STEVE MARTINS SPANISH SAGA
 The third round of the
Superbike World Championship at Valencia in Spain proved another saga
filled race meeting for Steve Martin, with the ongoing events of the
weekend leaving him speechless.
The vastly experienced Aussie
rider was initially left perplexed when he was approached by fellow
countryman Andrew Pitt, informing him that the DFX team had contacted
him about testing the Honda CBR1000 machine.
This news was then
compounded when, due to a lack of mechanics, team-mate Michel
Fabrizio’s father was brought in as a substitute mechanic for Steve,
having never worked in a Superbike paddock before.
Steve
explained, “I’m pleased that Andrew came and spoke to me as at least we
were able to have a good chat and establish how things stood. But
needless to say it was a bit of a shocker and what with that and then
finding out about my mechanic situation, I didn’t know whether to laugh
or cry!”
And with the bikes arriving at Valencia directly from
the previous round at Donington, without any mechanical preparation or
set up work, Steve’s crew chief and chief mechanic had their work cut
out from the start.
Steve spent much of the first free practice
session setting up the new HRC electronic system on his number one
bike, which proved a much welcomed benefit to his Honda’s performance
and helped Steve achieve 7th position in the morning timesheet.
A
quick shifter problem and other niggling mechanical set-backs during
the afternoon dry qualifying session caused Steve to switch to his
number two bike, but, this didn’t have the new electronic system set up
and, coupled with only minutes remaining of the qualifying session
meant that Steve was unable to improve his lap time and qualify
anywhere near his capability.
With a downpour on Saturday
morning meaning that no riders would be able to better their lap times
and therefore improve their qualifying positions from the previous day,
Steve used the second qualifying session to set up the electronic
system on his second bike as the quick shifter issue with his first
bike remained unresolved.
“Although that session was wet, we
were able to achieve quite a lot with the set up and I ended that
session in 10th position, which wasn’t bad for an hour’s work,” Steve
continued.
Still lapping on wet tyres for Saturday afternoon’s
second free practice session, Steve high sided coming out of turn one
in the slippery conditions. Fortunately, he walked away with only minor
bruising, but damage in the form of a hole was caused to the clutch
cover, although this did not become apparent until race two when it
provided the channel for an oil leak oil, on to Steve’s boot and bike.
“For
the morning warm up on Sunday I just rode round to shake down the bike
ready for the race, as there was no point in pushing for a lap time and
I also wanted to preserve the bike as it was the only one I had that
was set up,” Steve explained.
He continued, “Although the track
was still damp, everyone started race one on slicks and up until lap
nine, when my race was over, I had achieved the second fastest lap time
of the race behind James Toseland. It was at this point, having managed
to catch up with the group of riders who were dicing for the sixth
position, that the throttle assembly just fell off my handle bar and
almost caused me to crash!”
Race two proved another bitter
disappointment, when an oil leak sprayed oil over Steve’s boots causing
the gritty rider to call it a day and be forced to retire into the pits
on lap 14, concluding the weekend of woe.
Steve said, “It is
obvious the team is not putting a great deal of effort or funds in to
my side of the team, due to the underlying situation regarding my ride
and team’s lack of funds. We have had so many stupid, and potentially
dangerous problems caused due to lack of experienced people. I have a
fantastic crew chief and first mechanic but it’s too much pressure on
them and unfair to rely on two people to do the work of five when also,
there’s just not enough time even if it was possible. Therefore
mistakes get made and it’s as simple as that.”
Steve stayed on
at Valencia for a test the next day and, following a first lap out oil
leak, was able to consistently improve on his lap time to finish the
day over a second faster than his best race lap time from the day
before, on the same tyres and with a hotter and more slippery track
surface.
Steve commented, “That test was probably the best test
I have had with the team. We finally got the chance to work with the
suspension settings and new electronic system and now I’m pretty
confident we are in the best position that we have been in all year!
“So
I’m looking forward to Assen as the bike should be ready to go when we
get there as we’ve already achieved improvements from the one day test,
rather than being in the usual situation of having to test new things
on the Friday of the race meeting.
“We’ve got a week at home now
before heading to Assen for the next round and in that time I’ll be
keeping up my training and looking for a new ride, as I now know that
Monza will definitely be my last race with the DFX team.
“I’m
bitterly disappointed that the team hasn’t delivered all that it
promised at the start of the season but, at the same time, there is an
element of relief over the situation as there is just no point
continuing the season with just more of the same, as that no good for
me or my bike crew.
“Now I’m just trying to look onwards and
upwards, enjoy the next two races as much as possible and do my best to
sort out a ride for the rest of the season.”
Steve's Weekend Round Up
Friday
1st Free Practice: 7th - 1:36.574
1st Qualifying Practice: 21st - 1:37.403
Saturday
2nd Qualifying Practice: 10th - 1:53.868
Overall Combined Qualifying: 21st
2nd Free Practice: 14th - 1:56.210
Superpole: n/a
Sunday
Warm Up: 17th - 1:52.625
Race 1: DNF (lap 9 with a throttle falling off the handle bar) – fastest lap 1:37.321
Race 2: DNF (lap 14 with an oil leak) – fastest lap 1:37.063
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