The 2017 MotoAmerica Superbike Season is Shaping Up as a Potential Banner Year for Kyle Wyman Racing
- 4 Apr 2017
The Daytona 200 Wyman qualified eighth on the grid for the 76th running of the Daytona 200. By the midpoint of the 200-mile race, Wyman had piloted his #33 Suzuki GSX-R600 to the race lead. Clearly Wyman was finding his footing on the Suzuki, which he had ridden for the first time on the Friday before the race weekend. "It was a long race and the red flags helped with finding the last bit of comfort," said Wyman. "By the second half of the first stint, I had found what I needed and I had a lot of confidence in the bike. After the first pit stop, I was able to battle for the lead.”
“About five laps before I was going to pit again, I felt something and thought there was an issue with the bike," Wyman said. "I was losing a lot of time and I didn't know exactly what was happening. I pitted three laps early thinking our race might be over so the team wasn't ready for me. We got some new tires on and I went back out. The bike felt great again and I made up three or four seconds to catch back up. Wyman battled furiously and wound up crossing the finish line in 4th place just 0.052 seconds out of the third spot. However, that would prove to be enough for a podium position after another competitor was disqualified. It was an entertaining, albeit drama-filled Daytona 200 podium finish for Wyman. COTA Superbike Testing
Over the two days of testing, Wyman ended the event with the sixth fastest overall time, lapping the 3.43-mile circuit in 2:10.52. That time is over a second and a half faster than the team's best time from the 2016 testing. Wyman was the fastest Superbike rider not competing on a factory team. "Heading into the COTA test, I was really excited to ride my new Superbike," said Wyman. "My dad and I have been spending a lot of time this winter preparing this bike for battle against the factory teams, and so far we are happy to see that hard work paying off. We have been adding parts to the bike for this season that seem to be making a difference." Many of those parts that the KWR team have been adding are the result of new rules in MotoAmerica Superbike that allow for more exotic suspension utilization. The biggest change to Wyman’s superbike is a new full K-Tech KTR-3 fork designed specifically for Superbike competition. "The new fork from K-Tech is definitely a luxury," Wyman said. "Over last year, we had wear issues with the stock fork tubes, so the complete forks have helped us from a rigidity standpoint, but also from a feel standpoint.”
"Compared to last year, the test was a wild success," said Wyman. "We didn't have bugs and big issues plaguing us for two days, and we were really able to make the most of the track time that was available. It's a testament to our preparation for this season. I'm looking forward to a couple more weeks of preparation before we come back here to COTA for the first race of the season." | ||||
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