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Monday 08 February 2010

ELLISON JOINS SWAN HONDA BSB LINE-UP

Ellison will be racing alongside Stuart Easton in Swan colours for 2010

Former Airwaves Yamaha man James Ellison has signed on the dotted line and will partner Stuart Easton in the Swan Honda British Superbike squad this season.

The Cumbrian was heavily-backed to re-join the outfit he raced with, under Hydrex colours, in 2008 and is looking to go one better than his championship second place last year.

"I’m so grateful to Shaun Muir and SMR for giving me the opportunity to race in BSB this year. I know the whole Swan Honda team have pulled out all the stops to give me this chance to fight for the title," said Ellison.

"It’s been a very difficult winter not knowing if I would be racing, as I was left in a really difficult position at the end of 2009. I knew that if I had any chance of winning the championship it was with this team, so my first phone call was to Shaun when I was left without a ride.

“The team was strong when I was with them in 2008, but they have moved on so much since then. This is all down to their work ethic and solid team structure, which is exactly what I need to go one better in the championship this year.

"I class the team as family and I know the Honda like the back of my hand, so I’m confident we will be strong out of the gates and I am really looking forward to working with my old crew chief Mick Shanley again. I want to thank my fans, friends, family and my wife Sarah for standing by me and always believing in me; I promise I won't let you down this year!"

[Submitted by Scratcher]

Posted by Scratcher on Monday 08 February 2010 - 11:55:27 | Add/Read Comments: 0

Wednesday 03 February 2010

BSB NEW "SHOWDOWN" SCORING SYSTEM FOR 2010

The new system is designed to stop the likes of Camier clearing off into the middle distance

Bosses at British Superbike owners Motorsport Vision have unveiled a new points system which will ensure the 2010 BSN Championship should go down to the wire in 2010.

The championship will be divided into two parts with the main season operating as usual up until the final three rounds when the top six will become "title fighters" and drop their two worst scores for races for which they have qualified and enter "the showdown".

Each title fighter will start the showdown with 500 points, plus additional points for each podium position they have obtained in the Main Season: 3 for a win, 2 for a second, and 1 for a third. These are termed Podium Credits. For example, a rider placed in the top six of the standings at the end of the main season who scored three wins, two seconds and a third would start the showdown phase with 514 points.

"The central concept of the new rule is that there should be a crescendo of competition towards the end of the championship to minimise the chances of anyone securing the title before the final event of the year," said Series Director Stuart Higgs.

"It was also critical that the method of achieving this should be absolutely fair to all competitors and simple to understand. A new format and points scoring system will virtually guarantee that the title will go down to the wire and create a new, thrilling spectacle for television and trackside audiences."

The standard points scoring format from the main season then continues for the showdown, with all points scores from the final seven races counting. All riders outside of the title fighters continue to race for the BSB Riders’ Cup, continuing to add to their points total from the end of the Main Season. This also applies to the new BSB EVO class.

Qualifying has also been tinkered with. The usual knockout system is still in place but the grid for race two will be made from laptimes after race one and similarly from race two to three at the triple headers.

"The new qualifying regulations are sensitive to riders who unfortunately suffer a crash or mechanical failure before the end of the first lap in race one," continued Higgs.

"Their bad fortune is not compounded further as the rider can line up for race two in their race one starting grid position plus eight penalty places, emphasising the necessity for a good initial qualifying position.

"As an example if the rider in pole position for race one crashed on the first lap and was unable to continue, he would start race two from position nine on the third row of the grid."

Well, that's all clear then?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[Submitted by Scratcher]

Posted by Scratcher on Wednesday 03 February 2010 - 09:03:52 | Add/Read Comments: 2

SHAUN MUIR RACING ANNOUNCES NEW TITLE SPONSOR

Shaun Muir's British Superbike team has morphed from Hydrex Honda into Swan Honda after the likeable northerner secured backing from the cigarette paper company.

The team have retained Stuart Easton as number one rider but have yet to announce who will be partnering him in the squad.

“We have had a roller coaster few months, and finally agreeing the partnership with a high profile and iconic brand such as Swan is fantastic news for our team," said Muir.

"Stuart was our number one target for this year and fully deserves his chance with us for a second term. We have identified the areas with the current bike where we can make major improvements and hope to give both our riders a much improved package from that which we finished the 2009 season with.

"We hope to soon complete the signing of our second rider and confirm Swan Honda as serious title challengers for the 2010 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship.”

[Submitted by Scratcher]

Posted by Scratcher on Wednesday 03 February 2010 - 09:03:23 | Add/Read Comments: 2

Tuesday 02 February 2010

McCoy to make MotoGP return

Having lost his ride with Triumph in World Supersport, Gary McCoy is to make a shock return to the MotoGP paddock after agreeing a two-year deal with FB Corse.

FB Corse had planned to field a bike for John Hopkins this season before splitting with the Anglo-American rider last week – stating at the same time that a replacement with ‘proven experience in all major world championship categories’ had already been found.

While the team insisted that the identity of that rider would be made public at a launch in Milan in February, McCoy has now let the cat our of the bag himself by revealing the deal on popular networking site Facebook, where he broke news to his fans.

“I am back in MotoGP!!!” he wrote. “For two years I am going to develop the FB01 bike with your support! I want to thank Andrea Ferrari and Sergio Bertocchi and all the FB Corse Team for giving me the chance to return back to MotoGP.”

The announcement comes at the same time that Hopkins has been confirmed in a race seat with the M4 Suzuki team in AMA Superbikes – a deal which was widely expected to be confirmed following his split with the FB Corse outfit

McCoy last raced in MotoGP back in 2006 with two outings for Illmor, although he was overlooked for a race slot with the team in 2007 when it instead went for Andrew Pitt and Jeremy McWilliams.

Posted by Trev on Tuesday 02 February 2010 - 04:54:35 | Add/Read Comments: 4

Monday 01 February 2010

Checa beats factory Ducatis at Valencia test

New Althea Ducati signing Carlos Checa outpaced factory 1198 star, and 2009 title runner-up Noriyuki Haga, to set the fastest lap time during testing at Valencia on Thursday.

Poor weather ruled out any effective testing on Wednesday, but conditions improved for Thursday, when former Ten Kate Honda rider Checa completed 53 laps of the chilly Spanish circuit.

Checa, a race winner in 500cc and WSBK, set a best lap time of 1min 33.8sec, which was 0.2sec ahead of Haga, 0.3sec ahead of Althea team-mate Shane Byrne and 0.5sec ahead of second factory Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio. BMW riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus are reported to have lapped in the 1min 35s.

The official all-time Valencia WSBK best lap is a 1min 33.270sec set during qualifying for last year's event by Ben Spies, but the race lap record is a 1min 34.618sec, set by Haga on his way to victory in race two of last year.

“I'm happy with my test today,” said Checa. “We have worked very well, despite the cold temperature. We have been focused on working through the set up of the bike to make sure we have everything ready for the beginning of the world championship.

“After Portimao and Valencia test I'm feeling more comfortable on both my bikes. Today we tested some new tyres and different setting and I think we did a really very good job.

“This afternoon I scored the best lap time, that's always something good, but I'm very happy also because I'm sure we are on the right way, ready for the first races at Phillip Island first,” he insisted.

Byrne, who completed 55 laps, is also full of confidence for the season ahead.

“Today was very good,” said the Englishman, who beat his best lap of the 2009 Valencia event - a 1min 34.238sec during Superpole. “I was able to do so many laps and my mechanics worked in a very good way. We pushed hard and I'm very happy with my best lap time and with our work here. I want to thank my mechanics and [team manager] Genesio for giving me a good bike.

“Now we'll go in Phillip Island for some more testing and for the first races of the season. I'm confident because we are in a really strong situation and have a good package to take to Australia,” he added.

“Both our riders performed very well and Carlos was the fastest rider at this test,” confirmed team manager Genesio Bevilacqua. “We are satisfied and now we can go home to get everything ready for the next test in Australia with confidence.

“We'll have some more days of testing in Phillip Island where we'll try some new components that our riders could use in the first races of the world championship,” he revealed.

Posted by Trev on Monday 01 February 2010 - 04:00:41 | Add/Read Comments: 0

Lambretta enter 125cc

The provisional entry list, published by the governing FIM on Wednesday, included two bikes entered by Lambretta Reparto Corse and ridden by Spaniard Luis Salom and Italian Marco Ravaioli.

"It'll be fun to compete with the big boys and see what happens," Lambretta marketing director John Scully told Autosport.

"We're determined to do well and develop winning racing technology that can then be translated into our production machines that will again make Lambretta scooters the most innovative on the market."

The Bologna-based team last year competed as Loncin, a Chinese motorcycle manufacturer.

Posted by Trev on Monday 01 February 2010 - 03:50:42 | Add/Read Comments: 1

Friday 29 January 2010

CADWELL PARK'S BARN CORNER GETS ADDED RUN-OFF

Work at Barn will now give riders an extra safety margin

Cadwell Park's notoriously tight Barn Corner has been the subject of some winter work and now has some extended run-off put in ahead of the circuit's two British Superbike vists in 2010.

The barriers are now five metres from the edge of the track instead of one but it wasn't an easy process as the lake behind the existing armco had to be filled in with 4200-tonnes of hardcore and earth.

“Everyone in our sport knows of the inherent risks but Stuart Higgs, BSB Series Director, and I are always eager to improve safety wherever we can on MSV circuits," said MSVR ringmaster Jonathan Palmer.

"The run-off extension work at Barn Corner was something we had wanted to do and the second Cadwell Park BSB round provided the opportunity to commit to further investment. With our busiest ever calendar in 2010, the changes will also give fans an even better view of the fantastic racing at Cadwell Park.”

[Submitted by Scratcher]

Posted by Scratcher on Friday 29 January 2010 - 12:46:42 | Add/Read Comments: 0

Monday 25 January 2010

PORTIMAO WSB TEST: WE CAN CHALLENGE FOR TITLE - HASLAM

25.01.10
Alstare Suzuki's Leon Haslam reckons he is ready to race and challenge for the 2010 World Superbike Championship after setting the second quickest time at the weekend's Portimao test session.

The former British Superbike front-runner swapped fastest laps with eventual quickest man Jonathan Rea but said he may have been able to have gone faster had he not been held up.

"On the first day of the test, the track was in good condition and my lap times came easy, so I was looking forward to more of the same. But day two started wet and although that put paid to some of our plans, it did allow us to work on finding a good wet set-up and that’s what we did," said Haslam.

"Today, the track felt a bit slippery (probably because of yesterday’s rain) and then the wind picked up in the afternoon, so I couldn’t really make any big improvement on my lap times. Also, I got baulked on my hot lap and lost some time and, if it had not have been for that, I may have just sneaked ahead of Jonathan.

"But the important thing is that I am happy and the team are happy. We got through a lot of things and achieved everything we set out to do. The good work started the first time I rode bike, back in last October and since then we’ve just kept on improving and now I feel we are ready to race.

"This track is an excellent track for testing because it has got a bit of everything and it is also very demanding. I think if you can get a good set-up here (which we have done) it will be a good base for all the other tracks on the calendar. I am really happy with the whole team and I think we’ve got a great all-round package to challenge for the title."

[Submitted by Scratcher]

Posted by Scratcher on Monday 25 January 2010 - 09:11:37 | Add/Read Comments: 0