AMA Pro Road Racing
News
Weight-to-Power Ratios Studied Among AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Superpole Contenders
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (May 2, 2009) -
In an ongoing effort to maintain a competitive balance among all manufacturers
competing in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL division, AMA Pro Road
Racing officials dyno tested the 10 motorcycles that qualified for Friday's
Superpole session at Barber Motorsports Park.
"AMA Pro Racing
is dedicated to ensuring that we deliver to our fans great competition on the
track between a variety of brands," said AMA Pro Racing President Roger
Edmondson. "This was an important step in getting the formula where it needs to
be to make good on that commitment."
It was the
first test of its kind performed by AMA Pro Road Racing officials on Daytona
SportBikes, although similar tests have been performed in the past for Canadian
Superbike and SunTrust Moto-GT bikes. The dyno tests revealed that the bike with
the highest weight-to-power ratio was 2.65 pounds per horsepower, and there was
a difference of 0.49 pounds per horsepower between the top performer and the
lowest-ranked bike among those tested at 3.14 pounds per horsepower.
There was a
0.28 pounds per horsepower gap between the first- and second-ranked bikes. AMA
Pro Road Racing officials will now utilize this data along with other variables,
such as aerodynamics, ram air, rider size and lap times to determine if any
additional performance modifications are necessary to provide a better show for
AMA Pro Road Racing fans.
"This is the
first time we've ever done this at AMA Pro Road Racing," said Director of
Competition Colin Fraser. "We will analyze these variables along with a
multitude of other things that affect performance on the track. The most
important variable to analyze is lap time. After all, we race at the track, not
the dyno."
A complete
listing of the dyno testing results will not be released, as raw horsepower is
meaningless without an inclusion of all the other variables. Any adjustments to
the bikes will be announced once all data is analyzed.