Showing posts with label World Superbike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Superbike. Show all posts

Chris Vermeulen back on track in Kawasaki test

Kawasaki were the first of the World Superbike teams to get on the track in 2011 with a planned four day testing at Sepang where they will hope to iron out any problems with the new ZX10R.

Among the riders taken to Malaysia for the test outing was Chris Vermeulen, taking his first ride aboard a race spec bike since undergoing surgery on a knee injury sustained in the opening round of the 2010 season almost a year ago.

Vermeulen had the surgery later in the season in July 2010 and has spent the last six months recuperating, he said that he has only started walking in the last three weeks.

His test ride aboard the Kawasaki ZX10R cheered the rider no end, although rain hampered his progress during the afternoon and he will be looking forward to further testing today.

Pleased with his first impressions of the Kawasaki Vermeulen admitted that his knee still has some way to go before full recovery saying that although it had improved a lot over the last couple of weeks, he cannot bend the knee enough at present on right hand corners.

Kawasaki team mates Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz were also on track in Sepang during the private testing, ahead of the official first test in Portugal at the Portimao circuit on January 26th.

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Castrol Honda return to World Superbike

The official Castrol Honda launch took place in Berkshire this week at the Castrol Technology Centre, giving the media their first chance to see the Honda in its iconic Castrol livery.

The Castrol Honda team will be run by Ten Kate Honda and their riders for the upcoming 2011 season have been long announced as Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus.

The team and riders are currently in Aragon putting the new machine through its paces and checking out the new chassis components as well as evaluating the new electronics on the Honda.

It is eight years since the Castrol Honda livery was last seen in World Superbike, back in 2002 when Jonathan Rea was still a schoolboy and he remembers rushing home from a motocross competition to watch Colin Edwards beat Troy Bayliss at Imola that season in which Edwards won the World Superbike Championship.

The young rider will be hoping some of that magic rubs off for him this season, he has after all already shown that he has the potential to reach the top at this most competitive level of motorcycle racing.

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BMW riders, manager unsatisfied with ‘weak performance’

BMW has vowed to recover from a disappointing World Superbike round at Miller Motorsports Park after both Leon Haslam and Troy Corser struggled to maintain a consistent race pace.

The manufacturer had been expected to challenge towards the front of the field prior to the weekend, but while Troy Corser qualified in sixth position and led initially after a fast start, both he and Haslam couldn't sustain their form to the chequered flag.

Indeed, while Corser led until lap six, he faded dramatically with tyre problems to finish in 13th, while Haslam was left a disgruntled eighth. The pair fared no better in race two, Corser falling after clipping a kerb at Attitude, while Haslam crossed the line 13th.

Tellingly, BMW's top representative in both races was its satellite Italia rider Ayrton Badovini, who managed sixth and ninth place finishes. It is form that BMW Motorsport Director Bernhard Gobmeier was not pleased with.

“This was a very disappointing weekend,” he said. “We cannot be satisfied with results like these. We ended up way behind our own expectations. We now have to analyse the reasons for our weak performance. We have to and we will work hard to perform better soon.”

Indeed, Haslam was keen to draw a line under a weekend in which he struggled for form throughout, particularly in the dry.

“This was a race weekend to forget. We have identified some issues, and we have to solve these. I am confident the entire team will work hard to take us further up the order soon. We need to go away from here and regroup if we want to be strong for the next races. We must now look to move forward with the bike.”

Interestingly, despite his struggles, Haslam has actually gained a place in the overall standings at the expense of Jonathan Rea in fifth place. However, he leads a close group of five riders, with just 12 points covering him down to Jakub Smrz in ninth. Troy Corser, meanwhile, is down to 14th.

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Melandri 'didn't expect' front row start

Though he is already a winner at World Superbike level, Marco Melandri notched up another milestone in his burgeoning Yamaha career by claiming a maiden front row start at Miller Motorsports Park.

His first visit to the American circuit, Melandri shrugged off his inexperience and the wet conditions to make steady improvements over the course of Superpole, snatching the third fastest time with his final effort.

Only the second time he has out-qualified Yamaha team-mate Eugene Laverty, who starts alongside him in fourth place, Melandri was pleased – and surprised – to be as high as third.

“I actually didn't expect to secure a front row place. I'm really happy and I want to thank the team for their hard work over the weekend. [The first day] didn't go as well as I'd have hoped and the morning was also very difficult in the heavy rain.

“We changed the set up and made great progress before this afternoon. I don't know what the weather will be like in the races and a lot depends on that. I'm really pleased with today but tomorrow could be another story. I hope luck will be on my side!”

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Checa splashes to another Miller pole

Carlos Checa has taken his fourth World Superbike pole position of the season at Miller Motorsports Park after a last gasp lap sneaked him ahead of Jakub Smrz in the dying moments of the session.

Though the Spaniard had been the favourite to secure the top spot following his dominant turn during FP1 and Q1, the arrival of rain proved something of a leveller throughout the three qualifying phases.

Nonetheless, the battle for pole position would eventually come down to Checa and Smrz, the pair capitalising on the improving track conditions to trade fastest laps with every lap attempt. As it happens, Smrz's effort of 1min 58.390secs looked good enough to secure a second-career pole position as Checa fell short in three of the four sectors.

However, a determined push in the final sector would prove crucial for Checa, the Althea Ducati man denying his Effenbert-Liberty counterpart by less than a tenth of a second.

As lap times improved with every revolution, those crossing the line last fared better on the timesheets, with Marco Melandri pushing up into third position for his first front row start in Superbikes.

Monza double winner Eugene Laverty made it two Yamahas on the front row in fourth after another fine qualifying performance, the Irishman getting the chance to start up top for the third race in succession.

Sylvain Guintoli made his first appearance inside the top eight shootout since the Phillip Island season opener, the Frenchman completing a good day for Effenbert-Liberty Ducati by claiming fifth on the grid.

Troy Corser starts in sixth place, the Australian getting somewhat bottled up behind Max Biaggi during the final qualifying phase but holding on to out-qualify the Italian.

Indeed, the reigning champion endured a rather frustrating SP3 session as he ran off track on his final flying lap, Biaggi rather clumsily dropping the RSV-4 at low speed as he struggled to find grip on the very muddy infield.

Ayrton Badovini joins him on the second row, the impressive Italian cracking SP3 for the first time in his career aboard the satellite BMW Italia.

Elsewhere, there was disappointment for the British contingent as Tom Sykes bowed out of SP2 in tenth place, while Leon Camier and Leon Haslam were in the wars in 11th and 12th.

Camier had looked a favourite for pole position having topped both of the day's wet sessions, but a dramatic high-side in SP1 left him on the back foot. Though he recovered to the pit lane to jump on his spare bike, it was only good enough to scrape into SP2, before settling for 11th. Haslam, meanwhile, took a tumble to leave himself in 12th.

Jonathan Rea, who tested at Miller Motorsports Park prior to this event, was also left disappointed in 13th after being bumped down towards the end of SP1, the Castrol Honda rider joined by his team-mate Ruben Xaus and Monza podium winner Michel Fabrizio.

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BMW continue down under testing

After last week's test in Eastern Creek, BMW Motorrad factory riders Troy Corser and Leon Haslam travelled to Phillip Island to continue preparation for the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship with two more test days. Weather conditions again were very hot, especially on the first day, with air temperatures up to 35 degrees Celsius and track temperatures up to 55 degrees Celsius. On the second day it was cooler but still dry. The team completed a total of 1.090 testing kilometers.

Corser had a fall on the first of the two test days. He was not seriously injured but as he suffered some painful bruises, he and the team decided that he would not ride on the second day. With Leon the team went through an extensive testing programme and his results showed that everything is heading in the right direction.

"We were still focusing on electronics and worked on a setup for this race track," declared Haslam. "This was important as in three weeks time we are going to have our first races of the season here. We have already found a good base to work on. I am happy; we made some good progress. My lap times were quite good for these hot conditions. Of course we still have some work to do before the season starts but I am happy with the progress we made so far. The bike improved a lot in the last month. I am now travelling to Brisbane with my wife and my trainer. We are going to spend two weeks training there before flying back to Phillip Island for the official test and the season opener. I am already looking forward to race again at last. We now don't have long to wait until we will find out where everybody stands."

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Supersonic launches new rider and livery

The Supersonic Racing Team, which will field Maxime Berger in the 2011 Superbike World Championship, had its official launch recently at the Bodadilla Club, Dalmine in Italy.

The evening was attended by a large number of members of the public, including famous personalities from the world of sports and entertainment. The attention at the evening was focused on Danilo Soncini, founder and owner of the team and the new rider for 2011, Maxime Berger. Soncini started with a brief history of his team, and explained after the reasons that led to choice Maxime Berger: "He is an experienced and young rider, young just like the team."

Berger thanked Danilo Soncini for fulfilling his dream to race in the Superbike World Championship. "It will be soon my first World Superbike race," said Maxime, "it is our goal to always get some points in the top ten, but I have to learn many things to exploit the full potential of my Ducati."

Then, Berger and Soncini removed the covers from the machine and showed the new livery in red, black and white colours, with the grey fuel tank.

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Checa tops latest session at rainy Portimao

Carlos Checa has topped the third World Superbike test session of the week at Portimao, though only eight competitors would make it out onto the wet track.

With the Superbikes first on track today [Thursday], not a single rider would venture onto the circuit until Eugene Laverty made a tentative first outing once an hour on the timing screens had passed.

The Irishman would prove the busiest rider of the session by completing 20 laps, though it would be Checa who would come out fastest with a 1min 56.162secs – almost 13secs slower than was achieved in the dry yesterday. Laverty was second quickest, a further two seconds down.

A flurry of activity in the final half hour brought a total of eight riders onto the circuit, with Noriyuki Haga proving third fastest, ahead of BMW Italia duo Ayrton Badovini and James Toseland.

Michel Fabrizio, Marco Melandri and Maxime Berger were the only other participants, as Aprilia, Kawasaki, Effenbert Ducati and Castrol Honda all deciding to stay dry in the pit garage.

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Xaus keeps Castrol Honda in charge

Ruben Xaus kept Castrol Honda at the top of the World Superbike timesheets during the fifth of six test sessions at Portimao, though poor weather conditions continued to hamper proceedings.

Following rain earlier in the morning, chilly temperatures prevented the circuit from drying effectively, with a short period towards the end of the session proving the only realistic opportunity to set a representative lap time.

Only Xaus and Michel Fabrizio took the chance, Xaus slashing seconds off a previous best set by Sylvain Guintoli to come out with a 1min 47.065secs. Fabrizio was a second further back on his Suzuki, but then six seconds ahead of Marco Melandri – who ventured out for just two laps right at the end of the session – in third.

Guintoli was fourth fastest, ahead of Ducati counterpart Carlos Checa, while Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz put in some useful laps for Kawasaki in sixth and seventh.

All but Eugene Laverty and Max Biaggi made it out onto the circuit, though most for only for a brief time, with Jonathan Rea, Noriyuki Haga and Ayrton Badovini completing the top ten.

With just a single day of dry mileage under their belts, the riders now have just one more session to come this afternoon.

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Australia Superbike Test Yamaha Wrap Up

Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri completed their three--day test at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia on Thursday.

The two new signings for the 2011 World Superbike season spent the three days testing out various parts including new Ohlins (TRVP25) front forks on both the 2010 and 2011 Yamaha racebike.

A large part of the test for both riders, particularly Melandri, included ongoing physical modifications to the YZF-R1 superbike to fit their riding style, adjusting foot pegs, handlebars and other geometry settings.

The Yamaha Superbike team enjoyed good weather, sunshine and a dry track for the first two days of the World Superbike test with rain only appearing in the last minutes of day two.

The third and final day saw more sunshine with rain only at lunchtime and towards the end of the day's sessions.

The 2011 superbike tested by the riders featured a revised weight balance, the new Ohlins forks, new engine performance parts and a different seat and fuel tank design. The bike also features standard fuel injectors and fuel pump in line with the 2011 racing regulations.

Laverty was clearly enjoying his third outing on the R1, having been impressively quick in the first two tests, he was again fast from the off, leaving Australia as the fastest rider of the test with a blistering 1'31.5 lap on soft race tires at the end of day three, over half a second faster than closest rider, 2010 World Superbike Champion Max Biaggi.

Laverty also spent some time on race simulation, putting in consistently fast race pace laps.

Following his one-day superbike test in Valencia last month this was Marco Melandri's first proper opportunity to work through some set up developments on his new Yamaha R1 racebike.

The Italian Yamaha rider improved steadily over the test days, making steps each day as the team continued to modify the physical set up of the bike to suit him.

Day three saw him record a 1'32.4 lap on race tyres. Melandri also took the opportunity in the rain to experience his bike on Pirelli wet tires. The team now have valuable data to take away to work over the winter to make further changes to suit the new riders in advance of the first test of 2011 next year.

Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team, 232 laps, Best Lap 1'31.5) says: "I'm pretty pleased with the test, it's a nice way to go into the winter break. In the three days we got a lot of laps done, the second day especially was big breakthrough."

"So far we've had two one day tests so the second day here was where we really made the bike mine. The race times on the 2011 machine weren't so far away from 2010 bike so we're developing in the right direction. The new Ohlins front fork is definitely an improvement. I'm still learning this bike so we are fine tuning it as we go."

Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team, 216 laps, Best Lap 1'32.4) says: "It was a good test in the end, the three days were very intensive. It was quite challenging at first working on the 2011 Yamaha machine but during the second day we started to find a way and then third day we found a big improvement and found a good pace for the race."

"The rain meant we couldn't find a good lap time with a soft tire but for me that wasn't what was important here. The difference between a MotoGP bike and a superbike on this track are huge, the bike moves a lot more so the faster corners are very different but step by step it's getting better and better."

"The feeling is very good, I'm very happy. The track is a difficult track so we have done well and I think we can be very strong for the first race here next year."

Andrea Dosoli (Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager) "These were three very important days for us, after the shakedown of the new bike in Valencia here we had the chance to work on it in more detail."

"We have confirmed that the new bike is pretty good with high potential. We are pleased that it can keep consistent lap times during race simulation. For this we are quite happy as on this track in the past we have struggled."

"Eugene was very fast from the beginning in all three days and had a good feeling working on both bikes. Marco has been working hard, mainly on the 2011 bike. He has been working on rider position; there are still some areas we have to improve for him to be more comfortable on the bike."

"He was very consistent with race pace although he didn't have time to try a flying lap. After the first two days he struggled a bit with setup then today he found a good one that worked for him and was comfortable so the lap times improved. Overall the Yamaha test was very positive and we are confident we have a good base for the Philip Island race."

Final World Superbike Test Times, Phillip Island:
Eugene Laverty (Yamaha Sterilgarda) 01'31.5
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) 01'32.1
Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) 01'32.4
Marco Melandri (Yamaha Sterilgarda) 01'32.4

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Ruben Xaus to join Ten Kate Honda?

By Michael Guy

Spaniard Ruben Xaus is set to become the second rider in the Ten Kate Honda WSB team to ride alongside Brit Jonathan Rea in 2011. The 32 year old Spaniard is reported to have signed a deal this week that will see campaign the proven CBR1000RR.

Xaus, an 11 time WSB race winner and former title contender has had two tough seasons riding for the factory BMW squad alongside Troy Corser where he secured a best result of fifth. He last won a race in 2008 onboard the Sterilgarda Ducati at Misano.

Over recent weeks Ten Kate’s second rider has been the subject of endless speculation. The Dutch team were initially targeting former WSB champion James Toseland, but missed out on the chance to sign him when he elected to ride for the new BMW Motorrad Italia team.
Former MotoGP rider and current Moto2 man Alex De Angelis was also inline for the ride, but he has now confirmed that he will be staying in Moto2.

The Dutch team are expected to test at Portimao at the end of the month which will be Rea’s first ride back since undergoing surgery on his wrist he broke in Imola. It will also be Xaus’ first opportunity to acquaint himself with the Honda.

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Melandri on the pace in Valencia

By Michael Guy

Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty concluded a successful one-day test at Valencia today with the Italian posting impressive lap times during his first ever ride on a Superbike.

Riding a black and white factory Yamaha R1 the 28 year old Italian set a competitive 1.34.5 on a race tyre before posting a fast 133.9 on a qualifier.

Melandri has spent his career racing prototypes having graduated from 125GP to 250GP and into MotoGP in a career that has already spanned 13 years. But despite having no racing experience on a production bike or Pirelli tyres he demonstrated an impressive pace.

Laverty spent the test riding a 2010 bike and a new 2011 R1 and set a 1.34.9 after making set-up changes to improve rear grip around the second gear constant radios corners of Valencia.

Speaking to MCN, Laverty said: “It’s been another good test. After riding the bike at Magny Cours I knew it was good so we didn’t want to go too far away from that.

“We did dome good work with the 2011 bike. It’s not a major difference to the 2010 bike and we spent the day calibrating the electronics so that when we get to Phillip Island for our test we’re going to be ready to go.”

For full insight into the test see MCN out Wednesday 17th November.

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Vemeulen Injury Update

Chris Vermeulen is on schedule to take part in his first test of the 2011 Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R at Sepang in January, but he still faces the prospect of a few more weeks on crutches before the World Superbike test.

Having suffered extensive knee damage in a Superbike crash at Phillip Island, and then having an operation to repair cartilage and ligament damage mid-season. Vermeulen has not ridden since Brno in July, and he remains on crutches at present.

He had hoped to be off them last week, but his specialist has advised him to wait a while longer, as it will help with his ultimate recovery. Vermeulen headed to the sun in Australia last weekend to continue his path back to full fitness.

Chris Vermeulen says: "Everything is good, but I am still on crutches, which is driving me nuts! The real safe time for this kind of recovery is five months, so I have about a month left to run. The Doctors know what they are doing with it and I asked them if I would still be OK to ride the superbike in January."

"He is confident with that. It will not be easy, but I will not do any damage by riding the bike in January. After my last bit of physio in Barcelona this week we will be going to the UK to visit the team's workshop, then we will go and see Toni's parents and then we head off to Australia."

Vermeulen was a more than interested visitor at the recent Aragon World Superbike tests, watching Tom Sykes and Katsuaki Fujiwara put the new Kawasaki ZX-10R through its paces around the Spanish circuit.

Chris Vermeulen says: "The new bike looks good on track. Tom and Katsuaki have completely different riding styles but they were both going well on the bike, so that is good news all round."

Vermeulen will be part of a three rider official Kawasaki Superbike push in 2011, with Joan Lascorz joining Sykes and Vermeulen.

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Max Biaggi takes World Superbike title

After 13 years from his last title in MotoGP, Max Biaggi won another championship title in completely different world - World Superbike championship. It took four year in World Superbikes for Max Biaggi to find right conditions and win the title, once again with Aprilia, manufacturer with whom he also made his greatest achievements in MotoGP championship.

Consistency was the key to success of Max Biaggi, as he won 9 of total 24 races in 2010, with addition of two second and two third places. Combined with lack of consistency of his competitors, this brought World Superbike championship title to Max Biaggi with two races remaining (one round), even with his worst result of the season - 11th place in race 1 and 5th place in race 2 in Imola.

Last round of the World Superbike championship will take place in Magny Cours circuit in France and will be the chance for Max Biaggi to seal Manufacturers title for Aprilia, which would be complete success for Italian team.

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Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Riders Wrap a Successful Test in Valencia

The all British line up of Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland wrapped up a successful final day of testing in Valencia this afternoon. Both Crutchlow and Toseland had spent the two day test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit working through electronic and chassis settings on their R1 superbikes ahead of the 2010 season next year.

Day two saw big improvements from both riders as the times came down, covering some 60 laps each, despite neither of them getting the opportunity to take advantage of the faster tyres towards the end of the day. They will now head home for Christmas before joining up with their new team again in Portugal in January for the first test of 2010 at the Portimao circuit in the Algarve.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1'34.0)
"Today was even better than the first day, we worked through a lot more settings in the sessions. I'm disappointed with my final time though as I think I could have been fastest at the end of the day but I didn't get a chance to use the fastest tyre. I'm happy enough with my overall pace and consistency. We've still more to do so I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike in January and keeping up the development."

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1'34.3)
"A really encouraging test for me, again I'm happy being on a track I know so I can concentrate on the bike set up. I feel we've come on quite a bit with the bike over the last two days. I didn't utilize the quick tyre to its full potential as I got held up which is a shame as I was quite confident of getting into the 33s. I ended up on 34.3, which was a good pace. I'm getting used to the way of riding the bike and getting confident with the team as well. I think if we had a race tomorrow we'd be in with a shout!"

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
"For the second test for both riders and last test of the season I'm very satisfied. We've made some good improvements to the feel of the electronics and suspension, with some very useful feedback from the riders. We'll take a break now and come back to it in January in Portimao and I think we will achieve even more."

Source: http://www.yamaha-motor.ca
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WSB Qatar: Haga and Spies Open Points Gap

By Mike Nicks

Noriyuki Haga and Ben Spies look like making the battle for the 2009 World Superbike Championship a two-man shootout after both edged away from rivals in today’s two races in Qatar.

Haga holds onto the lead with 85 points after having to accept two second places on his Ducati Xerox. But Spies has closed the gap to just ten points after his two victories on the Yamaha R1.

The 33-year-old Haga visibly looked dejected as he climbed from his bike at the end of a hot day’s work in the desert, and said later: “Ben is ten years younger than me, and that’s why I lose.”

It was difficult to know whether the Japanese rider was joking or being serious, but it must be irksome to Haga to know that he abandoned the Yamaha ride just before their devastating new R1 engine arrived, and when the factory appears to have solved its previous tyre wear problems.

“In the first race we lacked a bit of acceleration, but I put my head down in race two and tried to close up and keep the same rhythm going,”

Spies said. “I just put my head down for ten fast laps and was able to open up a gap.”
 

Max Neukirchner holds third place in the championship table on his Alstare Suzuki with 40 points, but Max Biaggi is now close behind him with 38 points on the Aprilia, and Britons Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes hold fifth and sixth places. 

Source: http://www.motorcyclenews.com

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Nakano jumps forward during 'excellent weekend'

Former 250, 500 and MotoGP star Shinya Nakano claimed a fourth place finish in only his second WSBK event, in Qatar race one on Saturday.

While team-mate Max Biaggi grabbed the Aprilia headlines with a double podium at Losail, rookie Nakano showed excellent potential by finishing one place behind the Roman in the first outing.

''I am satisfied,” said Nakano after race one. “It is only my second WSBK event and already I've got a good result. I got away well at the start and remained in the lead group for the first half of the race, then they broke away so I just concentrated on defending my fourth position. Checa finally overtook me during the last few turns, but he made a mistake and I was able to get the place back.”

The second race saw Nakano once again get a good start, only to lose ground after contact. A fight-back brought the Japanese up to sixth, but the position was snatched from him by Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner right at the line.

Nevertheless, Nakano finished an improved 9.5sec behind race winner Ben Spies - compared with 12sec in race one - and was also two seconds closer to team-mate Biaggi.

''I got a good start again but after a few corners I made contact with another rider and lost ground,” explained Shinya, who had qualified in sixth. “I had to push very hard to recover. I managed to get up to sixth place, but I had lost touch with the leaders.

“Towards the end Neukirchner caught up with me and we had a duel right to the line, which he won by just a few centimeters. But it's been an excellent weekend, we have improved a lot since Phillip Island and Biaggi showed the potential of the RSV4.

“Now we go to Valencia, where I made my debut on the bike, although the bike has changed so much since then that I don't think I'll have much of an advantage.”

Nakano had finished 15th and 12th on his WSBK debut at Phillip Island.

Source:
http://www.crash.net
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Triumph Team Edging Closer To The Top Slot

Honda and Yamaha are the long-term powers in World Supersport racing but Garry McCoy and Gianluca Nannelli from the Triumph Team ParkinGo Be1 Racing squad are all set to challenge for honours this season.

McCoy had a fantastic ride from 20th place on lap 1 of the recent Losail race to an eventual ninth, consistently lapping inside the leading riders' average pace of 2'03.

Had McCoy not been involved in a first lap melee he could well have challenged for a podium finish, rather than leading a three rider group home in seventh place, 9.5 seconds from the win. Nannelli had an even more interrupted Losail race and finished 19th, losing ten seconds and five places on the final lap.

Said McCoy after his Losail experience, "I'm very satisfied with today's race but not with the result. I finished the race at only nine seconds from the winner and I know I could have fought for the podium if I hadn't been hit at the first corner. We're getting better and better and I'm confident that very soon we'll have great results. After today's result I'm sure we're going to score a podium in the near future."

Source: http://www.worldsbk.com
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Hopkins joins Stiggy Racing Honda

John Hopkins will become the second American rider in this year's Superbike World Championship when he lines up for the Stiggy Racing Honda team at the third round in Valencia on April 5th.

Hopkins, who was due to race for the Kawasaki MotoGP team this season before the change in the Japanese manufacturer's plans at the start of the year, replaces Italian Roberto Rolfo alongside Leon Haslam in the Swedish-based team.

The 25 year-old from Ramona in southern California finished fourth in the 2007 MotoGP championship with four podiums to his name on a factory Suzuki, before joining Kawasaki in 2008.

Hopkins is now fully focused on the rest of the 2009 season and is looking forward to making his World Superbike debut in Valencia.

Source:
http://www.worldsbk.com

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WSB season ready for kick off

A record 12 riders attended the Phillip Island pre season press conference today in preparation for the season kick-off tomorrow.

WSB organisers historically invite four or five riders on stage to talk about the weekend ahead and their title aspirations.

With so many fast riders in 2009, organisers were spoilt for choice on who to invite meaning the stage full.

Established WSB stars Noriyuki Haga, Max Biaggi, and Troy Corser were joined by WSB rookies Ben Spies, Shane Byrne and Jonathan Rea. Also in attendance were title contenders Max Neukirchner and Carlos Checa.

Such is the strength of the 2009 WSB rider line-up that there wasn’t enough room on stage for some of WSB’s fastest men.

Xerox Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio and three time WSB race winner Ryuichi Kiyonari weren’t invited to attend with factory Aprilia man Shinya Nakano and Britain’s Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam also absent.

First WSB practice starts at 10.30Xam local time (GMT +11) on Friday 27th March.

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