05/10/2006
NEWS STORY
MotoGP's newest team Ilmor, a joint venture between Ilmor and Suter Racing Technology (SRT), have completed a successful test over the past two days in Jerez ahead of their unveiling at the penultimate round of the world championship at Estoril later this month.
Testing in Jerez gave the team another opportunity to learn more about the way the brand new Ilmor X3 performs on different tracks. Over the past couple of days the Ilmor crew in conjunction with SRT, the chassis designers, have made final adjustments and fine tuned the bike's race set up in preparation for the Portuguese MotoGP next week.
The Jerez shakedown marks the team's fifth outing following their fourth test last week at Estoril where despite being hampered by appalling weather and debris on the track, five times GP winner Garry McCoy put the bike through its paces around the new track formation.
Back in September in Barcelona the Australian rider stunned the MotoGP fraternity with a super-fast test aboard the innovative 800cc Ilmor X3 motorcycle he will unveil in the premier category next month. McCoy put in an astonishing performance outpacing the new Ducati 800cc GP7 - the benchmark for next season's new MotoGP machines when the sports rules dictate a maximum engine capacity of 800cc, down from 990cc.
McCoy commented: "The bike was impressive in testing although we are still in shakedown mode. It's such an exciting project and I'm glad Mario has asked me to race for the team, I'm keen to get amongst the MotoGP guys again. Even though we have tested well so far, I'm not placing big expectations on the first two races, the established teams have 20 per cent more engine performance because they are still running to the current rules."
Ilmor/SRT has secured McCoy's services for the final two races of the Championship in Estoril and Valencia. The project is the brain child of the Swiss engineer Mario Illien (Ilmor) and Eskil Suter. Illien is better known for his many four-wheeled achievements in Formula One and Indy racing, his engine designs have won two F1 championship titles with McLaren- Mercedes plus the “Indy 500” race 11 times. The Ilmor engine and Suter chassis have been designed together to achieve the optimum package. A wealth of experience from Formula One and Motorbike racing has been incorporated into this venture making the project truly unique.
Commenting on the impending launch Mario Illien (right) said: "It's a real bonus for us to have a rider like Garry, who has won in 500cc GPs, on the bike for the two wildcard races in Europe. Our recent tests in Estoril and Jerez have given us a fantastic opportunity to really educate ourselves about the bikes performance under a variety of different conditions. Both Ilmor and Eskil Suter's teams have worked tremendously hard over a short space of time to get to this point and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what we can do in Estoril."