Random notes, comments, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from the opening round of the inaugural Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul at COTA:
Let’s Hear It For The Fab Fifteen
The brand-new Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul made its debut on the biggest stage of all this past weekend. Racing at Circuit of The Americas alongside the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, a full grid of 15 riders practiced, qualified, and competed in two feature races at COTA. By all accounts, everything went well. The Talent Cup paddock was a well-defined village; the teams’ color schemes and sponsor logos were in full display on crew shirts, jackets, and awnings; and the riders and bikes were in full livery. It was a proud weekend for everyone involved in making this new and very important race class come to fruition.
APX-350 MAs At The Apex
Speaking of the bikes, the full phalanx of Krämer APX-350 MA motorcycles performed almost flawlessly throughout the weekend. Major props go out to all the folks at Krämer Motorcycles, Krämer Motorcycles USA, and the teams for making the show in Texas. The bikes were shipped to the U.S., delivered to the teams and riders, most of them were tested during the preseason, and some key technical upgrades were even made in time for COTA. Not only that, but the entire Talent Cup road show had to hightail it out of Texas as early as this past Saturday night in order to make their way to Birmingham, Alabama, for round two of their championship this coming weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.
Julian Correa Had The Juju
COTA is a very high-speed track despite its many tight turns that look like giant cotter pins when viewed from the planes that take off and land at nearby Austin–Bergstrom International Airport. But the 3.41-mile long, 20-turn road circuit does have straightaways that produce impressive trap speeds, even among the 350cc, single-cylinder, flyweight Krämer APX-350 MA motorcycles in the Talent Cup. The highest trap speed achieved in Talent Cup at COTA last weekend was Jones Honda’s Julian Correa, who went 125.1 miles per hour on Lap 1 of 9 in Friday afternoon’s Qualifying 1 session. Quite a few of the other 15 Talent Cup riders went more than 120 miles per hour, but Juju had the most juju of all when it came to maximum velocity.
Bodie Adds A Paige To The Record Books
Obviously, a new lap record in Talent Cup at COTA was set, since it was the debut weekend of the new race class and the first time the riders had turned laps at the star-spangled venue. CTR/D&D Cycles rider Bodie Paige came away with the quickest overall lap, and he did it in style. The Australian, who finished second in Race 1 on Saturday morning, capped off his weekend with the victory in Saturday afternoon’s Race 2 and he also set an overall lap record and race lap record of 2:28.336 on lap 6 of the 8-lap sprint.
Ride A Painted Pony
Prior to the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, the good people of COTA repainted all the curbing, paved run-off areas, various track markers, and other parts of the road course to make the venue as pristine as possible. In fact, they repaint the track before every major race event at their facility. So, how many five-gallon buckets does it take to freshen all the track features at COTA? According to FIMNA/AMA official Dan Argano, they used more than 600 buckets of paint, which translates to over 3,000 gallons of red, white, blue, and a few other colors, too.
They Grow Up Fast
The age limit for the Talent Cup is 14 to 21 years old, and it’s no secret that the physical differences between a 14-year-old and a 21-year-old are huge (literally). Our youngest rider competing in the Talent Cup is Real Steel Honda’s Ian Fraley, who just turned 14 this past January 26. The oldest rider is Ice Barn Racing’s Solly Mervis, who turned 20 last September 16. Team Roberts rider Kody Kopp is also 20 years old, but his birthday was on November 12, which makes him almost two months younger than Mervis.
Take a gander at Kody Kopp compared with Ian Fraley. One is a grown-ass man and the other is, well, not. Don’t get me wrong here, Ohioan Fraley is a heck of a rider, to be certain, but Washingtonian Kopp, well, he has the advantage of more years of racing and a more-developed brain, but he also has the disadvantage of being six-foot, two-inches tall. That’s a lot of Kopp to fold onto that little Krämer, and you could plainly see it on the track at COTA.
The Weighting Is The Hardest Part
It’s obviously still early days for the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul, and I’ve already alluded to the frenetic pace that the manufacturer, the teams, and the riders took in order to be ready for primetime at COTA this past weekend. Tige Daane, our series Technical Director and his staff have also been in a forced march for quite some time making sure everything is up to snuff with all the technical and safety aspects of the Talent Cup.
One thing that may possibly come into play as the Talent Cup season progresses is the differential in the combined weights of each of bikes and riders in the series. According to the official rule book, the “Hard Minimum Weight” of the Krämer APX-350 MA is 110 kilograms (242.508 pounds) and the “Soft Maximum Weight” is 118 kilograms (260.145 pounds). The “Combined Minimum Weight” of the bike and rider is 180 kilograms (397.832 pounds). By rule, “Combined Minimum Weight” is the rider’s weight (in complete racing equipment) and the bike’s weight (as used on the track).
Now, here is the tricky part. The rule book also states the following, and I am quoting the following exactly as it appears:
2.9.3 Balancing Various Motorcycle Concepts
The MotoAmerica Permanent Bureau reserves the right to apply balancing to the machines in the class as they see fit to maintain equality amongst machines. Methods may include but are not limited to the following:
• The primary method of balancing will be torque-limited maps updated in increments of +- x %
• Weight limit changes
• The balance criteria are considered a “Statement of Fact”
The MotoAmerica Permanent Bureau will decide whether to apply the handicap at any time necessary to ensure fair competition.
2.9.4 Minimum Weight (excerpted)
b. If the bike has achieved or exceeded the “Soft Maximum Weight,” the combined minimum weight does not need to be reached. The bike alone may never be below the “Hard Minimum Weight.” This limits the maximum amount of ballast that can be added to the machines.The weight of the entire motorcycle (including the fuel tank and its contents) must not be lower than the Hard Minimum Weight of 110 kilograms (242.508 pounds) at any time during the event.
There is no tolerance for the minimum weight of the motorcycle.
During the final technical inspection at the end of the race, the selected motorcycles and riders will be weighed in the condition in which they finished the race. The established Minimum Weight must be met in this condition. Nothing may be added to the motorcycle, including all fluids.
During the practice and qualifying sessions, riders may be asked to submit their motorcycle to weight control. In all cases, the rider must comply with this request. Ballast may be used to stay over the minimum weight limit, which may be required due to the handicap system. The use of ballast and weight handicap must be declared to the Technical Director at the preliminary checks.
So, what all this tells me, and it probably should indicate the same to you, as well, is that the weight of the bikes and riders will most likely be checked via Technical Inspection sooner or later during the Talent Cup season. Maybe it will happen this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. Or maybe it will happen after three Talent Cup rounds have been completed. But, at some point, for those Talent Cup riders who weigh less than 62 kilograms (136.687 pounds), you may have to grow even more quickly than you already are, bulk up with a few dozen donuts (joking), or add some carefully placed ballast to your bike.
Stay tuned.
