Francis Martin: First Round Review:

Although he placed a solid fourth in the Parts Canada Superbike class in Tremblant, Francis Martin, 33, pro-Suzuki team rider, says he's looking forward to Calgary where he plans to make up for the DNF he received in the 600 class, where a rod bearing prematurely ended a promising race.

"The bike doesn’t run so well after one of those," Martin says with a laugh. "Believe me, you don't want to hear what I say in my helmet! But that's part of racing. It's always frustrating not to finish a race."

At the upcoming Calgary Superbike race Martin acknowledges that both he and his teammate, Pascal Picotte, will be shooting for nothing less than a podium finish.

"I won my first superbike race in Calgary," Martin says. "And with the team working so hard and with the bike performing so well, there's no reason why we can't make a big statement in Calgary and build from there."

Martin says that, thanks to Team Suzuki's world-class mechanics and the guidance and advice from the likes of Mike Fitzgerald, one of Ohlins' top suspension guys, he feels that his Suzukis are the bikes to beat.

"In my opinion," says Martin. "The new GSXR-1000 is absolutely the bike to be on right now." Squeezing the most performance out of the GSXR-1000 starts with the team buying a stock, factory bike off the showroom floor and taking it from there.

"The stock bike is very good, very fast," Martin says, "and on the track, even a stock bike would only be slower by about two seconds per lap. At the end of the race, however, two seconds is a lot."

Martin says that, with Pascal taking second in Tremblant, with his best lap time 1:40.358, those seconds aren't just precious, they're literally the difference between a podium finish and being at the bottom of the pack. To close this gap, the team spends upwards of $40 000 in upgrades needed to squeeze that extra performance from the bike. But Martin says that getting things right goes far beyond the bill for the bike's components. It's also the development time before and during the season.

"The expertise and experience on our team is priceless," Martin says. "You're not ready to race just because you have Ohlins. You need a guy like Mike Fitzgerald to tune them in for you. Every setup is unique. It's an art form. There's very few guys who can do what Mike can do."

After a tough season last year where he did not finish several key races, Martin says that, with everything falling into place this year—the bike, the team, his health—he knows he can win.

"We had a tough season last year," Martin says, "but every time something like that happens, it has to make you stronger for the next race. When you're a sponsored team rider you can't have a bad day. You have to be 100% at the starting line. If I'm not feeling right, it's my job to get over it."

Now that he's a factory rider, Martin says that, from his point of view, his job isn't just to ride Suzuki as hard as he can on the track, but to look for every opportunity to make their life better by working with the mechanic and the rest of the team off the track as well. "At this level, the rider alone can't win the race by himself, that's for sure," Martin says. "We need the best mechanic, suspension guy, everyone on the team has to be on the same page in pulling together.

After each race, the Team Suzuki mechanics go over every detail, stripping the bike down to it's frame and opening the engine to inspect every part.

"It's not like F1 where the engine is basically junk after the race," Martin says. "The Suzuki engine is very tough. Most teams race the entire season on the same engine. But we only have five weekends so we want to make sure that at the start of the next race, everything is set up the way it should be."

Martin says that although the bike he rides hits the track with every conceivable advantage, race regulations prevent the race from becoming a battle of technologies. Traction control, for instance, is currently not allowed, a ban that Martin currently supports. "I started out as a privateer, and every little bit helps," Martin says. "In a weekend you might go through eight to 10 tires, and for a privateer that can really add up. Traction control is getting cheaper all the time, but it's still expensive. Canada is all about putting together the best racing competition they can."

In the Parts Canada Superbike class, the 1000cc bikes race against a grid packed with a combination of both 600cc and 1000cc bikes. At this level, however, Martin says only the top 1000cc bikes stand a chance of a podium finish. "They maybe finish 12th place or something," Martin says, "but it's mostly about having a full grid for the fans. They want to see more bikes on the track to make it more exciting."

Although he rides the GSXR-1000 in the superbike class, Martin says he also enjoys racing in the 600 class, as well. The two bikes, he says, require vastly different riding styles. "The 600 is lighter," says Martin. "It's easier to clip and drag the brake and come out of the corners with more speed. If you ride the 600 like a superbike, you're not going to win."

Put simply, the GSXR-1000 is the best bike for attacking the straightaways between the corners, where is the 600 may offer more versatile performance. "Not everybody wants a 1000 on the street," Martin says. "They may want a bike that's more maneuverable."

At 33, Martin is in the prime of his career. Because he's been paired with veteran racer Pascal Picotte, Martin is in his prime with many races to win ahead of him.

"Racing is like a drug, may be even worse than a drug, actually," Martin says with a laugh. "Winning is fun, that's the addictive part, and you race until you can't win anymore. I can't even imagine thinking about retiring."

Off the track, Martin and Picotte work solidly as a team, working to make sure a Suzuki crosses the finish line first in every race. "He's helped me really set my bike, to make the bike better during the weekend, and if I can help him back in any way, I'm going to do that," Martin says. "After that, it's an individual sport."

But on the track with the visor down, it's one-on-one.

 "I hope I'll find him running behind me a lot this year," Martin laughs. "He's beat me, I beat him sometimes, and maybe he's beat me more than I have him, but we both go out there to win. We've had a lot of great battles out there and I'm going to give him everything I've got."