Teamwork

The whole team's watching as I walk over to the highlymodified GSX-R, its technicians poised to remove the tyre warmers and release it from its paddock stands. I climb on board. The bike feels tall, poised high in the carbon Kevlar race fairings. The seat's rock hard and the rearsets force my ankles acutely rearward; it's no armchair. The bars are wider than expected, and their switchgear's confusing. Crew chief Dominique Hebrard steps over and translates them ­ on the left is a cluster of six buttons: plus or minus traction control, pit-lane limiter, total electronics reset and two different power maps. Dominique selects full power and the bike's Motech dash fire's into life, displaying traction position, power mode and revs. I'm ready to roll, the bike's limiter's engaged and now all I need to do is start the beast. This moment couldn't have come soon enough ­ a chance to ride the most successful Suzuki in history. A championship-winning GSX-R1000 valued at just under a quarter of a million euros, built and maintained by the most successful endurance team ever to grace the World Endurance Championships (with 15 WEC titles) ­ SERT. It's a 203bhp, handcrafted weapon. I'm terrified, but can't wait to clock up a few laps of the complex and damp Negaro circuit in the south of France. Below the main and rain light switch is a simple start button on the right bar's cluster. I hit it and the Suzuki booms into life as burnt gases race their way along the featherweight Yoshimura titanium race system. This is really happening. The garage door's raised as I pull in the clutch and select first gear. Only I don't. The bike's on race shift, which means the pedal works in the opposite direction. I realise as I set off and go to hook second, slotting the standard ratio 'box back into first. It's not embarrassing... honestly. Or at least it wouldn't be if 10-times world endurance champion Vincent Philippe wasn't following me out on track riding the standard GSX-R I've been using to learn Negaro's layout.

Endurance racing is really important to Dunlop, because it reflects both the durability and performance of our products. We take four 40ft lorries to every round, with two of them being full of tyres alone. We have to be prepared for every imaginable condition at a race, which means carrying lots of wet and intermediate tyres, plus a variety of three front choices and five different rears for our dry rubber. The bigger teams will require fresh tyres during every hourly relay (pitstop), whereas the smaller competitors might try to get two or three hours from a set. Tyre pressures pretty much stay the same regardless, but at night we'll almost always encourage teams to use harder compound rubber to get the best grip. We support around 50% of the WEC paddock, but we do our best to deliver a good level of support to all who use Dunlop.

It's all been third gear work up until now, but as we get onto the back straight the rest of the 'box gets some abuse. Twisting back the throttle, the power is relentless and radically sharper than the standard bike. Its response is instant and gear changes are super-slick all the way up to sixth, ahead of the heavy vy y braking zone looming. The Nissins get a good squeeze once more, hauling the bike up way too soon for the double right. This bike is going to take some learning, highlighted once more by the Suzuki's eagerness to flick overly sharp and lead us directly toward the inside kerb. The bike has to be picked up and realigned. Vincent's probably in stitches. Downshifts are as pleasurable as the electronicallyassisted upshifts, with the GSX-R's factory slipper clutch absorbing the abuse that's thrown at it. There's a little bit of back-torque to be felt, but nothing compared to what should be present, as the 'box gets notched down into second at the final hairpin, before the esses leading onto the start straight. We've done a lap already, but there's still so much to know about this bike. Winding on the gas in third, the rear wheel hits moisture. The power's adapted instantly, being eased off as the front and rear wheel sensors work with the Motech electronics to tame the slide. Once everyt ything's t under control, more power can be asked for and the next gear selected.