Australian_Trailrider_2016_02_03

FEATURE:
FINKE TESTING THE WR450F

etting that is an improvement.

It’s pretty nerve-wracking to watch

Josh and Beau riding at race-pace on

a track like that with settings you know

they’ve never tried. They pass you at

150kph on those evil whoops and then

brake and corner and head up a hill

— all on whoops. No bike is designed

to do this. It almost defi es belief that

they can brake from 150, loading the

front end as they lean into a corner and

power back on as the corner opens and

the track rises... all on top of the most

famous whoop section in Australia.

Imagine if the Anaheim Supercross

whoop section took a right turn, let

alone ran for kilometre after kilometre

under a sun determined to cook all

living things. Finke is nuts.

GAINING GROUND

The first thing the team wanted to do

was get a feeling for the frame and

suspension. The 2016 YZ450F has a

refi ned frame, so given the WR-F runs

the same chassis, they needed to know

how it would behave. The team had

also never used a wide-ratio gearbox

at Finke and given the ability for the

bike to pull at high speed, they wanted

to know if it could handle the job.

One of the clearest advantages

the WR450F has over the YZ-F is the

electric start. At Finke this provides

its biggest gains in the fuel stops. The

KTM riders can roll in and out with

ease while the Yamaha guys have

been frustrated trying to kick-start a

hot YZ450F, sometimes for 30 frantic

The smallest thing can kill a rider’s

confi dence and that means all of a

sudden you’re braking 50m earlier and

losing time all the way down the track

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efore might work or at least lead to a

tting that is an improvement GAINING GROUND

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