Tucked-in on a Valencia start/finish straight hazy with heat, the blue and carbon of Cal Crutchlow’s R6 were so tight to the exhausts of Anthony West’s CBR600RR going into the last lap, the two were virtually indistinguishable. The headline battle of the third round of the championship was about to be decided. As they flashed over the line as one, unfeeling physics took over. The slipstream, together with an engine the speed traps would suggest is the most powerful in the 2009 Supersport field, saw Cal sweep ahead before braking into turn one. From there he held off West’s Honda to take the win, his first of the 2009 season.
As a piece of considered race craft, Cal’s pass was exemplary, with the British rider using the Yamaha’s strengths to gain track position over the Honda when it mattered. With a fourth in the season-opener at Phillip Island, a third in Qatar and a hard-fought second at Assen, the win gave Cal joint leadership of the championship.
After years of finishing runners-up to the Hondas of Ten Kate, 2009 saw Yamaha return to the top of the World Supersport pile for the first time in nearly a decade. And this is the bike that did the business, the best 600 on the planet.
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Honed motor
Honed motor
While Cal’s engine is closer to a stock R6 than Ben Spies’ Superbike motor is to a standard R1, it’s not as simple as plucking one off the production line. “Most of the engine parts must stay standard,” explains Wilco Zeelenberg, the team manager. “The crankshaft, con-rods and pistons are all standard, but we blueprint everything. From 100 pistons we collect the ones in the good sizes.”
And while welding new material into the cylinder heads isn’t permitted, porting and polishing is. “You are allowed to make the ports good for your throttle bodies, intake system and exhaust,” adds Zeelenberg. “You can remove metal and you can treat the surface. It takes a week for one of our guys to prepare one cylinder head. It’s less about money and more about time and expertise.”
The team also designs bespoke camshafts to its own specification. While cam lift must not exceed that of the standard machine, changes to profile and hence duration are fair game. Compression is also raised and power boosted using iridium spark plugs from its sponsor Denso. The engine management system is also the team’s own work, which is bafflingly complex, particularly with the variable intake system that arrived on the R6 in 2008.
“As soon as you have variable intakes on the road bike you have to use it on the race bike too,” says Zeelenberg. “It works in exactly the same way, we do not change anything; we have to use the standard system to lift and close the funnels.”
The engine expels its spent gases through a bespoke system from the Slovenian master craftsmen Akrapovic and is cooled by vast race radiators and an oil cooler you won’t find on the standard bike. The end result is probably the strongest motor in World Supersport. “How much power? A lot more than the standard bike,” smiles Zeelenberg. “More than 140bhp. We are quickest through the speed traps, but it is not by much, maybe 2kph. Eugene Laverty’s bike is also very fast – as fast as ours – but overall we are always in front. But it’s not just about power.
“In the first couple of laps all bikes are fast and have good grip, but when the tyres are dropping off you still need to perform. If you are not able to get through the corner and accelerate properly that will affect your top speed.”
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Chassis: Edge but fast
Chassis: Edge but fast
While Yamaha’s standard R6 frame and swingarm go unchanged into Cal’s racer, the stock suspension is replaced by a TTX shock and fork internals from Öhlins. An Öhlins steering damper calms slappers, while Brembo race pads go into the standard Yamaha calipers. Brake discs are also Brembo. Hoses are Goodridge, the wheels Yamaha.
While Cal’s bike appears to have the agility and the chassis to turn with the Hondas, Zeelenberg admits set-up is more critical on the highly-strung Yamaha. “The Honda chassis is easygoing,” he says. “Everyone is able to set the CBR up quite easily and ride it fast. But I don’t think they will be able to beat us because the Yamaha is like a missile. When we get it right they are not able to beat us, but it’s a problem that the set-up has to be perfect.” This would explain the conspicuous absence of other Yamahas at the sharp end of the championship standings.
James Whitham, an ex-Yamaha Supersport rider and close observer of the championship in his role as a Eurosport commentator, agrees with Zeelenberg’s thinking that the R6 has the greatest race potential, provided teams can unlock it. “The R6 is a really good bike,” says Whitham. “It’s the most track-focussed of the 600s, and I think it’s a better race bike than it is a road bike. The front end’s much better than the old R6 and steering-wise, it’s the most racy of all the 600s.”
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Festival of carbon
Festival of carbon
Zeelenberg continues: “We use Becker Carbon fairings; they’re really light and accurately made.” Becker are a German composites specialist manufacturing parts in the magic black stuff for motorsport and aerospace applications. “We use a lot of carbon on the bike, and we don’t paint it to keep the weight down. Becker sponsor us – to buy a complete fairing would cost something like
£2,500. But some parts are not for sale; they are specially made to fit on our bike. We use special intakes to get cool air to the space beneath the fuel tank, a carbon front mudguard and various protectors on the chassis and the swingarm.
“We are very close to the class weight limit, which is 158kg. That’s with oil and water, but no fuel.”
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Cal Crutchlow
Cal Crutchlow
While there’s no doubt to Crutchlow’s speed, his racecraft has matured in recent years – his move on Anthony West to take the win in Valencia was textbook. Zeelenberg credits the young Brit as the primary catalyst for their move ahead of the previously dominant Ten Kate Honda team this year.
“Cal is really consistent, and in Supersport racing that’s important. We’ve changed a lot on the bike, which has made a big difference from last year, but Cal’s the main thing that’s changed. He has put us in a good position and is the only rider so far to have finished within one second of the winner in every race and win one himself – the rest couldn’t do that and when you can, you are one of the guys who are able to win the championship.”
Niall Mackenzie agrees Cal has what it takes. “He was great on a 600 in the UK [Cal was 2006 British Supersport champion] and now that he’s back on a Supersport bike after a couple of years on a Superbike, he can just wring the 600’s neck everywhere,” he says.
“Of course, Cal wanted a Superbike ride this year, but I think Supersport could work out really well for him, especially if the MotoGP support class goes four-stroke 600s – if Cal’s the best 600 rider in the world, he could be sitting pretty.”
