What WSBK riders had to say after the 9th Superpole at Donington Park.

Ben Spies - 1st

“It was a good Superpole session for us, we almost got caught out as I think I was the last one to leave the garage. As soon as I came out of the pit lane I could see the drops start to come so I had to really attack the warm up lap. I told myself to nail the first sector so I could relax a little bit in the back half in case it rained a bit more. The first sector was brilliant, in the second and third rain drops were coming so I wanted to be careful not to touch any paint down. It was good to get up there to the front as it’s a short start to turn one so it’s a good position for us. The bike is working great on race tyres as well so I’m looking forward to what will be an exciting race.”

Max Biaggi - 2nd

“It was a very exciting Superpole. During the last lap, I noticed that the first drops of rain were beginning to fall and I started
off immediately by trying to make the most of the track while it was still dry, and it went well. This time the rain helped us out. We had some rather good qualifying rounds, we’ve improved along the way, even if we aren’t as
fast as we need to be yet. We still have too much trouble at the slowest portion of the track. I hope to have a great race tomorrow on this track, which I like a lot.”

Shane Byrne - 3rd

“I’m really excited to start from the front row at Donington which is my home track. I’m happy for my best practice result of the season. I couldn’t have done it though without the crew who have done such a good job. They managed to combine the best features of each of the two bikes I worked on yesterday. I’m ready for any weather condition for tomorrow’s races. I’ll try and use the warm up session to choose the tyres for race 1 and hopefully do well in both”.

Continue reading: WSBK Donington - Superpole rider quotes

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Many of you may not know that Shane Byrne’s Team Sterilgarda BRC Racing manager Marco Borciani is a rider himself and has twice won the Campionato Italiano Velocità (CIV) in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 he decided not to contest perfering to follow his WSBK team, but when his CIV team Chemiba GPM asked him to re-enter he ended up doing half a season. This year Borciani is ready to do the whole season and has been training this last winter.

His team will be BRC Racing Chemiba sponsored by Sterligarda Altea and Chemiba. The team manager/rider from Brescia will be using a Ducati 1098 RS.

Borciani will be competing against Italian CIV riders of the caliber of Brignola, Chiarello, Mauri Gramigni and Conforti and new arrival Ivan Clementi (ex Triumph WSS).

Also partecipating as a wildcard for Team Guandalini will be Gregorio Lavilla, former WSBK rider who lost his ride with ProRide, when his team folded and pulled out of the WSBK championship due sponsorship problems.

Source | racergp

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Alex Polita who graduated from Sterilgarda’s BRC Racing Team in the Superstock 1000 Championship to ride in WSBK for Sterilgarda Ducati is now out of ride due to sponsorship economic woes thus leaving Shane Byrne as the sole rider for the team.
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I’m really sorry about the situation that does not allow us to enter Alex Polita as planned. Unfortunately the economic condition of companies at the moment means that we do not have the support of several sponsors, who were supposed to help us for the 2009 season. I feel really sorry for Alex, who is a talented young rider with whom I hope to again be able to work with in the future” said team boss Marco Borciani.

Borciani however insists it is still their intention to get a second bike on the grid for the first European round of the season in Valencia.

Source | teamsterilgarda

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Ducati lover? Got some loose cash stashed under the mattress? How about buying Shane “Shakey”Byrne’s 2008 winning 1098 R British Superbike?

GSE Racing have put one of Byrne’s racebikes up for sale alongside both of Leon Camier’s bikes and a massive spares package.

The three bikes are for sale at £80,000 each. If your interested, you can call GSE at 01283-532543.

Source | bikesportnews

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After the break, tests and New Year a new World Superbike Championship will start and it will definitely be an exciting Superbike year. With two new manufacturers and many rider changes, 2009 in WSB will not be easily forgotten.

This is what we are expecting of the line up for WSB 2009:

Ducati Xerox: Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio
Yamaha Italia: Ben Spies and Tom Sykes
Ten Kate Honda: Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari and Jonathan Rea
Alstare Suzuki: Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama
Paul Bird Kawasaki: Makoto Tamada and Broc Parkes
BMW: Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus
Aprilia: Max Biaggi and Shinya Nakano
Team Sterilgarda Ducati: Shane Byrne and Alessandro Polita
Stiggy Motorsport Honda: Leon Haslam and Roberto Rolfo
Althea Honda: Tommy Hill
Pro Ride Racing Honda: Gregorio Lavilla
Celani Suzuki: Karl Muggeridge
GMT Yamaha: David Checa
YZF Yamaha: Katsuyuki Nakasuga

Continue reading: WSB 2009 teams and riders line up

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Marco Borciano’s team for 2009 in the World Superbike Championship will change names to become “Team Sterilgarda”.The partnership with “Go Eleven” expired and the team wants to thank the company for the partnership during the last season.

The Italian team with headquarters based in Lonato (Brescia) is a top team in the championship, founded by Marco Borciani in 2005 after he ended his career as a Superbike rider. In 2009, Shane Byrne and Alessandro Polita will ride in the Italian team.

Source | gmbracing

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The Ducati Sterilgarda Go Eleven Team set the fastest lap time with new comer in World Superbike Shane Byrne. The British champion rode the Ducati to a best lap time of 1 min 43.6 seconds on Wednesday at the Portimao racetrack.

The Roman Max Biaggi is not riding the Sterilagarda Go Eleven Ducati but rather his new Aprilia RSV for the first time. He came in third after the American Ben Spies with his Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1. Lorenzo Lanzi and Regis Laconi rode a 9th and 10th position on the DXF Corse Honda CBR 1000RR.

The Ten Kate Honda Team, Alstare Suzuki, Ducati Xerox and the new BMW Team did not come to Portimao but choose to test at Valencia.

Continue reading: SBK Portimao test results

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A Monster 696 giveaway is being held to benefit the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Rett syndrome is a childhood neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by normal early development followed by loss of purposeful use of the hands, distinctive hand movements, slowed brain and head growth, gait abnormalities, seizures, and mental retardation. It affects females almost exclusively.

Tickets for the raffle (held in California) cost 25 USD and are limited to 500 total. Tickets are available at the Pro Italia online store or in the US, in Los Angeles and are available until October 24th. Pro Italia is an American online store in Southern California.

The motorcycling world often helps out in charity causes, as seen in Shane Byrne’s charity project to raise money for Mcmillan Cancer Support. The British Superbike Champion’s helmet was recently auctioned on ebay. Shane said: “I suffered a big loss in my life because of cancer. I hope that the money raised from the auction of this helmet can go some way, however big or small, towards helping others similarly affected whilst also highlighting the great work carried out by the people at Macmillan Cancer Support.”

It’s great to know that the motorcyclingworld and even riders are continuing these fund raising initiatives for charities in these difficult times.

Source | Pro Italia (thanks to Lowell Goss)

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The Sterilgarda GMB Team has completed its line-up for the 2009 World Superbike Championship. The Italian rider Alex Polita will join team mate and newcomer Shane Byrne in the team.

Alex Polita will race next year with the Ducati 1098 RS09 and will test the 2008 Ducati for the first time together with Shane the week after the Portimao round.

Alessandro Polita #53 was born in the Italian town of Jesi, is 24 years old and won the European Superstock 1000 FIM Cup in 2006. Also this year Alex is riding in the Superstock 1000 class with the Sterilgarda Team, holding a second place in the general standings with 127 points and only four points behind the leader, the Belgian Suzuki Alstare rider Xavier Simeon.

Source | SBK

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Good news for the British rider Shane Byrne, “Shakey” who won the crown last weekend at the 2008 British Superbike Championship; he has signed for World Superbike 2009 with the Ducati Sterilgarda Team.

Marco Borciano was searching for two new riders after receiving the news that Max Biaggi will leave the team and will go to the new Aprilia Team and his other Spanish rider Ruben Xaus will leave for the new BMW Team. Marco thanks both riders and wishes them all the best for their new adventure at Superbike next year. In his search, and after many meetings they chose Shane, who impressed with his results and his human skills. Shane will test the bike after the end of the season in Portimao.

Shane Byrne is really happy, saying: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the Sterilgarda Go Eleven Team to participate in the 2009 WSB championship, It’s the perfect progression for me having secured the 2008 BSB championship last weekend at Silverstone on my very simular Ducati machinery, any team that can run riders of Max Biaggi and Ruben Xaus’s standard can only be at the top of their game. I look forward to benefiting from the team and Ducati’s experience to make the transition as straightforward as possible for me and can’t wait for my first opportunity to start working with my new team.”

Shane was born 32 years ago and he is the first of a couple of riders who will run for the team next year. He is now riding in BSB with the Airwaves Ducati Team.

Source | Sterilgarda

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