The rumors launched by our French colleagues last week regarding Jules Cluzel having found a Supersport ride with PTR Honda have now been confirmed.

Cluzel, after being dumped by WTR Tent 10 Racing Team when they merged with Bike Service Team, will be now riding a Honda CBR600R in the one of PTR’s three Supersport teams along with Sam Lowes, Pawel Szkopek, Ronan Quarmby, Martin Jessopp, PJ Jacobsen and Mathew Scholtz.

“I am very happy to have secured a seat with PTR Honda, one of the front running teams in the World Supersport Championship – there are not many bikes that can win the Championship but I have one of them. I cannot wait to get to know the team and bike better in the Australia test and then see what we can achieve in the first race. I cannot wait to get started,” said Cluzel.

Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “It is very late in the day but we are delighted to welcome Jules to the team and are sure with his pedigree and proven speed that he will be an addition to an already strong squad. We look forward to seeing what he can achieve in this Championship with the experience at the top level he has already had, it will be exciting.”

Cluzel will be now joining the team for a two-day test at Phillip Island in Australia before the opening round of the Championship at the same track on February 26th.

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According to our French colleagues at Motosblog.fr, former Moto2 rider Jules Cluzel may be riding in the 2012 World Supersport after all and with one of the biggest squads that competes in the championship, PTR Honda.

The French rider had happily announced that he would be riding with debuting WTR Tent 10 Racing Team, but the Italian squad made a last minute merger with Bike Service Team due to the usual budget reasons and decided to keep the more experienced Massimo Roccoli, leaving Cluzel high and dry and searching for another team.

PTR Honda is run by Simon Buckmaster and in 2012 will be fielding five riders under three different team names, Bogdanka PTR Honda (with Sam Lowes, Mathew Scholtz and Pawel Szkopek), PTR Honda (with Patrick ‘PJ’ Jacobsen and Ronan Quarmby) and Riders PTR Honda (Martin Jessopp) and probably adding another rider won’t be a big problem, if Cluzel has come up with the € 350,000 that Buckmaster was asking for to ride in WSS.

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Ambitious plans, announcements made and then reality comes crashing down and now we know why Jules Cluzel lost his ride just after being confirmed. Debuting World Supersport WTR Ten 10 Racing has decided to merge with Bike Service Team and field Massimo Roccoli as their ‘leading rider’ and they’ll also be switching manufacturer, moving from Kawasaki to Yamaha.

The team will racing under the Bike Service by WTR Ten 10 Yamaha banner and the 27-year old Roccoli is veteran Supersport rider, his best result in the series was 6th in the 2006 and 2007 standings.

Finally I’ve reached an agreement to race in World Supersport again” declared Roccoli. “It’s been tough, but I managed to remain optimistic down to the end. I felt that it was going to work out, even though everything came together right at the end. I’d like to thank Bike Service and WTR Ten 10 for giving me this chance, for me it’s a sort of return home (he debuted in 2004 with Bike Service) I had been talking both with Bike Service and WTR for some time (while they were separate outfits), then in the end they decided to join forces so here I am!”

Talking about last season when he rode for the Lorenzini by Leoni team where he finished tenth in the overall standings Roccoli said, “You always start off the season aiming high, last year in the early stages we struggled because of a lack of winter testing, but also because we reached an agreement late on. Then some bad luck during the season cost me a chance of getting good results.”

As the newly merged team talks about Roccoli as the ‘leading rider,’ Cluzel may have some hope yet, so stay tuned.

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A little less than two weeks ago Jules Cluzel was officially to ride one of the Kawasaki ZX-6Rs that debuting WTR Ten 10 Racing Team was going to field in World Supersport, now the former Moto2 rider has already lost his ride.

The reasons behind WTR Ten 10 Racing team’s sudden about face regarding Cluzel currently remains unknown, but this isn’t this first time, nor will it be the last, that a team has made official announcement only to renege at the last minute under pressure from sponsors who prefer a rider more representative of their brand or finding a rider that can pay his own way.

We’ll keep you posted on further developments regarding Cluzel’s situation.

Source | motoquotidienfacebook-com via motospeedrace.com

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The rumors that Jules Cluzel would be heading for the World Supersport championship and ride for debuting WTR Ten 10 Racing Team have now been officially confirmed.

The 23-year old French rider secured the Supersport ride after spending five years in GP racing (125cc, 250cc and Moto2 classes) and will be riding one of the Italian-Indian team’s Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.

“I am really motivated!”, declared Cluzel, “and I’m sure I will tackle this new experience to the best of my possibilities. I really like the idea of taking part in World Supersport, I have the highest possible aims and I’m pleased to be with WTR because I feel they are very motivated as well. In the past I tasted victory in a GP race and it was great, but now I want to win a world title. I have to focus on getting myself into the best possible condition for the first race because I haven’t ridden the bike yet and I’ll have to change my riding style pretty quickly. I am aware that I made a few errors last season but I can say that you learn from your mistakes: it’s all good experience for 2012!”

The team has yet to announce who will be the second rider.

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Several French media sources are reporting that Moto2 rider Jules Cluzel will be leaving Moto2 and is linked to debuting WTR Ten 10 Supersport team.

Cluzel’s Moto2 2011 season didn’t go as expected riding with Forward Racing Team’s Suter as he finished only 21st overall with his best result being a fourth place at Silverstone, the same circuit where a year earlier he took his maiden victory.

WTR Ten 10 run by Fulvio Vannoni, Loris Castellucci and Simone Santolini, with the support of their Indian partner Ten 10 Racing will be fielding two Kawasaki ZX-6R machines for the start of the new season with a nod towards World Superbikes in 2014.

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From sunny Valencia, to rainy and windy Estoril, more than thirty Moto2 riders are currently in Portugal for another three-day test session that saw the morning session more or less a washout.

However in the afternoon the track started to dry out and the riders headed out, but the unofficial lap times were in the high bracket with Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing) and Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing) who suffered a harmless crash, posting the identical lap time of 1’43.9.

The third best time went to Alex de Angelis, who was just a tenth slower with his MotoBI/TSR mounting new Ohlins forks. The Sammarinese was followed Scott Redding and Kenan Sofuoglu who returned to action with his Technomag CIP team, after the death of his father last week. Sufuoglu and Redding also posted identical lap times.

Corsi’s team mate Mattia Pasini was sixth, while Claudio Corti and Mika Kallio, still slightly hampered by his recent shoulder surgery were seventh and eighth respectively.

The test also saw the debut of Xavier Simeon on the third Tech3 bike.

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Even if Jules Cluzel and Alex Baldolini have already tested Forward Racing team’s Suter bike, both riders were officially confirmed only two days before Christmas, as was the new management, after team manager Andrea Dosoli’s switch to Yamaha Sterilgarda in Superbikes.

Naturally Cluzel was confirmed after finishing 7th in the 2010 Moto2 standings, with a win at the Silverstone GP and third place podium in the season open in Qatar, while the 25-year old Baldolini will be replacing Claudio Corti in the team. Baldolini took a second place podium at Estoril with Caretta Technology Race Dept., one of few teams that didn’t make the 2011 Moto2 entry list.

John Cuzari, CEO of Media Action and owner of Team Forward Racing has assigned Marco Curioni as Sporting Director and Sergio Verbena in the role of technical manager.

“I’m really happy to start a new adventure with this team,” said Baldolini. “I’m confident that combining my experience with their professionalism, we will be able to compete consistently for the positions that count. Even in the first test, and I wasn’t in the best physical condition, I immediately had a good feeling with the bike and the team.”

Continue reading: Moto2: Forward Racing officially confirms Cluzel and Baldolini

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In an exciting Moto2 race Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing) took his first ever GP victory after a last-lap battle with Thomas Luthi and Julian Simon where the French rider crossed under the chequered flag before Luthi by just 0.057s.

Pole man Claudio Corti took the head of the race for the first three laps and then he and Julian Simon began a two way battle for the lead until Jules Cluzel decided to become a part of the two front runners while Simone Corsi and Stefan Bradl collided and ended up in the kitty litter and were unable to re-join the race.

Hard charging Swiss rider Thomas Luthi who took off from 9th on the grid started on the 10th lap putting in a series of fast laps (2′09″886 on lap 11) and moving through the field to put himself in fourth and begin his battle for the lead and taking it with just three laps to go.

Claudio Corti crashed out at the Vale on the penultimate lap leaving Luthi more room, but the Interwetten Moriwaki rider would make a costly mistake, outbraking himself and running wide letting Jules Cluzel through and the Frenchman would keep all the doors closed till the finish line.

Continue reading: Moto2 Silverstone: Jules Cluzel Wins in Three Way Battle

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Forward Racing had an excellent Moto2 qualifying session at Silverstone with Claudio Corti taking the pole position and team mate Jules Cluzel on second and Stefan Bradl on third and Julian Simon in fourth making it an all Suter chassis row.

Corti took his first pole postion, stopping the clock at 2.09″624 and the only rider to go below the 2.10 mark. The Italian has ridden at Silverstone before the circuit makeover in 2005 and 2006 winning in the 600cc and 1000cc Stock categories.

Yonny Hernandez took 5th while Xavier Simeon has become G22 Holiday Gym regular rider put his Moriwaki in 6th in front of Alex Baldolini and Arne Tode (2008 IDM Supersport Champion) Thomas Luthi qualified in ninth and Fonsi Nieto closed out the top ten.

Continue reading: Moto2 Qualifying: Claudio Corti On Pole for the First Time

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If you were one of those who shed a tear when the 250cc series was put out to pasture, with tonight’s first Moto2 race in Qatar everyone forgot all about the 250’s, that saw wild racing, crazy passes, fairings being bashed and crashes making Moto2 a spectacular show for any racing fan.

Shoya Tomizawa on the Technomag CIP Moto (Suter chassis) took his first ever GP win in the inaugural Moto2 race in Qatar.

Coming in second was Alex Debon and the third spot was taken by Jules Cluzel who battled it out until the final lap. Hotly tipped to win was injured Toni Elias who took fourth after being poleman finishing in front of a hard charging Roberto Rolfo.

Mattia Pasini and Thomas Lüthi were sixth and seventh respectively. Simone Corsi, Gabor Talmacsi and Sergio Gadea completed the top ten.

Riders who failed to finish the race were Alex DeAngelis who lost control of his bike who ended up taking out Stefan Bradl on the first lap. Julian Simon had to retire with clutch problems on the opening lap. Axel Pons, Yonny Hernández, Vladimir Leonov and Anthony West all DNF’d.

Continue reading: Moto2 Qatar: Shoya Tomizawa wins first Moto2 Race

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Another two riders have been confirmed to ride in next season’s Moto2 championship:

Team WTR San Marino have confirmed French rider Valentin Debise as their Moto2 rider for next year. The 17 year old finished 21st in the 250cc championship with Team Cip Moto GP250. The Sammarinese will be using the AT02, developed by German based ADV Advanced Technology that was seen during the Moto2 tests in Valencia and was tested by Alessandro Brannetti.

Forward Racing (former Hayate Racing Team) has also decided on a French rider and it will be Jules Cluzel, who finished the 2009 250cc season in 12th place. Cluzel will be riding a Suter MMX.

Besides Forward Racing, Italtrans, Technomag CIP and Kiefer Racing will also be using the chassis produced by the Swiss-based manufacturer Suter Racing Technology.

Source | motogp.com

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