BSB rider Josh Brookes has confirmed he will be replacing injured John Hopkins in the Crescent Fixi Suzuki team for the opening round of the 2012 Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island from 24-26 February.

Hopkins crashed during yesterday’s private testing at Phillip Island and broke a bone in his right hand and will not be fit enough to compete in the first round of the season and and Paul Denning and Jack Valentine have called on Brookes to sub for the American rider.

Brookes currently rides for Tyco Suzuki and the Australian is logical choice as he’s previously raced in both the World Superbike and Supersport Championships.

“It’s not actually a complete shock that I’ve got the ride,” said Brookes. “Sure, John crashing wasn’t in Crescent’s plans, but based on the fact that I am a Suzuki rider in the UK it all makes sense that I would be the first in line to get the seat, especially because I am familiar with the bike and Pirelli tyres. I’m sure I will do a good job and give the Aussie fans another rider to cheer on,” also adding “I’m currently employed by Suzuki and have done a season racing on the GSXR 1000. I have to say I’m very grateful to Phillip Neil from TAS Suzuki for allowing me to ride. Without their support I couldn’t do it. I don’t put any extra pressure on myself, I’m just going to ride the best I can and make the most of the opportunity.”

Brookes will now be returning to his native Australia where he will take part in the official two day WSBK test on 20-21 February.

Photo Source | joshbrookesfacebook.com

Marc Marquez will also be skipping the second official Moto2 test of the season at Jerez de la Frontera, scheduled from February 16th to the 18th.

Last year’s Moto2 runner-up underwent another check-up by his surgeon in Barcelona and despite evident progress following his recent eye operation has informed fans via his Repsol blog that he will also sit out the next testing session.

Marquez is now is expected to return to riding in March for a private test at the Autodromo do Algarve at Portimao, alongside Moto3 Monlau Competicion riders Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins.

“Today I was with the doctor in Barcelona and everything is going according to schedule, that is I am healing as was expected. But for the time being the team and I will stay at home this week and we will not participate in the practice that will take place at Jerez. But I want you to know that we will not be on holiday taking it easy, nothing of the sort. The team is to be found planning the season and of course, each and every detail of the bike, the pits, the truck… You know, they take care of making sure that everything works perfectly during the season. But me I am working on my physical preparation, training flat out on a motocross bike and so I can’t wait to get back on my Moto2 bike.”

Last week’s three-day Moto2 test at Valencia was dominated by Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) on the first two days, while Pol Espargaró (Pons Racing) set the fastest time on the final day.

The past rumors surrounding Noriyuki Haga’s switch to the British Superbike Championship and the latest, that he would be replacing injured Ian Hutchinson in Swan Yamaha have now been officially confirmed.

The Samurai of Slide failed to find a ride at World Superbike level after a lacklustre 2011 season with Pata Racing (despite finishing 8th with 4 podiums on the Aprilia RSV4), will now be joining reigning BSB champion Tommy Hill this season.

“It is a new challenge for me to race in BSB and I am now ready for the new season with Swan Yamaha,” said Haga. “I feel that after many years in the same series this will be a kind of restart to my racing career. BSB has grown a lot and I have big support from the fans in the UK, so I liked the idea of racing in the Championship. It will also be a return to Yamaha, where I spent so many years taking many wins and now I feel like I am going back to my family. I have won races with Yamaha before in the World Championship and now I hope that we can do it again in BSB. I don’t know several circuits in England and the BSB Championship but I will do my best to get results this year for the fans, myself and for Yamaha. We will start testing soon and I am very excited to get back on track as we have big ambitions for this season. Finally I hope that Ian Hutchinson can recover soon from his injury.”

While Team Owner Shaun Muir said: “It was a difficult situation for the Swan Yamaha team when Ian (Hutchinson) was sidelined with just four weeks remaining before we begin our pre-season testing programme. We then had to set out to find a replacement rider and the result for us could not have been better. We are absolutely delighted that Noriyuki will be joining us and we are now looking forward to welcoming him into the team. Noriyuki has such vast experience of racing a Superbike and during his career has always had a strong partnership with Yamaha and we are happy that we can continue that relationship this year. The Swan Yamaha team won the title last season and Noriyuki is really ready for the challenge of BSB and is coming to race here to win.”

Swan Marketing Manager Mark Alldred concluded: “We are thrilled to confirm the full team line up for the 2012 season after Ian’s unfortunate injury. We are delighted to welcome Noriyuki Haga to the team at this late stage. He has a fantastic pedigree at the highest level and will be a real contender for the championship this year. We have a great rider line-up at Swan Yamaha having signed two of the top riders in the championship. We wish them both the best of luck for the forthcoming season.”

Last August the financial comunity was reporting the rumor that Italian private equity group Investindustrial (backed by the Bonomi family) who has owned Ducati for the past three years, had sounded out a Hong Kong public listing for Ducati for an initial public offering (IPO) of £875 million, however now the Financial Times is reporting that they could be looking to sale to a rival or large car group for up to 1 billion pounds.

“Ducati is now a perfect company but the further growth it requires needs the support of a world-class industrial partner,” said Andrea Bonomi, Investindustrial’s chairman. “This year, we will work towards that partner.”

A handful of industrial groups in Asia, Europe and the US are interested in Ducati with possible buyers including Indian motorcycle group Mahindra and German car groups such as Volkswagen and BMW.

Last year Ducati reported selling 42.200 motorcycles with an increase in sales of 21,5%.

Source | financiatimes.com via thekneeslider.com

The 2012 Swiss-Moto show will be opening its doors in Zurich on February 16th and BMW Motorrad will be bringing a special edition of the R 1200 GS ABS dedicated to Switzerland’s most famous rider, Tom Lüthi.

This special model of BMW R 1200 GS ABS will be exclusive to Switzerland and limited to just 100 units.

All paint and bodywork, including forks, engine and deck luggage remain in full black on the R 1200 GS ABS Tom Lüthi. The colour accents are made by the three legendary bands in the colours of BMW Motorrad Motorsport on the front cover of the tank by a tinted windshield and brake callipers in the Monte Carlo colours Blau.

GS matte silver logo on the rear fender and the monogram GS Power on the side, along the front fender, refer to the concept of the special model. The edition is marked, with a Tom Lüthi logo on the front fender and his signature is engraved on the lid of the fuel cap. In addition, the lid of the fuel cap features a serial number to remember that this is a special edition model limited to 100, which will be available from March 2012.

The FIM and Infront Motor Sports released a provisional homologation list for the Superstock 1000 Cup championship earlier last week and as many noticed that Ducati’s 1199 Panigale S wasn’t on it despite the fact that Superstock teams, Barni Racing, Effenbert Liberty and Red Devils Ducati Roma will be using the new Superbike in this season’s championship.

The mystery surrounding the reason of why the Panigale wasn’t listed was solved by the always well informed Italian website Gpone.com who found out that the FIM has yet to visit Ducati’s factory in Bologna and they’ll be doing that at the end of this month to check if the Italian manufacturer has fabricated the first 250 units of the 2000 required for homologation.

Ducati officially started production of the 1199 Panigale on January 24th of this year.

It is an old story by now, but apparently in China there’s no such a thing as plagiarism. We present you with the images of the Genata RC-125, a sportsbike ‘made in China’ that we would not hesitate to call a sub-par copy of the Yamaha YZF-R125: same looks, same size (2015 x 660 x 970 mm), same wheelbase (1355 mm), and same name too. Yes, because the official website of the Chinese manufacturer might call it ‘RC-125′ but, if you look at the stickers on the fairings, you will see the abbreviation ‘GM 125 YZF-R’ written on there. No, we are not joking.

According to the same website, the maker of this bike is the ‘China Genata Vehicle Holdings Limited’, which is controlled by the ‘Japan Genata Industry Limited’. ‘So it’s Japanese’, you might think. Well, no: it seems like the word ‘Japan’ was added to name just to give the company some sort of ‘Japanese feeling’. No, we are not joking.

Looking through the specs of the two bikes, it is clear that these models are worlds apart, but this is not the point here. Surely this is not the first time that such a thing happens (remember Kaitong Motor’s three wheeled scoot seized at the last EICMA?) , and it won’t be the last either, but we better let Yamaha’s legal army to take care of it. For now you can compare the two bikes in our photo gallery.

via | VisorDown

Talmacsi was another rider who was asked to pay for his ride (€600,000) but he refused to beg for money so he could ride and then proceeded to sit out the entire 2011 season, now the Hungarian rider has decided to switch from two wheels to four wheels and will take up a career in rallying in his native country.

He will be driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX in the Hungarian Rally Championship, which also includes a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The Hungarian rider now turned driver has previously taken part in several car endurance races.

Source | superbikeplanet.com

The 32-year old Lucchinelli was already being investigated by the police in connection with international drug trafficking ring from South America to Italy and was stopped after being followed leaving the airport of Malpensa and heading to the city of Ravenna.

The arrest was kept secret for a few days and the news leaked out after he had already been appeared in court for a preliminary hearing and is now being held on custody as a precautionary measure due to the amount of drugs found in his possession and the risk of repeating the felony act.

This isn’t the first time that Cristiano has been in trouble with the law. In July of 2003 in the city of Imola the police stopped him after high speed chase where they found cocaine and two thousand euros in the car.

Source | ilrestodelcarlino via motoblog.it

On Monday morning Nicky Hayden underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on the right shoulder that he had injured in late December in a pre-season training accident. The 40 minute procedure was carried out in Fremont, California by Dr Arthur Ting who discovered and repaired a tear in the labrum.

Yesterday’s post-operation appointment confirmed that the surgery was successful, and the Ducati Team rider could return home to begin his recovery.

“It’s a setback, but all things considered, I’m pretty happy with how things went,” Hayden said. “It’s good that it was possible to do everything by ’scope, and the pain’s not too bad. The problem should be fixed now, and I look forward to being able to help out the team as soon as possible.”

If the convalescence proceeds as hoped, Hayden should be able to take part in the next winter test at Sepang, February 28-March 1.

Ducati team mate Valentino Rossi also underwent surgery on Monday to have a rod removed from the leg he broke at Mugello in 2010, and buddy ‘Uccio’ tweeted an update on Rossi’s conditions saying that his friend has a little pain where the stitches are but everything is okay and in a couple of days he’ll be able to put some weight on the leg.

Spanish petroleum giant Repsol has decided to back the 2011 125cc Rookie of the Year, Maverick Viñales in this season’s new Moto3 class.

The announcement was made ahead of the official Moto2 and Moto3 three day test that kicked off today at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, and the Spanish teenager will be joining other Repsol sponsored riders like Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins (who is currently injured) in Moto3, Marc Marquez in Moto2, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa in MotoGP.

Viñales finished third in his debut season winning four races (Le Mans, Assen, Sepang and Valencia) and five other podiums while he was riding for the Blusens by Paris Hilton Team.

This season he’ll will be riding a Honda FTR M312 under the Avintia Competición (BQR) Racing banner, and it is almost certain that he’ll switch to Moto2 in 2013.

“I am very excited to be riding for a sponsor like Repsol this season, as Repsol have been a force behind a great number of victories in the World Championship,” said Vinales. “Many great riders have received their support and I am honoured to be joining this elite group. The big three current Repsol riders - Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Marc Márquez - have won titles, and this is my aim for 2012. I can only hope to follow the path that other Repsol riders have established in the World Championship and take many wins this year. Now it is time for me to test in Valencia and we will be trying out many of the improvements that have been made over the winter”.

Yamaha Factory Racing has entered into partnership with sportswear manufacturer Saucony as a Premium Supplier of shoes to the Team for the 2012 season. The premium level training shoes will form part of the Factory Team’s 2012 uniform.

Saucony is an American manufacturer of high-end athletic shoes and sports apparel. The company specialises in shoes for running, trail running, racing and walking. Specific technology is incorporated into the footwear relevant to the sporting discipline.

“We are very pleased to have Saucony join us for 2012,” said Team Director Massimo Meregalli. “It’s fantastic to have a top brand on board with us whose reputation for excellence in their field mirrors that of Yamaha. We are always on the move during the season so good footwear is essential for the team, we couldn’t ask for better!”.

Morgan Guizzo, Sales & Marketing Manager at Sportlab Srl, added “We are proud and honoured to team up with such a successful, dynamic and technologically innovative group as Yamaha. Both brands share the same focus for outstanding products and winning performance. We are sure that this cooperation will bring excellent results”.