AMA Road Racing: Cycle News' Archives Scribe Larry Lawrence Reviews Troy Corser's '94 AMA Superbike Championship

By the time the AMA Superbike Championship Series rolled into Road America in June '94, a relative unknown to American race fans was making a huge impression on the U.S.-based series and was on his way to a 'rookie' championship in AMA Pro Road Racing's premier class. Troy Corser had won the Australian Superbike Championship the year previously, and Eraldo Ferracci was able to sign him to his Fast By Ferracci Ducati team to race in the AMA Superbike Championship Series with team mate Pascal Picotte. It proved to be a perfect pairing after it was all said and done.

At the Coca-Cola Super Cycle Classic in Elkhart Lake, WI., Corser on the #19 Ducati Motorcycles/Pro Grip/Dunlop/Fast By Ferracci-sponsored Ducati 955 leads team mate Picotte on the #21 Ducati/Fast By Ferracci-backed Ducati 955 early in the Superbike main event heading into turn 14. Picotte would go on to take the win after Jamie James on the #2 Vance & Hines Yamaha was docked for passing under the yellow just out of turn 14 when team mate Colin Edwards crashed out of the event. Corser would finish 4th after over-cooking his brakes at the four mile circuit. Almost ironically, Corser would go on to beat James for the title at the season-ending round at Road Atlanta when a mechanical on James' bike forced him to drop back in the pack.

The man from New South Wales, Australia would head to Europe for the '95 season contesting the World Superbike Championship, where in '96 he won his first of two titles while riding for the Promotor Ducati factory team. He would grab his second World Superbike Championship in '05 while riding for the Alstare Corona Suzuki team.

Corser would go on to compete in 377 WSBK events throughout his career, over 60% of the races held in the now-25 years of the series. He is the all-time Superpole winner with 43 and won 33 WSBK events while riding for Ducati, Suzuki, Aprilia and Yamaha. In his 15 years of contesting the WSBK Championship, Corser also rode for the Foggy Petronas and BMW teams and retired after the end of the '11 season after having ridden for BMW since the '09 season.
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A big shout out and thanks goes to Larry Lawrence and his Cycle News Archives column as he hits a home run with this trip back in time to the '94 AMA Superbike Championship when Troy Corser appeared on the scene in America to take on the rest of the big horses in the premier road racing series in the U.S.

Thanks to LL and CN for this great trip down memory lane:

http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cyclenews/20120223#pg87
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AMA Road Racing: Ferracci Ducati 848EVO & Celtic Racing Ready for Daytona 200

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Troy Corser snugs his Arai helmet into place before jumping on his #19 Fast By Ferraci Ducati 955 to make another run at qualifying for the AMA Superbike Championship Series round at the Coca-Cola Super Cycle Classic in Elkhart Lake, WI. in June of '94. Legendary tuner and team owner Eraldo Ferracci can be seen in the left of the shot looking over the rear of the Fast By Ferracci/Pro Grip/SBS/Dunlop-sponsored machine while the rest of the team gets ready to hand off to Corser, who would go on to win the '94 AMA Superbike Championship, the second in a row for Italian Ferracci after having won the '93 title with Doug Polen. Polen and Ferracci also won the '91-'92 World Superbike Championships together before turning their focus towards the United States' based AMA Championship. Corser also went on to win two World Superbike Championships after heading to Europe to play in the '95 season, where he is now a member of the official BMW World Superbike Championship team.
Ferracci has had numerous 'A-Listers' on his roster of riders throughout his years of competition in the States and abroad, amongst them Mat Mladin, Tom Kipp, Gerald Rothman, Freddie Spencer, Mike Hale and Larry Pegram to name just a few. Teaming up with Celtic Racing and rider P.J. Jacobsen (2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Rookie of the Year) for the 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike Series with the new-for 2011 Ducati 848EVO, Ferracci looks to wave his magic wand again in the U.S. series after a several year break.
Look for this team to be in the running the entire season once the riders hit the track at Daytona this coming Thursday, March 10. Between P.J.'s current rise in the racing ranks, Celtic Racing's ability to field a great team, and Ferracci's well-known tuning abilities with the Ducati, this team could very well be the one to beat for the 2011 AMA Road Racing Daytona SportBike Championship. And you can watch the Daytona 200 live on SpeedTV on Saturday, March 12 at 1300 EST.
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After a several year break in running the AMA Road Racing Series, long-time tuner to the stars Eraldo Ferracci is again getting ready to contest the series for the 2011 season with another potent Ducati. Teaming with Celtic Racing and 2010 AMA Flat Track Rookie of the Year P.J. Jacobsen, the squad will be running in the Daytona SportBike class and looking to end Ducati's jinx of being able to complete the 200 mile endurance race at the World Center of Speed.

Equipped with an all-new Ducati 848EVO, the FBF/Celtic Racing team and rider Jacobsen should have a foot up on the field, especially with Ferracci's long-time ties to the Italian factory. With endurance levels of the desmodromic-based internals having escalated over the years, FBF looks to taste the victory champagne for the first time at Daytona.

This should be a great combination for this team for the 2011 season and things kick off on the Sunshine State's East Coast racing facility this Thursday, March 10.
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Thanks to RoadRacingWorld.com for this press release from Fast By Ferracci where The Italian Master himself talks about the team's chances in the 2011 AMA Road Racing Daytona SportBike Series class:

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=43538
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You can read up on Eraldo Ferracci's history in AMA Road Racing and World Superbike Championship history here:

http://www.ferracci.com/about/about.php
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Check out Celtic Racing via their official website:

http://www.celticracing.com/news.html
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Keep up with Celtic Racing and Fast By Ferracci this year via their FaceBook page:

http://www.facebook.com/CelticRacing
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Troy Corser Wants to Go Out With a Bang In World Superbike

Troy Corser burst onto the world motorcycle scene in '94, when after having won the '93

Australian Superbike Championship, he was given a try out by Eraldo Ferracci on one of his

FBF (Fast By Ferracci) Ducati's at the urging of former World 500cc Champion Barry Sheene.

Passing the try out with flying colors, Mr. Corser then set the AMA Superbike scene on fire

during the '94 season, and won the title outright as a rookie by clinching the title at the season

ending round at Road Atlanta over '89 AMA Superbike Champion Jamie James by one point.

What had been considered all but undoable in coming to the states, on unfamiliar equipment

(after having ridden a Honda RC-30 to the Australian title in '93), racing on tracks he had

never seen before, and racing against a crop of factory-backed racers that were hungry for

blood. Needless to say, it wasn't 'undoable' and Corser and Ferracci put the stamp of approval

on a season that saw the FBF team take their second AMA title in two years, after having won

the World Superbike crown with one Mr. Doug Polen in the '91-'92 seasons, and the AMA crown in '93. Quite a run for sure!

Fast forward to the upcoming 2010 World Superbike season, and the accomplishments that Troy Corser has amassed in the world motorcycle racing scene are too numerous to list here.

A few highlights would be his double World Championships in '96 for Ducati and '05 for Suzuki,

and his nickname of Mr. Superpole garnered after having bagged numerous pole positions over

the years in World Superbike as well. Not too mention his ability to set up and test a road race

machine and his sheer ability to bring it home in one piece.

Thanks to the very fine folks acrossed the pond at the very fine site http://www.crash.net/, Troy speaks

about his career 'winding down' and how after the first season with the new BMW superbike what his expectations are and how he would like to be able to cap off such an illustrious career.

A very interesting article and discussion with TC to say the least, which I have included below

along with Troy's official website and another interesting link with some background on him as

well. Good reading and enjoy:

http://www.crash.net/world+superbikes/news/155614/1/corser_reveals_his_final_career_goal.html

http://www.troycorser.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Corser

The shots for tonight's post are from the '94 season here in the AMA Superbike Championship-

when men were men, superbikes were weapons of choice, and racing in America was a good thing. From the top, you have Troy on his #19 FBF Ducati blazing a trail on the back straight

at Road Atlanta in practice for the season ending round that weekend. Then on to Troy in a pack

of riders at Mid Ohio during the superbike finale. Leading his team mate #21 Pascal Picotte on

another FBF Duck is future 2-Time World Superbike Champ #45 Colin Edwards en route to his

first AMA Superbike win for Vance and Hines Yamaha, with Miguel Duhamel on the #17 VR-1000 Harley Davidson partially hidden behind TC, and bringing up the rear is Jamie James, the

former AMA Superbike Champ on the #2 Vance and Hines Yamaha.

We then have a shot from earlier in the season at Road America during practice of Troy hanging

on the wall as Eraldo Ferracci looks over the scene as the team works on the #19 superbike. Then back to Mid Ohio during practice as Troy runs behind Mike Smith on the #68 Smokin' Joe Honda RC-45 followed by Eric Moe on the #57 as they take the last corner onto the pit front stretch. And last but not least is a shot of Troy's championship-winning mount in the paddock at Road Atlanta.

Thanks again for stopping in to hang out with us here at Stu's Shots and we hope you are doing well in the new year and the arctic cold that has enveloped the midwest hasn't totally frozen you

out from reality. Less then six weeks to the opening round of the World Superbike Championship and we will be able to feed our passion of motorcycle racing once again! God Bless and take care and we hope to see you back here again soon--and hopefully not with your tongues frozen to a

metal light pole.