Eurosport

Motorcycle legend Carl Fogerty has been confirmed as the guest pundit for British Eurosport World Superbike studio at the Assen round of the championship on April 25.

The 44-year-old, four-times World Superbike champion will join Eurosport presenter Tony Carter and the British Superbike rider Josh Brookes for the fourth round of the series for the six hours of live coverage from the Assen circuit.

Nicknamed the ‘King Of Assen’, Fogerty claimed 59 Superbike wins during his career, winning all but two of the Dutch circuit races between 1993 and 1999, with 15 podiums positions out of 16 races.

Every round of the Superbike World Championship is broadcast live on British Eurosport, including qualifying, while the European rounds are also available in high definition on Eurosport HD. The Eurosport Player will simulcast the live action from each round as well as providing extensive on demand coverage.

Saturday 24 April

1400-1500 LIVE Superpole on British Eurosport 2

Sunday 25 April

0930-1535 LIVE WSB Race Day on British Eurosport 2

1800-1830 Race One on Eurosport HD

1830-1900 Race Two on Eurosport HD

British Eurosport is available on Sky (Channel 410) and Virgin Media (Channel 521).

British Eurosport 2 is available on Sky (Channel 411) and Virgin Media (Channel 525).

Eurosport HD is a simulcast of Eurosport International and is available on Sky (Channel 412) and Virgin Media (Channel 522)

British Eurosport channels also available online via Eurosport Player: www.eurosportplayer.co.uk

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BMW will be aware that other manufacturers have entered the WSB series in recent times and have struggled to come to terms with the pace, competitiveness and consistency of World Superbike racing, particularly against the more established teams and existing manufacturers teams.

Carl Fogarty’s attempt at team management with the Foggy Petronas and also the ill fated Benelli teams bear testament to just how competitive this series can be and BMW will need to remain focused throughout the season and use all the luck they can find to reach their goals for the coming season.

BMW riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus are both strong and aggressive racers and would appear to have the makings of a great partnership should the S1000RR be up to the task, the pair finished the three day South Africa test in eleventh and thirteenth places respectively.

BMW are not the only new manufacturer team to be joining the World Superbike 2009 series, the Italian bike maker Aprilia will be returning to the competition with an all new RSV4 superbike that has benefited from extensive testing throughout the last few months of this year.

Aprilia’s rider line up is equally impressive, Max Biaggi was signed up after missing out on retired champion Troy Bayliss’s Xerox Ducati seat to rival Noriyuka Haga. The Italian will no doubt be anxious to at least compete at the same level as the more experienced Ducati team, but may have to be patient during the early rounds.

Joining Biaggi at Aprilia is Shinya Nakano, another rider with Moto GP experience, something that should not be dismissed, as the Aprilia RSV4 is said to be a stiff, more rigid machine than the traditional WSB bikes, resembling more, the characteristics of a Moto GP machine.

In yesterday’s World Superbike news, BMW rider Ruben Xaus said that he could not wait to wait to race with the young British riders Tom Sykes, Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea who join the series for 2009.

Not to mention Shane Byrne of course. What a great season 2009 is set to be!

If you are looking to get away from the noise and revs of World Superbikes, why not chill out by booking a skiing holiday?

Pierfrancesco Chili - Brands Hatch 2006

Former World Superbike rider Pierfrancesco Chili, has been appointed team manager for the Guandalini Racing team.

Chili raced in his first grand prix in 1986 on the Gallini HB Honda 500cc where he stayed for several years before stepping down to the 250cc class in which he finished 3rd overall in 1992.

He changed to the Superbike World Championship in 1995 on a private Ducati and remained with them until 1998 when he moved on to a factory Ducati and came fourth overall.  However, he fell on the last lap at Assen while battling with Carl Fogerty, who was riding for a different factory team, which saw Chili sacked from the team at the end of the year.

He raced for Suzuki in 1999, coming sixth and then in 2000 he again came fourth in the championship.  The next two years were a disappointment with only a seventh and eighth overall finish.

In 2003 he seemed to be back on form despite being nearly 40-years-old, with five third places and one win, and things got even better for the following year for the Ducati PSG-1 team.  There were nine podiums and they finished the championship fifth overall.

In 2005, Chili signed for the Klaffi Honda team alongside the rookie Max Neukirchner, and came tenth overall and in 2006 disaster struck as he suffered a broken pelvis which led to him missing several races.

More recently, Chili has been a commentator for Italian TV but will now concentrate on the job in hand as he manages the Guandalini team whom he has been working alongside for nearly a month.