Never have we talked so much about French FSBK Championship 600!
The wildcard put into play by the GMT94, the FFM and Yamaha France for the French round of the Supersport world championship created real emulation, to the point that several FSBK participants had no other goal than to win this particularly attractive reward.
The operation was therefore a success, if only because it raised the level of play, in particular under the impetus of Valentine Debise who won nine of the ten races concerned, but also because it revealed young talents in the making, like Ludovic Cauchi ou Tom Bercot.
However, if winning the French Championship is one thing, facing the best Supersport drivers in the world is another, even if we are called Valentine Debise and that we already have serious experience in Grand Prix, World Supersport and MotoAmerica. That is why Christophe Guyot and GMT94 immediately scheduled a test drive of the Yamaha R6 on the Carole circuit.
We were present during these two half-days to make you experience from the inside this type of work that is generally unknown…
Last Thursday, it was around 16 p.m. that we arrived on the Parisian circuit and discovered that, despite the presence of bikers from Île-de-France turning on the 2 kilometer route, the GMT94 program was rather loaded, shared between the adaptation of the Yamaha R6 to Valentine Debise, the testing of said machine by Bertrand Gold for GP Racing (September issue), the filming of a video by the “youtuber” Carbon23, and the break-in of brake pads and discs for the team in the World Cup, all in the middle of a multitude of young people dressed in the colors of the GMT94, who Christophe Guyot explains to us that they are interns at the end of their internship.
The Yamaha R6 is therefore the subject of a photo shoot while the owner reminds us of the main difference in power with the production machine.
Christophe Guyot : “When we put the R6 with which I break in the brake pads and discs on our bench, we are between 118 and 120 horsepower. When we put an Akrapovic exhaust and Gregg (Grégory Rebeyrat) makes us an engine in French championship version, we arrive at 134 horsepower. In the world championship version, our four engines increased to 152 horsepower. The engine that Valentin uses today therefore has 152 horsepower.”
The motorcycle in racing dress shines brightly under the weak Parisian sun but, to be careful, we mount unpainted elements for the first test by Valentin who also uses his old leather from the French championship in the colors of the motorcycle brand that 'he uses it there. This first contact, awaited as an event by very motivated trainees, consists of a three-lap run among the Parisian bikers, then it's the return to the box.
Valentine Debise clearly displays the smile of someone who finds a world-class machine: “Even though I did two cushy laps, the bike overall works very well. The clutch works great, compared to the bikes I usually ride. Without talking about hardness or geometry, the suspensions are very flexible and very soft, and as a result it smooths out the bumps a lot. I remember riding here and feeling all the bumps, but here it doesn't bother me. The position on the bike is a little different because the saddle is very high. There's also a lot more power than I'm used to in this displacement. We will now adjust the handlebars and the shifter, then I will try to do a longer run to get used to the bike. »
Off microphone, Valentine Debise However, he declared himself destabilized by the arrival of the throttle at 15% opening, too sudden for his taste. Christophe Guyot et Alexandre Leroy, the data engineer who works with Federico Caricasulo in the world championship, listen attentively and suggest another map.
Here we go again for a few laps, at the end of which the driver carries out a quick debriefing: “For the throttle, it's much better, however I now have difficulty with the first touch of throttle. In certain corners, as soon as I touch the throttle it goes off suddenly, even if afterwards the bike is perfect and is super easy to manage.”
As an experienced team manager, Christophe Guyot advises continuing the learning in the same conditions, without further adjusting the settings and using worn Pirelli SC1s: For the moment, you have to put in the kilometers, without even thinking about the times...
The motorcycle is then dressed in its war paint for a brief test by Bertrand Gold and some pictures for Carbon23.
Then we dismantle everything and Valentin takes back the controls for a few laps. The pace increases a little and the Albigensian discovers a little more about the behavior of the R6 thus prepared, in particular in terms of load transfer and its particular limited-slip clutch.
The latter, a STM Italian, requires some explanation…
Alexandre Leroy : “With this type of clutch, if you play with it, it can create conflicts. It's a star spring, not at all like a stock clutch. The advantage compared to other competition clutches is that you don't have to adjust it all the time. With this one, the sliding is independent of the size of your disc stack.”
Valentin makes one last run but remains destabilized by touching the throttle: “Each time, I have a fear before accelerating again. I'm extremely careful about how I hit the throttle, but right now there's something bothering me between zero and 1% throttle. Once past that, everything else is fine, although I still have to get used to the engine usage range. It's not linear, like my stock 600 engine. In the parabolic, I really struggle to manage my throttle and I think I need to get used to it. The throttle management is not yet natural, even if I feel the grip well. »
Christophe, Alexandre, And even Bertrand, do not miss a word of the details provided by the pilot. In consultation with the engineer, the team manager already has his action plan for the next day but, closure of the circuit requires, we leave it there for this first contact under the incessant flight of planes landing at Charles airport de Gaulle...
