All posts tagged wsbk
Althea Racing reveals new livery
Last Thursday, Termignoni inaugurated their new new factory building and to make the day more special, held Termignoni Day. The event included a stunt show with Craig Jones and his Kawasaki’s, the DABOOT Motorcross Freestyle Team, Italian trial champion Fabio Lenzi and a hopped up motorcycle exhibition that included MotoGP bikes like the Ducati Desmosedici, Marco Simoncelli’s Honda RC212V, a range of Ducati Superbikes, Toni Elias’s Moriwaki and series of special edition Yamaha M1’s, including Jorge Lorenzo’s 2010 winning bike.
Also present was the Althea Racing Team who took the opportunity to unveil their new 2011 livery of the 1198F bike. The bike’s livery has a lot more red and less white and blue from this year’s version, which supposedly shows that Ducati, despite pulling out their factory team, is still supporting WSBK championship through the privateer teams.
Althea Racing will be fielding Carlos Checa as their sole rider next season.
Source | wsbk.com
World Superbike launches European Junior Cup for teenagers
Getting into motorcycle racing isn’t easy for hopeful and ambitious youngsters, it’s expensive and can take a big bite out of a family’s budget, (when Loris Capirossi started, his parents mortgaged the family house) unless you a have a big named mentor to put in good word for you and you’ve already picked up some sponsorship backing by helmet or gear companies.
The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup has been in action for five years and helps kids from all over the world ease into the world of Grand Prix motorcycle racing (while Spain is way ahead of anyone in the world, on forming upcoming riders) and now Infront , who runs the World Superbike Championship, realizing how important it is to find new talent internationally, is doing the same thing.
They’ll be launching the European Junior Cup for 14 to 17-year-olds (who have held a competition license for at least one year in either road racing, motocross, enduro, supermoto, trials or minimoto) and the complete package will cost 18.950 euro and includes:
Continue reading: World Superbike launches European Junior Cup for teenagers
Andrew Pitt to Pedercini WSBK team?
If we were to place a rider in a top ten 2010 horrid season list, it would have to be Andrew Pitt. The two times world supersport champion and veteran world superbike and MotoGP rider started this season with Reitwagen Motosport BMW world superbike team that folded after just three rounds due to funding problems leaving him high and dry.
Pitt later found a ride with Rob McElnea’s BSB Motorpoint Yamaha team replacing the retiring Neil Hodgson and Ian Lowry, but two months later fractured his collarbone during Race 2 at Brands Hatch and then was dropped from the team, with no place to go after recovering from surgery.
The latest rumors however, have the Australian returning to World Superbike championship with Kawasaki privateer Pedercini Team. Apparently Kawasaki wants to make a big splash in 2011, because after announcing a three rider factory effort with Chris Vermeulen, Joan Lascorz and Tom Sykes, it seems they’ll also be supplying the 2011 ZX-10R to Pedercini.
Source | motor.nl
Marco Melandri debuts on the Yamaha R1
Marco Melandri is now officially an ex-MotoGP rider and couldn’t get away fast enough from the paddock that left him, can we say bitter?
The Italian is debuting at the Valencia race track (where his former team was yesterday with Simoncelli and Aoyama) testing the Yamaha YZF- R1 superbike for the first time in this one day test organized by the team.
Melandri has used Cal Crutchlow’s 2010 bike and the new 2011 updated version and has reported so far: “I immediately found a good feeling with the bike, which is very powerful but also easy to handle, it gives me the impression of being an easy bike to ‘interpret’, even though it’s still too early to give a definitive opinion. I’m here just to get an early contact with it.”
Melandri has brought one of his long standing mechanic’s with him and met up with fomer Hayate manager Andrea Dosoli, who has been nominated as Yamaha’s new team manager, and will help #33 through the teething pains.
Melandri and Laverty will get further testing time at Phillip Island at the end of the month.
Source | wsbk.com
Supersonic Racing officially confirms 2 year deal with Maxime Berger
Supersonic Racing Team has confirmed a two year deal with 21-year old French rider Maxime Berger for the 2011 and 2012 World Superbike championship.
Berger whose racing background includes the 2007 European Stock 600 championship title and three years in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup with Honda Ten Kate Junior Racing team.
“Today is an important day for me and my career. I’m really happy to join the Supersonic Team and start my adventure in World Superbike. Since the beginning of my career, Superbike was for me the premier class and the main goal. I will give the best I can and I’m flattered by the attention from Danilo Soncini, he has always shown interest, and believes in me. This is a great stimulus for me,” said Berger. “The contract binds me to the Supersonic Team for two years and it is a very important aspect for me that will allow me to work without too much pressure to be able to adapt to the team and to this demanding category. I want to keep my number 21 also for SBK. A number certainly challenging and I intend to ask permission to Troy Bayliss before using it. It will be a further incentive to do well”.
Continue reading: Supersonic Racing officially confirms 2 year deal with Maxime Berger
Ruben Xaus to ride for Ten Kate Honda?
Just last week at the EICMA show in Milan, Ruben Xaus who was attending the event, revealed that he was still searching for team to hook up with for the 2011 season, but MCN.com is now reporting a rumor regarding the aggressive, but amazingly crash prone Spaniard (HFL has decided that Xaus’s tendency towards weird crashes deserved a special dictionary meaning).
According to the British website, Xaus has reportedly signed with Ten Kate Honda’s WSBK team this week and will partner Jonathan Rea next season. The news of the deal should be released before the Portimao test at the end of the month.
WSBK: Kawasaki confirms three rider team in 2011
For all you Tom Sykes fans out there, who were worried about his fate after a pretty good year with the PBM team and all the development and testing he’s done on the new Ninja, we can officially confirm that Skyes will be staying with the factory team.
Kawasaki will be running a three man squad in World Superbikes in 2011, which is pretty hot news in itself considering that several WSBK teams will be fielding only one rider next season, and besides confirming Sykes and Chris Vermeulen (who has a two year contract) they’ve also confirmed, as we believed they would, Joan Lascorz, who will be moving up from Supersport to their Superbike team.
“It’s great to be staying with Kawasaki as a manufacturer and ride for the Paul Bird team again for 2011. We have done some good work together this year and exceeded some of our expectations, so it is nice to stay with PBM Kawasaki team in what will be an important year for us all. The new bike is already showing massive potential in testing and we have a lot of sessions planned through the winter. Roll on 2011!” said Sykes.
Continue reading: WSBK: Kawasaki confirms three rider team in 2011
WSBK: James Toseland to be confirmed in BMW Italia team
The other day James Toseland and his manager Roger Burnett were spotted heading into the BMW Italia headquarters at San Donato Milanese, to conclude the deal that would see the Briton ride for the new BMW satellite World Superbike team.
Toseland lost his ride in Yamaha Sterilgarda after a disappointing return to the Superbike series, after spending two seasons in MotoGP and finished only 9th in the championship.
During the David Jefferies awards that took place Saturday evening, where the piano playing and singing rider confirmed that he will fielded in the Italian team with Superstock champion Aryton Badovini, who completed dominated his championship winning nine out the ten races with the BMW S1000RR, will be his team mate.
“We have been talking about this for some time but obviously couldn’t say anything about. I am delighted and we start testing next month.” said Toseland.
The privateer team is expected to test at Jerez with the official BMW team.
Source | bikesportnews.com
WSBK: Honda Europe to support Ten Kate for the next three years
With Ducati having pulled out their factory team from the World Superbike series and Suzuki willing to support Alstare Suzuki only with one rider, finally some good news from Honda Motor Europe who has announced that they have finalized a new three-year agreement to support Ten Kate Racing in the Superbike championship.
With this announcement the Dutch team will continue after nine world championship titles – eight in World Supersport and one in World Superbike to be its number one supported team in the World Superbike paddock and the new agreement is intended to give the team stability and continuity for its long-term development.
The team has already officially announced Jonathan Rea as their 2011 rider, but have yet to confirm if Hannspree will continue to be their main sponsor and if their budget will allow them to field a second rider.
Continue reading: WSBK: Honda Europe to support Ten Kate for the next three years
Shane Byrne heading back to BSB in 2011?
Last weekend was Shane Byrne’s last race for Althea Racing Team (who may field only Carlos Checa next season) and the British rider after spending two years in World Superbikes and finishing 10th in this year’s standings, may be heading back to the BSB in 2011 where he won the title in 2003 and 2008.
‘Shakey’ in his blog wrote “I have some possibilities in WSB, options in BSB so I’m off up to Oulton Park Saturday to pursue them and a couple of possibilities elsewhere too” and at Oulton he’ll also be talking to Shaun Muir of Swan Honda.
Swan Honda may run a two rider team next season, if team manager Muir finds the necessary sponsorship backing, admitted that he’s in talks with Byrne and several other riders, “I have a lot of people, including Shakey, on the phone over the last few weeks and I will be in a position to make a decision about riders in the next ten to fourteen days. Talks with my main two sponsors are a long way down the road now and it looks likely we can run with two riders, and do some road racing, next year but, as with all these things, the details are yet to be confirmed. We will, however, be running with Hondas.”
Source | bikesportnews.com
WSBK: Jonathan Rea undergoes successful surgery
Jonathan Rea who underwent surgery on his injured left wrist Tuesday afternoon in the UK. The Honda Ten Kate rider who crashed during qualifying session at Imola, missed the Italian round and was able to take part only in race 1 at Magny-Cours finishing in 12th and skipping race 2 due to pain.
Specialist surgeon Mike Hayton repaired the ruptured ligament between the left scaphoid and lunar bones where the injury also detached part of both bones. Rea will return to his home on the Isle of Man today to begin his recuperation before returning to Manchester in a month’s time to have two supporting wires removed from the wrist.
“There was more damage than they first thought and the operation took about two hours instead of one. Basically, the ligament between the two bones was 100% ruptured and the two wires are designed to pull them together while the ligament meshes again. It certainly wasn’t how I wanted to finish my season, but I’m grateful to Mike Hayton for fitting in my operation before he went to host a seminar in the USA yesterday evening. I’ll get back into training as soon as I get home and focus on getting fit for testing for the 2011 World Superbike season.”
Ten Kate has yet to announce who they’ll be fielding as their second rider with several websites betting on the luckless former MotoGP and Moto2 rider Alex de Angelis to replace Max Neukirchner.
WSBK: Leon Haslam released from Alstare Suzuki, heading to BMW
Alstare Suzuki’s team owner Francis Batta has been having problems finding official financial backing from Suzuki all this year and has been very outspoken about the situation, with complaints that his winning team is being deprived of help and funding in favour of Suzuki’s MotoGP team, and may be forced to run just a single rider in next season’s Superbike championship.
Leon Haslam, who is the 2010 WSBK runner-up and paid directly by Batta and not by Suzuki, had a contract option for 2011, pending that the Japanese manufacturer would officially back the team, but with factory still not expressing their intentions, Batta has decided to release Haslam from his contract with this press release:
“Team Alstare hereby informs the international press and media that Leon Haslam has been released from the two-year contract with Team Alstare.
For the past six weeks Team Alstare has been waiting for an answer from its principal partner regarding the
situation for the future of the Team.”
Continue reading: WSBK: Leon Haslam released from Alstare Suzuki, heading to BMW
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