the first corner opening up a small lead while Leon Haslam dealt with the traffic through the first few corners. Aside from a couple of mistakes a few laps in it took Leon until lap nine to catch up with Matt and he only managed to pass when Matt backed off approaching a backmarker on the way in to turn one. With Matt on his tail and both riders struggling for grip Leon led for the final laps with the pair separated by just 0.5 seconds after the 80 kilometre race with Ron Haslam some 30 seconds back.

It was only after event that we found Matt had lost his knee slider early on in the race when he hit his knee on a kerb. He bravely continued to race on and still got his knee down along the way. By the end it had worn through all the layers of leather and also the outer skin of the protective armour. He did say it felt a bit windy down the back straight so he knew that he had probably worn all the way through but kept on going regardless! I hope we can persuade Teknic to supply another set of leathers before the start of the season.

Leon was very complimentary about Matt’s riding and declared that had he not been able to pass when he did it was unlikely that he would have had enough grip left to attempt the same move later in the race. Obviously the team were delighted and Matt was very happy at having ridden a great race and having the ability to watch and learn from Leon at such close quarters. It was an excellent start to the season and everyone is looking forward to testing the fully prepared 2008 SuperStock bike at Valencia next month.

We were even more delighted when we found out that Matt had managed to get within 2.5 seconds of the unofficial SuperStock lap record set by the 2007 SuperStock Champion, Niccolo Canepa, on his fully prepared factory Xerox Ducati 1098 in testing before the season started last year. Matt was also faster on a standard bike than the then reigning British SuperStock champion Brendan Roberts, also on a factory Xerox Ducati 1098, at the same test last year although it has to be said that Brendan didn’t manage to complete the second day of his test due to injury.

With another test scheduled with Racedays.net at Valencia in March prior to the first race at the same circuit the question everyone is asking is how much of an improvement the addition of Ohlins suspension, Pirelli SuperCorsa Pro race tyres, Yoshimura ECU, quick shifter and quick action throttle will make to those times.