[ST] Val Moto update

["Jack Hays" <rude@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Viva Triumph ValMoto

Last week Triumph ValMoto completed a highly successful test at the
2.6-mile Cartagena circuit in Spain. The team spent three days getting a
feel for the '04-spec Triumph ValMoto Daytona 600 that Craig Jones will
ride in the coming British Supersport Championship.

Team Manager Jack Valentine was exceptionally pleased with the outcome of
the test, although he would not be drawn in to idle talk of lap times. "The
first stage of our preparations have gone exceptionally well," he said.
"It's been a while since Craig rode a race bike, but he's been keeping in
shape and got back into the swing of things really quickly. It was really
just a shakedown for us and an opportunity to put the new bike through its
paces. As far as lap times are concerned, all I'll say is that we can hold
our heads up in World Supersport company. "The weather was really good, but
it cooled off a bit on the final day. I reckon we lost about 12 to 15
degrees track temperature, which theoretically will have cost us about half
a second a lap. All the same, Craig still managed to set his best time at
the end. The bottom line is that - even though we were only blowing the
cobwebs away ready for testing at Valencia - we've gone 1.5 seconds faster
than we did testing the old bikes."

After completing this initial shakedown the team travelled overland to
Valencia to measure the Triumph ValMoto Daytona 600 against world
championship winning opposition. "Today [Monday] is the first day of the
test and we're really just trying out a few settings," explained Jack. "The
extra power that the new bike has means that we need to tweak the
suspension - in fact we're almost having to start from scratch. There's
also the fact that Craig has never ridden at Valencia before, so he's just
familiarising himself with its demanding layout. But he seems to be getting
to grips with it really well and has even been able to hang with [Belgarda
Yamaha WSS rider] Foret down the back straight.

"It's about 27 degrees here and the circuit is really abrasive, so we're
also working really closely with Pirelli - trying out a few compounds of
the control tyre that we'll be using in the World Supersport round later
this month. We've definitely got a lot of work to do, but so far things are
looking pretty positive."

Stay tuned for further reports from Valencia.



Que Lastima, Jack "Rude Dog" Hays
972-952-5065
"I'll see you on the Dark Side of the Moon"



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