Good news for Chris Vermeulen and his PBM Kawasaki team, the Aussie rider will not have to undergo surgery to repair the extensive knee damage that he picked up in his high speed crash at Lukey Heights during race 2 at Phillip Island.

Despite not having full movement in his leg, Vermeulen has stated that he wants to try race in the upcoming WSBK round at Portimao that takes place from March 26th to 28th:

“I saw my doctor again on Wednesday 17th March and the good news is that I do not need an operation on my leg. He said it would take a long time to heal, however, because there is a fair bit of damage in there. The main reason he did not want to operate is because it would not reduce the healing time and at this stage it is better to stay out of it. I don’t have enough bend in my knee joint to get my foot onto the footpeg at the moment but the race is a bit away yet, so hopefully it will be right by Portimao. I will be able to cycle quite soon, which will get more blood flow through it and help it heal faster.”

Continue reading: WSBK: Chris Vermeulen will be in Portimao

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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.

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Kawasaki’s Chris Vermeulen crashed out twice in round 1 Phillip Island with a very big and scary crash in Race 2 that left the rider with a very swollen leg.

Here’s Vermeulen from his video blog describing his races what happened and why he crashed.

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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

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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

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As usual racing at Phillip Island never lets fans wanting, if Race 1 didn’t disappoint, Race 2 was an absolute thriller. The Italians have a very pictoresque saying about close racing: “correre con il coltello tra i denti” which literally means racing with a knife between between your teeth and that’s what Carlos Checa did today on his privateer Ducati when he won the race.

The Spaniard who debuted with Althea Ducati Racing had a bad start leaving him in 11th on the first lap, but Checa was a man on a mission after his 7th place in Race 1 began working his way through the pack to join the four front runners to make a last lap move to take the victory in front of race 1 winner Leon Haslam followed by Michel Fabrizio who would take third place on the podium.

Haslam seemed to be heading to his second career victory and the race looked like a perfect photocopy of the first race with Fabrizio closely tagging the Brit and Noriyuki Haga in third moving up from his tenth place on the grid, but it would be former MotoGP and BSB rider Sylvain Guintoli who would snatch fourth place from a fading and aching Haga who took fifth.

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island Race 2: Carlos Checa wins last lap thriller

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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!

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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

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Check out what some of the World Superbike riders had to say after today’s first qualifying practice at Phillip Island and find out who was happy, who wasn’t and why.

Carlos Checa – 1st

“I’m really satisfied with today’s test. I worked very well with my technicians and we tested some different tires and settings. It’s always a good result for our team to reach the provisional pole position. Nevertheless, we have to remember that the race will be on Sunday and that probably we’ll have different weather conditions with colder temperature, but this a very good starting point. I would like to thank all the people in my team, and particularly the general manager Genesio Bevilacqua who was able to create such a competitive team. I hope Shakey will be all right tomorrow to fight for a good result during tomorrow’s qualifications and Superpole”.

Michel Fabrizio – 2nd

“We tried different tyre solutions this morning and various setting solutions in agreement with my engineer. I had a fall, losing the front, but without causing myself, or my bike, too much damage fortunately. Then in the qualifying session we found a good direction with the tyre solution that may well be the one to choose for the race; the results were quite encouraging. During my fast lap I lost a couple of tenths through the last corner but I’m happy; we’ve worked well and I’m satisfied with the results. We have a good race pace but a lot will depend on Sunday’s weather.”

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island - What the riders had to say after QP1

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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

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