Motorsport: Kiwi motorbike hopes go on the line

By Peter Jessup

Kiwi motorcyclists perform before a television audience of 100 million-plus at the weekend with Aaron Slight in Superbikes at Melbourne, while Simon Crafar races in the 500cc world series in Kuala Lumpur.

The New Zealand-produced BSL bike will also contest the opening race of the 500cc series in Malaysia.

Slight reckons extra testing at Phillip Island has given him an edge in bike set-up and that he's well placed to be a frontrunner on the resealed surface there.

The Masterton rider holds the lap record at the picturesque oceanside circuit and won there in 1997, but last year fortune was against him when a tail-ender ran him into the dirt.

"The track has been re-surfaced recently and really that changes all our previous experience," he said.

"We've done quite a bit of testing on it and what we've learned is that it'll be very abrasive on tyres. That will suit the Ducati more than us. Our four-cylinder spins the back wheel more, so the rubber wears much more quickly but we've identified a tyre that we think will do the job. Certainly it will be a war of attrition, everyone's tyres will be getting worn by the latter stages of the race and there'll be guys slipping everywhere."

The two legs of the event will be shown live on Sky Sport on Sunday afternoon.

Later in the day the 500cc grand prix series opens at the new track at Sepang just outside Kuala Lumpur. Both components of the Kiwi contingent contesting the series admit they are behind the eight-ball and off the pace but closing.

Crafar has had problems with a shift from Dunlop to Michelin tyres and is yet to get back to his best as he regathers confidence in knowing how hard to push it when the tail slips. He has been in Malaysia since Tuesday testing at Sepang, the track itself promising to throw spanners in some works as riders work out a circuit that has a 320km/h straight and two 50km/h corners.

The BSL team flew up on Tuesday and are making a flurry of last-minute adjustments to suit rider Mark Willis. The former superbike racer made his 500cc debut at last year's Australian Grand Prix, finishing 14th aboard a factory Suzuki and scoring two world championship points.

He expects to take a few rounds of the 13-race series to settle in, the aim at Sepang being simply to finish.

"This is all about taking opportunities and making the most of them. The first half of the year will be tough for us, for sure. Halfway through the season when I've done heaps of laps and got more confident with the bike and know better what it can do we'll start thinking about goals for the year.

"Anything above a finish in the early races will be a bonus," Willis said.