According to Arase, there have been minor refinements in materials and construction of the chassis, but the geometry measurements were basically the same as '05: "The chassis worked pretty well last year and the riders have not had any complaints, so we haven't changed much on the chassis. Just very small refinements to construction of both the frame and swingarm to give better cornering feel for the rider. Hopkins and Vermeulen's basic chassis specifications are the same."
The most noticeable external chassis change was to the swingarm, which now sports all of its bracing underneath the main spars and no longer makes room for the rear bank of exhausts to exit next to the swingarm and out the left side; the rear cylinders' exhausts now route up underneath the seat and exit out the tailpiece.
Riding the GSV-R990
A Major Improvement
Accelerating out along the short straight between Turns 1 and 2 at Valencia, I decide to "give 'er the berries" and see if the team has given me a map more closely approximating what Vermeulen uses during a race weekend. Lo and behold, the GSV-R hunkers down and launches down the straight with a verve that the '05 model could never have matched, lazily lofting the front wheel in third gear as it hurtles down toward Turn 2. Yeah, baby! Now we're talkin'!
Thankfully, I remember that even though the tires are already nearly up to temp from the tire warmers, the carbon brakes are not, so I shut off early and apply the brakes. As expected, the response is pretty dull, and I have to give them a pretty good squeeze for a longer period to get any stopping power. I drag the brakes at every opportunity on my first lap to get some heat into them, all while making sure to run into the right-hand corners at a decent speed to scrub in that side of the tires, since Valencia is made up of mostly left-hand turns.
There is no doubt that the Suzuki has a much stronger motor this time around, whatever engine maps it might be running. While the throttle still has that smooth yet crisp initial response that allows you to apply it earlier and more aggressively in the corner for a better drive out, the midrange acceleration is much improved. The GSV-R pulls much harder and gobbles up the short straights fiercely enough that I find myself having to control wheelies off many of the medium-speed corners in Valencia's infield, something I never had to be concerned with before.
In fact, that more aggressive engine is almost a liability in some spots. The Suzuki's steeper torque curve makes it a bit more difficult to control the bike in the tighter sections because of the extra care required with throttle inputs, and short-shifting to keep the power from ramping up too quickly is necessary in a few areas. If the wheelie control was activated, it isn't very effective, as I have to fight to keep the front end down accelerating in third gear at a little over 120 mph as I crest the small rise on the front straight.
2006 Pre-Season testing show the huge airbox that presumably contains the air-pressure storage tank for the pneumatic valve system, as well at the underseat exhaust routing for the rear cylinders forced by the new 75 degree V-4 engine.
Top-end power is worlds better than with the '05 GSV-R, with none of the noticeable tapering off of acceleration past 14,000 rpm, and a much better overrev as it approaches the 16,500-rpm rev limiter. Nonetheless, I'm still wishing for a bit more on top, as acceleration feels like it is flattening out a little too prematurely compared with some of the other MotoGP machines.
Overall handling continues to be a strong point with the GSV-R, and it's easy to see why the team was loath to change anything with the previous frame geometry. While not the nimblest or smallest-feeling bike in the MotoGP field, the Suzuki has an agile yet stable character that makes you feel as if you can do no wrong. Initial turn-in effort is a tad higher than most, but the payoff is superb stability and front-end feedback entering corners. The GSV-R chassis has a well-balanced and communicative feel that promotes high corner speeds (which has obviously paid dividends with the new 800), and the Bridgestone tires contribute to the bike's agility while offering up loads of grip and feedback at all lean angles.
I obviously wasn't going fast enough to find any fault with the hlins GP suspension, but even at my slower speeds, their action and feedback seemed flawless. And once they had some heat into them, the Brembo carbon brakes provided the necessary stopping power to shed the speed this bike is capable of generating.
A New Beginning
While the Rizla Suzuki team was finally starting to see some positive results to its hard work in '06 (Vermeulen led most of the USGP until Hayden took over and then scored a podium finish in his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island), that development work has apparently transferred over and paid off in spades with the 800. Judging by Hopkins' and Vermeulen's performance during preseason testing, the Rizla Suzuki team finally has some well-deserved (and long-overdue) confidence heading into this year. Here's hoping that hard work is rewarded with major results-the GSV-R has most of the assets necessary to win and just needs to put all of the parts together.