News bits and pieces

By JIM DUNCAN

Good news for local motorcycle industry - the Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship will go to air on SBS this year. The move is sure to drum up more corporate spending dollars, and hopefully SBS will sign on the series as a full-time regular.

The deal has been penned, though specifics haven't been completely ironed out. We do know the series will get a one hour timeslot, once a week, with the opening race, staged at Philip Island on February 17, to be shown three weeks later. The day and specific timeslot haven't been disclosed, but we hope they decide to do a weekend telecast or perhaps even one lateat night.

The new racing broadcast will be called The Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship, with the majority of content to revolve around the premier Superbikes, though the show's producers did state that their aim was to give all classes televised exposure. Good news indeed!

Next up is news of Ducati's new four-cylinder engine they are developing for entry in the MotoGP Championships in 2003. While the Italian engine gurus pondered the effects of having a 10kg lighter Vee twin, they ultimately decided on something a little more orthodox - an L-4.

It is basically a 90-degree V4, placed on its side, hence the L in L-4. But the interesting aspect of the new engine is not so much that Ducati is creating a four-banger. Instead, the big news is that Ducati is setting the cylinder firing in two-by-two, essentially mimicking a Vee twin.

Ducati Corse Managing Director, Claudio Domenicali, talked in length about the new engine philosophy: "The best solution was a ‘double twin’ and therefore we designed an engine with four round pistons which, thanks to a simultaneous two-by-two firing order, reproduce the working cycle of a twin.

"This will generate the big bang effect, making the rear tyre work in a way that extends its duration and improves rider feeling when exiting curves.

"The Desmosedici engine will have a relatively short development period and reasonable costs and it will then be easily available also for external teams, since it is Ducati Corse’s intention to become a point of reference for private teams in MotoGP, as already it is in World Superbike."

So, there you have it. Ducati racing in the GPs by 2003. Should be a rather interesting season, that one...

Suzuki has been testing its new 4-stroke GP bike in sweaty, hot and humid conditions in Sepang recently, in a bid to get Gibernau and Roberts Jnr comfortable with the bikes. The new XREO bikes were put through their paces, along with their riders, on a track with one of the fastest straights in the business.

The 990cc bike was initially slated in for a 2003 debut in the MotoGP circuit, but Suzuki has been extremely impressed with the development cycle, pushing the bike forward by a full year - hence the long training sessions at Sepang.

Kenny Roberts Jnr said: "I think everybody has smiles on their faces, we're happy with our position and we know what challenges lie ahead. We asked Suzuki for this opportunity and we know we'll have some rough times at the beginning, but I am happy with the situation and the team are motivated, and that's a big issue."

What do we make from that? Perhaps Suzuki's bike would have benefitted from another 12 months in development and testing, but then it could be Junior setting up a smoke screen to lull Honda and Yamaha into a false sense of security. It could also be that I'm reading into it too much...

Kawasaki also made a shock arrival at Sepang after recent news that, yes, Team Kwaka will contest MotoGP races later this year. As Kawasaki has only really just started testing its new four-stroke protoype, with rider Akira Yanagawa taking the reigns in Sepang as the official tester, it would have been folly to enter its bike at the start of the season. Better to test a bit more.

All in all, the 2002 MotoGP season is shaping up to be the most interesting ever, not to mention being a monumental season, crossing from 2-stroke to 4-stroke for the first time. We wait with baited breath.