Cycle News 2016

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VOL. 53 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 18, 2016 P103 HOUSE HUNTING Challenges are a given in racing, and this team is taking on a bigger one than most with the only Ducati Panigale R on the grid in MotoAmerica. BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON not looking for a window with this bike. We’re looking “We’re for a house to build a window.” That comment from New York’s Corey Alexander gives you an idea of the challenge he and Team Freeman Racing #RideHVMC Ducati are up against when trying to develop the only Ducati Panigale R in MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 into a race-winning package. Run out of the family Hudson Valley Motorcycle center in Ossining, N.Y., under the guidance of Corey’s uncle, 1998 AMA Supersport 750 Champion Richie Alexander, Team Freeman Racing #Ride- HVMC Ducati has been through the ringer this season. After missing rounds one and two of MotoAmerica 2016 at Circuit of the Americas and Road Atlanta, Corey debuted the exotic Ducati in stunning fashion at New Jersey Motorsports Park’s (NJMP) round three by taking a second and third in the Superstock 1000 class in torrential
RACER TEST TEAM #RIDEHVMC DUCATI PANIGALE R P104 conditions. That was as good as it got for the team in 2016, with very little testing done and an electronics package that required a Ducati Corse technician to fly in from Italy prior to round eight at Laguna Seca to begin cracking the Ducati ECU’s many codes and getting the machine to start behaving itself. Not only that, this is Corey’s rookie year on the big bike in competition after a career so far spent on 600cc machinery. Understanding the Ducati has at times been like trying to speak Italian. “My practice bike was a Suzuki GSX-R1000,” Corey says, “and the difference between a GSX-R1000 and a GSX-R600 is it’s basically the same bike with a little more power and a bit heavier. The Ducati is totally different. It’s a V-twin, for starters, there’s no frame to speak of, it’s got a single-side swingarm, the feel and feedback is very different to what I’ve ridden before, and the engine’s got a lot more power with a vast array of electronics. You have to ride it differently.” Choice words, indeed. And with that, I’m directed over to the waiting red and white beast for the first of my two six-lap sessions at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the day after the dramatic MotoAmerica final. The cockpit all looks relatively familiar—the race bike runs the same dash as the production bike, yet the clip-on bar switches are totally different. On the right side is the red ignition, blue lap timer and black start buttons, and the left side houses a white button used at standstill to select either traction control, wheelie control or engine braking control (this cannot be used while in motion). Two black buttons above and below the mode button scroll through the different modes and two green buttons then delve into the different settings of the chosen map. It sounds more The team produced a stunning tribute to the 9/11 firefighters (right) for the second New Jersey round.
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Cycle News 2016

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