HD coverage from the second round in Portimao, Portugal begins at 11.15am on Sunday 27 with on-site news and analysis before race one gets underway LIVE at 12pm. Race two will be shown at 5pm.

If Eurosport HD is not part of your TV package, British Eurosport 2 will be on hand, showing the Superpole LIVE on Saturday along with live coverage of the Superstock 600 race.

British Eurosport 2 will continue its LIVE coverage of the event on Sunday with six hours of entertainment guaranteed, showing both WSB races live. Anchorman Tony Carter will be joined by fans favourite Neil Hodgson in the studio, ahead of his return to British Superbike racing. They will also be joined by James Haydon.

Motorcycle journalist Tony Carter says the event is a spectacle not to be missed:
“Portimao is one of the best circuits in the world for Superbike racing, all the guys are going to be bashing and racing elbow to elbow. After what we saw at Phillip Island, which not only gave us a pair of terrifically exciting Superbike races, but also Leon Haslam leading the world, Portimao is going to be fantastic!”

Race commentator Jack Burnicle says:

“A man to look out for next weekend will be Xerox Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio, who has an outstanding record – a first and a second – in his two visits to Portimao. But three of the Brits have also performed well here. Jonathan Rea almost won last year and finished twice on the podium, Leon Haslam was third as a wild card in 2008 and Shakey Byrne finished twice fourth last year on his Ducati, only just squeezed off the rostrum in both races.”

I am just hoping for to see more of what we saw in the first round and I am sure that round 2 at Portimao will deliver, whatever the final outcome.

Saturday 27 March
1500-1600 LIVE Superpole on British Eurosport 2
1800-1830 LIVE Superstock 600 on British Eurosport 2

Sunday 28 March
1030-1630 LIVE Superbikes on British Eurosport 2
1115-1200 LIVE Superbike Corner (race build-up) on Eurosport HD
1200-1300 LIVE WSB Race One on Eurosport HD
1700-1730 WSB Race Two on Eurosport HD

Makoto Tamada

Makoto Tamada is returning to the World Superbike series this weekend aboard the Reitwagen BMW at Portimao as a replacement rider for the injured Roland Resch.

The Japanese rider had signed to ride for the Pro Ride Honda squad this season but due to problems with funding the team have yet to begin, giving Tamada a chance to show what he can do for the rival team.

Resch suffered a broken collarbone at the opening round of the championship at Phillip Island, leaving the team with the solo rider Andrew Pitt until former WSB and MotoGP rider confirmed his place.

Tamada began a testing session on the Reitwagen BMW yesterday at the Jerez circuit which continues today before beginning his one-off racing weekend for the team on the 28th March.

Roland Resch - Reitwagen BMW 2010

The Reitwagen BMW rider Roland Resch is unlikely to make the second round of the 2010 World Superbike championship after his free practice accident at Phillip Island in Australia.

Resch broke his collarbone in two places and underwent surgery to have a titanium plate fitted to secure the bones as he recuperates at his home in Austria.

The doctor should be making a decision in the next day or two but Resch has said;

“Of course it hurts to hear that the doctor thinks I won’t be on the bike in Portimao. But it doesn’t make sense either to force an early comeback if I am not 100% fit. The collarbone is broken twice, with a titanium plate and eight screws inserted. That is a quite big deal for my body. This year the grid is too competitive to start too early with a handicap. I want to fully recover before jumping on a bike again. Believe me, it’s not easy to pass on a race, but I am working hard to be back soon.”

Chris Vermeulen - Kawasaki - Phillip Island 2010

Chris Vermeulen now has a race against time to be fit for round two of the World Superbike championship after his spectacular crash in the second race of the day at Phillip Island in Australia.

The Kawasaki rider was thrown and narrowly missed by his own bike, hitting the tyre wall at speed and injuring his right knee in the impact.  After undergoing an MRI scan it was discovered that he had five tears to his ligament, cartilage and muscle which may require an operation.

He’s a quick clip of Vermeulen giving an update of his injury;

February 28                                 Australia                                                               Phillip Island

March 28                                       Portugal                                                               Portimão

April 11                                             Spain                                                                   Valencia (*)

April 25                                          Netherlands                                                           Assen

May 9                                               Italy                                                                          Monza

May 16                                            South Africa                                                          Kyalami

May 31                                            United States                                                        Salt Lake City

June 27                                          San Marino                                                            Misano

July 11                                             Czech Repub.                                                        Brno

August 1                                         Great Britain                                                         Donington Park

September 5                                Germany                                                                  Nürburgring

September 26                              Italy                                                                            Imola (*)/(**)

October 3                                        France                                                                       Magny Cours

(*) = To be confirmed

(**) = Subject to homologation

Shane Byrne

The two-times British Superbike Champion Shane Byrne, has signed a contract to ride for the Althea Ducati team in 2010 alongside Carlos Checa.

Byrne made the switch to the World Superbike series last season riding for the Sterilgarda Ducati team where he finished the year eighth overall.  The British rider came second in the first race at Misano and ended the season with two fourth place finishes at the seasons finale in Portugal.

Byrne’s said;

“I’m extremely happy to say that I will join the Althea Ducati racing team for the 2010 WSB championship.  Genesio Bevilacqua has been fantastic and from my talks with him so far I already understand he is a very serious, enthusiastic and ambitious person.

He has put together a fantastic package that should enable both Carlos and I the opportunity to fight at a very high level so I look forward to this new adventure, remaining on a Ducati motorcycle was very important to me and I think in Team Althea Ducati I’ve found the perfect place, a good bike, a very strong and experienced team mate and an extremely motivated team so I can’t wait to get started!”

Shane Byrne

The World Superbike teams ended their first three-day test session of the season on Sunday at the Parkalgar circuit in Portugal.

On Thursday, the Formula One testing session had to cancelled when extreme weather conditions deemed the track too dangerous with standing water and poor visibility.

The riders faced full wet conditions for the Friday morning slot but the track did begin to dry out for the afternoon, seeing Shane Byrne set the fastest times in both wet and dry sessions on the Sterilgarda Ducati.

Byrne was passed later in the session by Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox and Ben Spies on the Yamaha World superbike, but held the upper hand by the end of the day.

Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus, were on track to swing their legs over the new BMW S1000 RR for the first time, testing alongside a total of 25 other riders at the circuit, all of who went quicker in the drying conditions in the afternoon.

Byrne’s led the timesheets again on the second day of testing, beating the previous track record of Troy Bayliss, and not even on qualifying tyres.  Quite impressive for a privateer in his first full season in World Superbikes.

For the third and final day of testing the dismal weather conditions returned and only two of the riders improved on their times, Troy Corser and Max Biaggi.

All the riders became familiar with the new Superpole qualifying rules on the final day as each of them was given a trial run.

There will now be 20 riders in the qualifying group, which will then be brought down to 16, and then finally to just 8, to determine the pole setter.

The only other main rule changes for this season include a switch to ‘flag-to-flag’, this is where a change of bike is allowed if it rains during the race.

Most of the teams and riders will now move-on to Phillip Island to prepare for the opening round of the World Superbike Championship which starts on 1st March in Australia.

Here are the overall best times for the third day of practice;

Pos – Rider – Team – Best Time

1 – Shane Byrne – Sterilgarda – 1′43.294
2 – Ben Spies – Yamaha World Superbike – 1′43.484
3 – Noriyuki Haga – Ducati Xerox Team – 1′43.487
4 – Tom Sykes – Yamaha World Superbike – 1′43.546
5 – Carlos Checa – HANNspree Ten Kate Honda – 1′43.657
6 – Max Neukirchner – Suzuki Alstare – 1′43.674
7 – Jakub Smrz – Guandalini Racing – 1′43.767
8 – Michel Fabrizio – Ducati Xerox Team – 1′43.951
9 – Jonathan Rea – HANNspree Ten Kate Honda – 1′44.115
10 – Leon Haslam – Stiggy Racing Honda – 1′44.170
11 – Troy Corser – BMW Motorrad Team Alpha R. – 1′44.261
12 – Yukio Kagayama – Suzuki Alstare – 1′44.425
13 – Régis Laconi – DFX Corse – 1′44.546
14 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – Ten Kate Honda Racing – 1′44.610
15 – Broc Parkes – Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. – 1′44.704
16 – Alessandro Polita – Sterilgarda – 1′45.108
17 – Shinya Nakano – Aprilia Racing – 1′45.179
18 – Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing – 1′45.199
19 – Brendan Roberts – Guandalini Racing – 1′45.278
20 – David Salom – Team Pedercini – 1′45.393
21 – Makoto Tamada – Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. – 1′45.446
22 – Gregorio Lavilla – Pro Ride World Superbike – 1′45.672
23 – Tommy Hill – HANNspree Honda Althea – 1′45.679
24 – Luca Scassa – Team Pedercini – 1′45.820
25 – Ruben Xaus – BMW Motorrad Team Alpha R – 1′46.128
26 – Roberto Rolfo – Stiggy Racing Honda – 1′46.916
27 – Vittorio Iannuzzo – Squadra Corse Italia – 1′46.971

March 1             Phillip Island                 Australia

March 14           Doha/Losail                 Qatar

April   5             Valencia                       Spain

April   26           Assen                          Holland

May    10           Monza                          Italy

May    17           Kyalami                        South Africa

May    31           Salt Lake City               USA

June    21          Misano                         San Marino

June    28          Donington Park           Great Britain

July     26          Brno                            Czech Republic

Sep.      6          Nurburgring                Germany

Sep.     27         Imola                          Italy

Oct.       4         Magny Cours              France

Oct.      25        Portimao                    Portugal

World Champion - Troy Bayliss - Portugal 2008

Troy Bayliss ended his career in World Superbikes by winning both races on Sunday in the final round of the championship at Portimao, Portugal.

Race One

Bayliss took the lead on the first lap on the Xerox Ducati and sailed off into the distance.  Michel Fabrizio, team-mate of Bayliss, tried to pass Max Biaggi on the Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati, but collided with the Italian, taking them both into the gravel.

The battle going on behind Bayliss for those other two podium spots, saw some fantastic riding from Troy Corser on the Yamaha Motor Italia, Jonathan Rea on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, Ruben Xaus on the second Sterilgarda Ducati and Cal Crutchlow on the HM Plant Honda.

Rea ran wide on lap five and lost his place, slotting back in the pack in seventh place.  On lap nine, Leon Haslam passed his team-mate Cal Cruchlow, forcing Crutchlow wide which letting Xaus, Noriyuki Haga and Carlos Checa through.

On lap thirteen, Haslam was pushed off track by a forceful Haga, losing his second spot and putting him back to fifth.  Payback time came on lap eighteen when Haga had to retire after developing a mechanical fault on his Yamaha Motor Italia.

Whilst the fight continued to the line for that fourth place between Rea, Gregorio Lavilla, Haslam and Fonsi Nieto, Lavilla on the VentAxia Honda, ran wide on the final corner and finished in sixth place behind Nieto and Rea.

Max Neukirchner on the Alstare Suzuki was another retiree after crashing out while trying to catch the leading group.

Here are the results;

1. Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati Xerox 1098 F08  22 laps
2. Carlos Checa  ESP Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +2.207secs
3. Troy Corser AUS Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1 +6.972secs
4. Jonathan Rea  GBR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +15.228secs
5. Fonsi Nieto ESP Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000  +16.126secs
6. Gregorio Lavilla ESP Ventaxia VK Honda CBR1000RR +18.152secs
7. Leon Haslam  GBR HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR +18.939secs
8. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +20.942secs
9. Ruben Xaus  ESP Sterilgarda Go Eleven 1098 RS08 +32.018secs
10. Regis Laconi  FRA PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX-10R +32.871secs
11. Ayrton Badovini  ITA Team Pedercini ZX-10R  +36.778secs
12. Roberto Rolfo  ITA Hannspree Honda Althea CBR1000RR +36.848secs
13. Shinichi Nakatomi JPN YZF Yamaha YZF-R1  +41.667secs
14. Karl Muggeridge AUS D.F. Racing CBR1000RR  +41.806secs
15. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000  +48.337secs
16. Sebastien Gimbert FRA Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 YZF-R1 +50.295secs
17. Chris Walker  GBR Ventaxia VK Honda CBR1000RR +50.840secs
18. Shuhei Aoyama  JPN Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR +1min 05.928secs
19. Makoto Tamada JPN PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX-10R  +1min 06.813secs
20. David Checa  ESP Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 YZF-R1 +1min 07.007secs
21. Luis Carreira  POR Benimoto Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8  +1 lap

Not Classified

22. Cal Crutchlow  GBR HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR 8 laps completed
23. Noriyuki Haga JPN Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1 17 laps completed
24. Jakub Smrz  CZE Guandalini Racing by Grifo’s 1098 RS08 14 laps completed
25. Tommy Bridewell GBR Team NB Suzuki GSX-R1000 12 laps completed
26. Luca Scassa  ITA D.F. Racing CBR1000RR  10 laps completed
27. Christian Zaiser AUT Grillini PBR Team YZF-R1  89 laps completed
28. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Team Pedercini ZX-10R  7 laps completed
29. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000  5 laps completed
30. Max Biaggi ITA Sterilgarda Go Eleven 1098 RS08 0 laps completed
31. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098 F08  0 laps completed

Race Two

The second race was much like the first for Bayliss, who took the lead from the first lap after passing Xaus and again left a gap no one could close.

Rea, on his debut in World Superbikes, battled with Xaus for the second position and got so close to the Spaniard on lap four that he nearly collided with Xaus’s back wheel, forcing himself to run wide and to lose two places, putting him in fifth.

Noriyuki Haga was running in second place until he was forced to enter the pits to serve a ride-through penalty for a jump start.

Fabrizio started cutting his way through the pack until he was in second place by lap nine, although a challenge by Xaus until he high-sided his Ducati on lap ten.

Carlos Checa narrowly missed the flying Ducati and Xaus but couldn’t keep his machine on the track and lost places with Neukirchner moving into third place.

Haslam passed fourth place man, Troy Corser on lap fourteen and then aimed to take catch up with Neukirchner, finally passing the German on lap twenty to take the final step of the podium.

Here are the results;

1. Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati Xerox 1098 F08  38mins 26.125secs
2. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098 F08  +3.638secs
3. Leon Haslam  GBR HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR +4.356secs
4. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000  +4.983secs
5. Fonsi Nieto ESP Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000  +6.775secs
6. Troy Corser AUS Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1 +7.403secs
7. Carlos Checa  ESP Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +7.578secs
8. Gregorio Lavilla ESP Ventaxia VK Honda CBR1000RR +16.113secs
9. Cal Crutchlow  GBR HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR  +16.284secs
10. Regis Laconi  FRA PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX-10R +16.446secs
11. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +21.633secs
12. Jakub Smrz  CZE Guandalini Racing by Grifo’s 1098 RS08 +22.098secs
13. Max Biaggi ITA Sterilgarda Go Eleven 1098 RS08  +24.089secs
14. Noriyuki Haga JPN Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1  +24.117secs
15. Jonathan Rea  GBR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +31.003secs
16. Ayrton Badovini  ITA Team Pedercini ZX-10R  +31.136secs
17. Shinichi Nakatomi JPN YZF Yamaha YZF-R1  +31.330secs
18. Roberto Rolfo  ITA Hannspree Honda Althea CBR1000RR +32.272secs
19. Chris Walker  GBR Ventaxia VK Honda CBR1000RR +34.049secs
20. Sebastien Gimbert FRA Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 YZF-R1 +35.028secs
21. Karl Muggeridge AUS D.F. Racing CBR1000RR  +41.669secs
22. David Checa  ESP Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 YZF-R1 +44.889secs
23. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000  +47.366secs
24. Makoto Tamada JPN PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX-10R  +48.733secs
25. Tommy Bridewell GBR Team NB Suzuki GSX-R1000  +1min 07.702secs
26. Shuhei Aoyama  JPN Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR +1min 14.242secs
27. Luca Scassa  ITA D.F. Racing CBR1000RR  +1min 34.781secs
28. Luis Carreira  POR Benimoto Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8  +1min 37.326secs
29. Christian Zaiser AUT Grillini PBR Team YZF-R1  +1 lap

Troy Bayliss

Troy Bayliss, on his final race in World Superbikes, took eighth Superpole of the season on the Ducati Xerox in Portugal, setting a time of 1:58.548 seconds.

The rain poured just before the start of the session leading to dreadful racing conditions and the few riders that ventured out took full advantage of the weather before it got worse.

Cal Crutchlow on the HM Plant Honda lines up alongside Bayliss with Jonathan Rea in third for the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda team on his debut.

Max Biaggi on the Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati finished in fourth place for tomorrows final race of the season at the Portimao circuit.

Michel Fabrizio starts the second row in fifth place on the second Ducati Xerox followed by Leon Haslam on the second HM Plant Honda and Troy Corser on the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB.

Ruben Xaus qualified in eighth place for Ducati ahead of Régis Laconi on the Kawasaki and Noriyuki Haga for Yamaha.

Here are the results;

Pos – Rider – Bike – 1st Quali – 2nd Quali – Superpole

17 – Gregorio Lavilla – Honda CBR1000RR – 2′01.750 – 1′45.334
18 – Sébastien Gimbert – Yamaha YZF-R1 – 2′04.094 – 1′45.469
19 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda CBR1000RR – 2′01.332 – 1′45.533
20 – Roberto Rolfo – Honda CBR1000RR – 2′04.410 – 1′45.659
21 – Karl Muggeridge – Honda CBR1000RR – 2′01.923 – 1′45.796
22 – Shinichi Nakatomi – Yamaha YZF-R1 – 2′04.570 – 1′45.803
23 – David Checa – Yamaha YZF-R1 – 2′02.086 – 1′46.010
24 – Shuhei Aoyama – Honda CBR1000RR – 2′03.695 – 1′46.257
25 – Thomas Bridewell – Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8 – 2′04.298 – 1′46.283
26 – Makoto Tamada – Kawasaki ZX-10R – 2′06.495 – 1′46.753
27 – Vittorio Iannuzzo – Kawasaki ZX-10R – 2′09.040 – 1′47.231
28 – Chris Walker – Honda CBR1000RR – 1′58.557 – 1′47.310
29 – Luis Carreira – Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8 – 2′05.322 – 1′47.675
30 – Luca Scassa – Honda CBR1000RR – 2′05.846 – 1′48.898
31 – Christian Zaiser – Yamaha YZF-R1 – 2′04.278 – 1′49.239