With WSBK round 2 at Portimao in just two weeks time, we’ve got a couple of injury updates on riders of who will be racing and who’s still in doubt.

Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing) with his usual video, (thanks Chris) tells us the extent of the knee injuries that he picked up during race 2 when his gearbox locked up and sent him crashing into the tire wall at 200 km/h. Vermeulen in doubt.

James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) fractured his third metacarpal bone of his left hand during a heavy fall in free practice and hurt his hand further when he highsided in race 1. In race two the Brit rider took 10th place, but rode the race with his hand heavily anethestized. Toseland will race.

Roland Resch (Reitwagen BMW) crashed during Q1 and picked up a concussion and fractured his right collarbone and was operated on a week ago according to his Twitter page and thinks he can be ready for the Portimao round. Resch still in doubt.

0 comments

The WSBK website has kindly put up this video so we can finally see how Ruben Xaus took out Noriyuki Haga during warm up practice at Phillip Island, and this fourth and final crash of the weekend resulted in Xaus pulling out of the first round.

While the latest rumors are saying that Xaus may lose his ride, BMW’s team manager Davide Tardozzi hasn’t given up on his Spanish rider and will be spending two days in Spain this week, talking to a dejected Xaus in order to help him regain his confidence:

“He has completely lost confidence and what I want is to to make him regain it. It might take a few races to see the Ruben we’re used to, but we’re counting on it. We know he’s a fast rider, aggressive, a quality rider. In 2008, a little more than a year ago, he won at Misano with a privateer Ducati. We want to bring him back to that level.”

0 comments

BMW’s Ruben Xaus, who crashed out four times at Phillip Island has been the latest rider to be targeted by the caustic wit of Motoblog’s resident comic artist Luca Ruggeri.

The Spanish rider who seems to single handedly support the motorcycle fairings market, according to the latest rumors that are circulating, may find himself without a ride for the rest of the season if he doesn’t regain his confidence and improve his performance in the next two rounds at Portimao and Valencia.

0 comments

If you don’t believe that BMW’s S1000RR can do zero to 100km/h (62 mph) in just 2.9 seconds, you can always try the age old tablecloth trick like the guys in the video to prove it, but if you do it with your wife’s good chinaware, you can be sure that you won’t be getting any for a couple of weeks.

0 comments

After the race highlights of round 1 of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island, you can now check out our gallery of pics from the race weekend.

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island - Gallery of Pics

0 comments

We can imagine that BMW’s rider Ruben Xaus couldn’t wait to take the first flight out of Australia and put this last weekend at Phillip Island behind his back.

Xaus binned his S 1000 RR three times during Friday’s practice leaving him no spare bikes to ride and during Sunday morning warm-up slammed into the back of Noriyuki Haga’s Ducati at turn 1.

Both riders managed to escape serious injuries, but doctors and BMW’s team manager Davide Tardozzi probably though it was better that the Spaniard withdraw from the first round especially after Xaus said he felt disorientated.

Source | motociclisti.my.blog.it

Send your funny, bizarre or surprising pics to us and we’ll post them, with your name. We’d love to share what you guys find in the world of motorcycling! Send to: pics@twowheelsblog.com

0 comments

We’ve got a batch of final quotes after this exciting World Superbike Championship 2010 season opener at Phillip Island, so check out what the riders had to say after round 1.

Leon Haslam - Race 1: 1st, Race 2: 2nd

I am so happy to get my first WSBK win and it feels great! I want to thank the team and all the staff back at the workshop for all their support and hard work and I’d also like to thank Francis and Patricia Batta for having faith in me.
The first race was such hard work and it was impossible to relax for a second. I knew that I had Michel and Nori breathing down my neck, but I just kept concentrating on my lines and my braking points and tried to hold them off. I realised that Michel was in my wheeltracks going into the last turn and would try and use the draft to get past me, but I kept my head down and charged to the flag. At the end, I didn’t know if I’d won or not, but when I realised that I had, I was so unbelievably happy and it was such a fantastic feeling. All weekend I knew that a win was possible, but thinking about and it happening are two different things.In race two, I had some problems with rear traction but I still thought I could win. I had a great fight with Sylvain and when I finally got ahead of him and made it stick, I thought he might act as a buffer between me and the rest. Then suddenly, Carlos was there. He dived under me just three corners from the end, on the last lap. I tried to get it back, but he managed to hold me off and take the flag. But, it feels good to take a win and a second in my first race with the team and it feels fantastic to be leading the Superbike World Championship.

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island: Rider Quotes after Round 1

0 comments

For those who couldn’t wait for racing to begin again, WSBK Race 1 at Phillip Island did not disappoint.

The race was won by a superfast Leon Haslam who led the race from start to finish, but the victory had to be decided by a dramatic photo finish decision when Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio who trailed Haslam through out the race tried to slipstream the Suzuki Alstare rider across the finish line, but it was Pocket Rocket who came out on top by a mere four thousanth of second.

A tough Noriyuki Haga took an excellent third after starting 10th on the grid and despite having been taken out BMW’s Ruben Xaus during the morning warm-up that left the Japanese rider bruised and battered. Xaus had to sit out the race due to a suspected concussion and after having totalled numerous crashes this race weekend that probably left the German team without any spares.

Fourth place went to Jonathan Rea who was a little more than 10 seconds from the lead group, resisting several assualts by Aprilia’s Max Biaggi who was fifth, Sylvain Guintoli finished the race in sixth while Althea Racing Ducati’s Carlos Checa took seventh.

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island Race 1 – Leon Haslam wins by a breath!

0 comments

Leon Haslam rocked in all three stints of Saturday’s Superpole at Phillip Island by taking his first ever career pole position in WSBK and edging out Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio in the last stint by a mere 0.016s.

Cal Crutchlow will also be on the front row with a impressive third place while team mate James Toseland took eighth. Both Sterilgarda Yamaha riders having finally found a proper set up on their ‘hybrid’ R1’s after yesterday’s problems in free practice and in QP1.

Carlos Checa who led in yesterday’s provisional pole will start in fourth with his satellite Ducati while Althea Racing’s second rider Shane Byrne did not make it inside the second cut and qualified 18th, but the Englishman was struggling with back injuries picked up after yesterday’s massive highside.

Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli gave took and excellent fifth position with his Alstare Suzuki and will start on the second row alongside 6th place B&G’s Jakub Smrz and Irishman Jonathan Rea in seventh

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island: Leon Haslam Rockets into Superpole

0 comments

The long wait is over and no more testing, we’re finally going to see some real racing action as the 1st round of WSBK kicks off this weekend at Phillip Island.

Satellite rider Carlos Checa on his Althea Ducati led the top of the charts in today’s QP1with a best lap of 1′32″155, but official Ducati factory rider Michel Fabrizio was just a mere 0.007 from the Spanish rider. Leon Haslam was third, two tenths from Checa with his Suzuki followed by Checa’s team mate, Shane Byrne in fourth

There were four Ducati riders in the top five positions, with Noriyuki Haga taking fifth place. Max Biaggi was sixth on the Aprilia-Alitalia. The first Honda CBR1000RR to make it in the top ten was Jonathan Rea in seventh followed by Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) and Jakub Smrz finished in ninth with Cal Cruchlow in 10th.

Despite hot and dry weather conditions, the session was scattered with numerous riders crashing their bikes; including today’s QP1 leader Checa. Shane Byrne highsided trying to better his times. Max Biaggi also crashed as did BMW’s Troy Corser and team mate Ruben Xaus, who totalled three crashes today. James Toseland also binned his Yamaha R1, leaving the English rider with a very sore left wrist.

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island: Carlos Checa leads in QP1

0 comments