Blog.alstare

What can Max do when he leaves Phillip Island track? He never stops working and revealed here all his talent to serve some ice cream to Alstare boys!

Sunday February 29th 2009

6 :30pm

First championship races are always like the first ever races.

Even if you’ve been testing worldwide during winter time, there’s nothing to tell you that, in race conditions, you duo rider/bike will really work. Under pressure, many thing can happen.

But, this morning, the wet conditions let me think things would be hard. No test have been done on that track under teh rain… Big stress. The ‘flag-to-flag’ ghost was arriving with the speed of clouds.

And the rain really came out during the warm-up. Just a few but enough to cause troubles. Stange set-ups, last minute solutions, we gambled already yesterday. No need to say that today, starting from rows 3 and 4…

The sky did not cleared. Small drops have been falling until the bikes left the pitlane. At that moment, all solutions can be imagined and all must be ready. The good news went from race direction when they announced  ‘wet race’, which means the white flags will stay calm but that riders could enter pitlane at any moment to change bikes.

Start.

For our unfortunate riders who were still crying on their desperate yesterday’s qualifying results, I think finaly they overcome even more motivated. With eight places each  taken after turn 1, the Saturday’s outsiders were becoming the Sunday’s favorites. Race and its unprobability. But not at all. When Spies went off track in turn 1, throw away by an italian scared to have to fight with him 20 laps long. Mr B. Yes, again.

Then, gaps are increasing, Max and Yukio are reaching top 3, Max even taking the lead to the Ducati. ONly 0’’032 will miss on the finish line to have the perfect race. But that was so god. Our both bikes under the podium, to see Yukio happy facing the crowd. Such a great thanks for all this winter work. We are here. Even better.

Race 2. What to say. If all went perfect in race 1, why should we change something for the second ? The sky is still cloudy. Temperature just increasing by 2°C. Would you beleive it ? No good start, no tyre feeling, chattering, slides… Why pushing to crash and then ruin all the job done this week-end… Mostly that for the moment, nobody crashed, hit birds, even scratch a fairing… Nothing. So 6th and 8th, it’s not so bad.

It’s true 2005 is a good souvenir and we could have made this dream again. But the other riders are here, closer. Those results are good. But we’ve got still a lot to do.

Tomorrow, we’ll return home to wash clothes and pack up luggages agin for a departure on the 9th for Qatar. Yet, recovering from jetlag will be a great individual success on mother nature. And I promess you it’s not easy.

I’ll come back to you next week.

Saturday February 28th 2009

8 :45pm

What could I tell you this evening except that all my yesterday’s words have no more sense today ?

In facts, all went well, this morning and this afternoon, until we saw this new Superpole, new format. Our riders have been on top all the time. Their average laptimes have been superb, mostly for Max who did a wonderful long run this afternoon. Looks good for tomorrow ? Hmm… Yes, should we start on the front rows. And then, I think we missed something, meaby all.

All was looking so simple during the last Portimao tests…

So, it’s not good and even worse…

But we’re not alone. Corser, Mister Superpole, the King of this particular exercise, the man with 43 wins in Superpole, the king of the fast lap… 16th… not even qualified for the second 12 minutes session… What a nightmare !

Haga also has been passing next to. The starting grid will look strange with this american looking like the new king for his first race. No, I’m joking. It’s a good guy.

Mr B is annoying me more. With his bike you’ll find in your local dealer’s shop in 30 years, he’s having a ride. Honestly, if a manufacturer can homologate as it is such a beautiful bike, one it’ll be expensive, two, it’ll be one of the most exiting roadbike ever been produced. But, I’m quiet sure you’ll not get the same machined cranckcase, magnesium wheels, a wireless throttle and all the parts. For the moment, they must have been prouducing 250 units for homologation, and they’ll have to have produced 1000 units before the end of June. Place an order now and let us know. Since then, you’ll have bought a GSX-R which will be available soon.

So, for tomorrow, we’ll have to make wonderful starts to catch and play with all friend on the front. It can be done. Max won Misano 2008 starting 10th.

Well, not in a good mood, I’m gonna stop bullshiting.

Best is to talk about tomorrow.

Friday February 27th 2009

12 :00am

This morning, the waves song kept me quiet after the alarm woke me up. You have to stay cool this morning, mostly because it’s the first day of a long Championship which is starting here, in Phillip-Island.

All habits have returned. Eyes will stay focussed on screens which will relay laptimes from timing marcshals. Riders will have nearly lost their smiles and will double their concentration. Laptimes sheets will be spead on all desks. Telemetry colored data’s fireworks will announce loud and shorts comments. Flashes will restart in front of the garage. So, return to a normal life.

Now the paddock is completed. Everybody has new colors, except Ducati who’s still printing on outdated printers… Bah, I’m joking. In facts, for those early days, there’s always a short time to get use of this, who’s who, who works for who even if most of them were already there last year.

All journalists are here too. So, all returned to its place for a new saison announced as the most exiting of Superbike history.

This morning too, it’s time for special passes distribution for grid and signal area. Like every year, it’s a problem. Organization is trying to reduce allocations for security reasons. But a team needs also to work and then to be at a specific place.

First session has just ended.  With second and fourth place, we’re not so bad. We know nobody’s chasing for fast laps but we’re here. To be fair, with same weather conditions as last Saturday, we reproduced same laptimes. This afternnon should give a better idea of all riders ability. Our riders know both we’re just making the first steps of  long risky championship and they must scored big points and avoid mistqkes and injuries. Mostly because, every championship start, all riders have the same ranking points and they’re all thinking this will be Their season. In facts, they’ve all got one chance… but not same.

3 :30pm

Ok. Let’s say our previous idea was not so bad. Finish 4th and 5th after leading most of the session, with correct laptimes for race pace and, also, with a temperature overtaking 32°C, so to be compared to last Sunday. That’s fine. Both riders have achieved more than 20 laps each with fair laptimes in those conditions. Teh three riders who passed us in the last five minutes did only one fast lap. Their average pace on this session put them behind. And yes, there’s nothing to win being the fastest today, except an increased coverage for having been the first officially fastest of this 2009 Championship. Hmm… Let’s see.

Tomorrow will be an other day. Rain is supposed to arrive and, if wind is remaining, we could have terrible conditions for riding. But, if the weather’s fine on Sunday, we’ve got already a good basic set-up.

For me, no meeting, no extra work to be done, my pen should fine time to tell you in french only, how it’s been for this week’s start and the videos. Sorry, it would be too long to translate.

You’ll know more by tomorrow.

Today’s results :

1  96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′32.312

2  41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′32.569

3  91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.623

4  76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′32.673

5  71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′32.704

6  56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1′32.928

7  84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′32.932

8  19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′32.939

9  66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′32.971

10   9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.991

11   3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1′32.995

12  55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1′33.202

13  44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′33.206

14   7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′33.224

15  67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′33.317

16  11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′33.377

17  65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′33.418

18 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′33.709

19  23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′33.911

20 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′34.080

21  33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′34.123

22  25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.487

23  24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1′35.123

24  31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′35.716

25  99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′35.759

26  77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′36.103

27  15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′36.514

28  86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′37.127

Saturday February 21st 2009

10:30 am

Once again, the wild horses have rushed in the pit-lane exit. With about 200 hp each, it makes a lot of rolling thunder arriving, full open, in turn one after breaking the bang wall in the straight line. But with such riders, it’s not surprising. Watching carefully, some of them must have escape from a HSQ psychiatric service. You must really remove all breakers to release yourselve enough.

In pits this morning, i twas looking like a tuning bike contest where spectators, teams mechanics, were watching closely, one per one, all exiting bikes to comment their respective final designs with smiles or laughs. Alstare design made its effect. Was there really a competition…

This morning, as yesterday, clouds were are here, but bigger. Temperature made a drop down and I’m regretting not to have taken a jacket. I cross fingers to see the sun shining quickly et stop the cold south wind.

So, the crisis arrived to the Team. They are no more drinking water… Nothing. They did not even turn in ‘Cereal killers’, killing whisky malt.

Talking about the crisis, I’ve never seen so many expensive roadbikes over 50 000 euros on and around circuits. Italian V4s built like GP machines that owners do not hesitate to put on track with very expensive racing parts… with all risks included.

While that time, I’m preparing a report about marshals, those talented guys who are watching more than closely their living passion and their pleasure from the track side. You’ll know more about soon.

02:00 pm

The Corser family has starting to arrive. It’s crazy. Feeling the cheerful way and the strong shook hand, it’s like Imola 2005 just happened yesterday. The Wollongong kid want his chat with us, crossing the paddock to visit us, talking about crocodiles in north Queensland streets with overfloading rivers or about his family. This has no price.

The lunch, useful relaxing moment, cutting a non-stop riding day with a nice meal served with smile, has been shortened.

One of the mechanics, skilled, has smashed his left inch under his hammer. After first attempt to have his finger cured by artist who would put straps on a wooden leg, i took him to Karl. Doc’ is a simple guy but really involved in mechanical sports. Responsible of medical collège of the FIM, of medical services for aussie national motorbikes championships and V8 Supercars, responsible for medical organization for the last Singapore F1 Grand Prix (just this…), doctor well-known and appreciated in his Melbourne suburbs hospital, Karl Lee is THE doctor. Last year, he was scanning my ankle and stiched me after bitten by the ‘great white’. This year, it’s Julien’s inch after having also sorted last year an infection for Max. He’s now like the Alstare family official doctor. Thanks Doc’…

But the most beautiful thing, even wounded, they never giveup. Julien returned to his bike to finish with an inch looking like my leg. And my leg… It’s like some years before, one of the mechanics left for Donington with a broken colarbone after a bicycle crash. They never gave up. Respect.

5:45 pm

Testing day 1 will soon finish.

As a bloody idiot, I’m starting to feel the sun burn on my head. By not watching the opening sky, I did not felt the warming weapon falling on me. My sun cream was not even far…

Riders are giving comments about their day.

With nearly 200 laps done, we can say they’ve really been working hard despite sessions stops. Haga, Corser, Checa, Fabrizio, Foret have been cutting the two sessions of the day, the morning one and… the afternoon one (just in case…).

In the end, with a restricted choice of tyres, we’ve been trying to work on consistancy rather than performance. We finished 1st and 3rd of the day. It’s a bit too early to say it’s good for next week-end as teams have been testing different tyres solutions. As said before, only next week’s results will be important. Keeping the led on this 2 days test will just be good for minds. With same tyres, we’ll see next Sunday who made the right choices.

For this evening, it smells italian cheese and tomato if you understand wht I mean.

We’ll speak again tomorrow with warmer conditions about those crucial choices in those conditions which will bec loser to next week.

Friday February 20th

Opening the curtains this morning, a light cloudy sky was covering Melbourne bay. In that case, you’re not betting anytime that the sun will come over because the weather can really be strange, spreading, no joke, rain, snow, wind and great sun on the same day. So you’ll take your sun cream and your rain coat when you’ll go to work.

Back to the circuit, engines are already roaring.The track, like yesterday, is rented by private customers who are competing for a fake wonderful victory on their every day’s bikes. It brings me back few years ago when I was thinking about overtaking Fogarty, Edwards and Haga in the last lap of a dream race after delaying my breaking point.

But they never saw me on track.

Today, those customers have cleaned their bikes knowing, since yesterday, that Superbike Top Teams would be here. Take a moment to think you’re on that track and that your spectators are the riders of the Championship. Because they are fan, they have bought the bikes according to their favour to a rider or an other, or a supposed religion which link them to a manufacturer dreaming one day they’ll get paid to ride those bikes.

It reminds me of a 2002 trackday when, leaning on my GSX-R tank, I was drafting behind Chili, famous rider who got use to ride this kind of bike for Suzuki. Think about that dream. How couldn’t you think, forgetting the cold fears whn trying to follow him, I was thinking about overtaking him when braking, which would have made me congratulate by Frankie… Wouah !… The one who’s not dreaming can not live in reality.

Back to kangaroo’s land.

After spending time yesterday to salute all the people working at the circuit, I’ve been welcome this morning as if I would have been alway there. When we’re telling you those people are doing everything to make you feel like at home.

Finaly, the sun is there. If it start warming, I’m gonna check how long i twill take for the guys to dring the 96 liters of water cooled in the fridge. It’s always very impressive. Watching them working, I’m wondering how they find time to drink a little. But I know already that tomorrow, I’ll have to go back to the supermarket to recomplete the stock. It’s llike in the army, someone has to do the ‘water job’. Finaly, jobs are neraly all same.

Emails are arriving from the organization.We start talking schedules, stickers for marking tyres and permanent passes. The big fight is on his way. This feeling become concrete by this paddock being built all around. Usually empty, guys are building tents everywhere for the national riders of the support series.

Today, the Team will have completed most of the work on the bikes with a lot of new small parts like brake hoses arrived from the country of the rising sun. And this is just an example.

This day will not last any longer. Some riders of today must be still gathering the broken parts that some optimism will have thrown away in the gravels.

Team will move to our german cooker’s place, a Max’s fan, who’s not been refusing to re-study a lower price to his menu knowing a happy customer will come back again.

Tomorrow, slick tyres will replace road ones. The animals will enter on track. We’ll keep you aware.

Thursday February 19th

It doesn’t seem but we’ve spent 22 hours in a plane once again.

Return to The country, our second home, Australia.

Return once again in this wonderful place like no other despite injuries due to forest fires which damaged forever the lanscapes and gave the australians a guilty idea of the muderers who started those fires which let 200 persons forever locked in flames and those families in tears. Just think about 3000sqkm reduced to nothing, homes turned into ashes and people without any clue of their lives.

The Team is feeling very concerned by this tragedy and shares the pain of all those aussies, those end of the world cousins who have always done their best to welcome us with their unbeattable smile.

A single chat at the workshop, in the head office, put down the bases of an auction never seen before in our team’s life to make a donation to the Australian Red Cross who needs to give so much now.

Finding helmets and race suits of our riders, you’ll get soon the possiblity to find those online on Ebay. You must know already that what you’ll give will be greatly appreciated. For those who know Australia, you know what I’m talking about. Nothing’s more natural to give to people who are never passing their turn to put together all you need to feel like at home.

We’ll let you know soon how this will be done.

But next week-end you’ll see some details which will prove we are together with those friends from south hemisphere.

Sad news appart, the sun welcame us for our first day with more acceptable temperatures for an aussie summer. With 20°C less than during previous weeks, air has become more breathable even if 28°C made a huge gap with polar temperatures in Europe.

Team is then preparing the last winter meeting this week-end. In one week time, we’ll talk laptimes as only those will be considerate. The 2009 Championship will have horned the start of the bikes  on Gardner Straight.

So, for the last time, riders will be focussed on possible secret evolutions made in Belgium and Japan. No pressure even if most of the Teams will take part to this nearly official training. Comparision of time sheets between riders will be a warning for some of those who will have then few time to find out the right solutions to be more competitive for the first race.

This quiet day, helped by the easy assembly of the garages equipments, allowed us to start changing important parts on the 4 bikes. To avoid any last minute problem like the possibility to fix the new displays in those tiny garages, we saw we’ll have to re-think the final layout of all displays due to a rolled metallic curtain upon our heads. When I told you everything has to be tested before the D Day.

The 6 tons of parts removed from the crates, the garage has become a very busy place where there was, despite being tired from travelling mixed with the jetlag, a friendly atmorsphere combined with serious matters. The sunrise very early has been followed by most of the mechanics who could not stay asleep after 6 :30 am despite a late arrival to hotel few hours before. But the view of the sun will have given some more boost to un-woke up people to give them a smile as an aussie going to work.

The end of this busy day has thrown everybody on pillows.

Think it’s time for me to do the same.

Sorry, this post is only available in Français.

Sorry, this post is only available in Français.