Santander TAG Yamaha’s Dan Linfoot has revealed the mental torture that 18 months’ worth of unsolveable chatter has put him and the team through, culminating in this morning’s announcement they would withdraw from the rest of the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike series.
Linfoot has suffered with chatter since he joined the team last season but it got worse not better with the introduction of the 2020 R1 and new team-mate Jack Kennedy immediately began to experience the same difficulties.
And those difficulties couldn’t be solved by the McAMS Yamaha squad, who stripped the TAG bikes back to invdividual nuts and bolts, re-built them only for the chatter to reappear immediately.
“Ever since I rode the TAG bike at the start of last year, I have suffered from chatter. Obviously, we built a new bike for this year which we thought would get things back to normal and it hasn’t been,” Linfoot told bikesportnews.com this morning.
“Jack has suffered just as badly as I have suffered, in fact it has been a lot worse this year than last so it just couldn’t continue. I withdrew from Snetterton, and that raised questions about next year.
“I said I was happy to ride for them but we couldn’t continue with where we are. So they’re looking to change that and possibly change manufacturers but that leaves us four rounds this year to ride something else, which they are happy to let me do.
“We had 2020 bikes but they’re no different in terms of chassis. If anything, I think the tyres we have to race on this year have made the chatter a lot worse as some other riders have found out.
My concern there is that when other riders get it, they can carry on a decent pace whereas for Jack and I it’s unrideable. We are three seconds off the pace or have to pull in.
Team owner Rob Winfield has tried everything in his power to sort out the problems but to no avail, so the on-track efforts have been parked and Linfoot has secured a ride elsewhere which will be announced this week.
“We have thrown so many parts at the problem, suspension, swingarm, wheels, clutches, you name it,” said Linfoot.
“Prior to Snetterton, McAMS had our bikes, stripped them, re-built them as they would their own and lo and behold, the chatter is still there. That was sort of the final straw really.
“It’s fried all our heads really. The team have exhausted everything. In the back of my mind I had started to wonder whether it was my fault, the way I ride but Jack has come in and he has the exact same problem.
“I’m happy we have made this decision together. It has been mental torture riding around at the back, three seconds off the pace and having to pull in from races. There was zero point in carrying on.”
