Adam 'Krusty' Fergusson near lap record pace on his first outing
| Krusty speaks - "It was a reasonably successful test as far as I am concerned.
We managed to achieve a good direction on the 2001 Alpha Technik Castrol Honda CBR 600 Sport in the end, and we collected enough data to go back and improve the package when we test there again in February 2001.
"Things could have gone very bad though, as we had a big setback after only 6 laps on the 1st day. "Exiting the 4th gear turn one, the engine suddenly lost power and grinded to a halt. (I wish it were that simple) What I immediately thought was an engine blow-up, actually turned out to be an easily avoided mistake by my German engine builder Thomas…. the oil filter was not lock-wired and it fell off, spewing oil all over the circuit, and over the outer engine casings. Well… needless to say, the bike caught fire and I had to jump off the back of it whilst still travelling at about 60 or 70 kph! "Luckily the bike was not extensively damaged and we were able to replace the engine and numerous molten parts, and return to the track with about 1 hour remaining. "After only completing 12 flying laps of the picturesque circuit on the Spanish east coast, I recorded a best lap of 1:40.8, which is about 1 second off the World Supersport lap record. "With the cold winter weather, and the extremely frosty nights, we didn’t start testing until about lunchtime on the second day. "Day 2 was mainly a testing day for the new Michelin tyres, as well as different suspension combinations. But after all of this, as well as much more needed track time, I managed to uncork a pile of laps in the low 1:40 bracket, as well as a best lap of 1:39.8, which was just outside of the lap record, I think that put us about 4th fastest overall. Not bad for my 1st time there! "Overall, with the great assistance of my Australian mechanic Garry House, the rest of the Alpha Technik crew, Showa’s Manuel, and Michelin’s Jean Jacques, we made some good progress with the new Honda Supersport bike, and I believe we are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the 2001 World Supersport Championship, and who knows? Maybe we could end up World Champions at the end? Only time will tell." Best of luck in 2001 to all our Aussie World SuperSport boys. Adam 'Krusty' Fergusson
- Alpha Tecknic Honda And maybe one more that we may be able to confirm soon....... |
Krusty (5) with 2000 Mobil Honda team-mate Alex
Gobert (16)
at the final round of the 2000 Australian SuperBike Championship