Leon Haslam - Race One Winner at Phillip Island, Australia 2010

Last weekend saw the first round of the World Superbike Championship of 2010 take place at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia.

Leon Haslam claimed his first ever win in race one at the opening round after crossing the line in a photo finish alongside Italian rider Michel Fabrizio.  Noriyuki Haga followed the pair to take third place followed by Jonathan Rea, Max Biaggi and Sylvain Guintoli in sixth.

Leon Camier, the 2009 British Superbike Champion, finished his debut World Superbike race in eleventh place in his first race after qualifying down in sixteenth place following a fall in the Superpole session.  The British rider fought his way through to seventh place during the race until a mistake as he tussled for fourth place on lap 15 saw him take to the  escape road to avoid a collision.

Leon Camier - Phillip Island, Australia 2010

In an exciting second race of the opening round, Carlos Checa denied Leon Haslam his second win of the day, taking the victory on the final lap.  Checa got off to a poor start but had moved into fifth place by lap eight before picking off the race leaders with only Haslam ahead of him until the last lap of the race.  The Spaniard forced his Althea Racing machine up the inside of the British rider before the last left-hander and holding the lead to cross the line.

Haslam finished in second place followed by Fabrizio in third and Guintoli fourth.  Chris Vermeulen crashed out during the race and was seen following his bike hard into the tyre wall at the entry to Lukey Heights and was taken to the track-side medical centre where he was diagnosed with a badly bruised right leg and a damaged finger.

Carlos Checa - Race Two Winner - Phillip Island, Australia 2010

Here are the results;

Race One

1. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1198 34mins 16.428secs 22 laps
2. Leon Haslam GBR Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.307s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198 +0.434s
4. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.837s
5. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198 +3.453s
6. Jonathan Rea GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +11.530s
7. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +12.068s
8. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +13.782s
9. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +14.401s
10. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +14.707s
11. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +14.743s
12. Shane Byrne GBR Althea Ducati 1198 +14.851s
13. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Ducati 1198 +15.143s
14. Joshua Brookes AUS Echo-CRS Honda CBR1000RR +30.947s
15. Andrew Pitt AUS Reitwagen BMW S1000RR +41.866s

16. Max Neukirchner GER Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +48.844s
17. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR +1min 06.888s
18. Roger Lee Hayden USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 07.761s

Not Classified

19. Matteo Baiocco ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 17 laps completed
20. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 13 laps completed
21. Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 7 laps completed
22. Jakub Smrz CZE PATA B&G Racing Ducati 1198 6 laps completed

Did Not Start

Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR
Roland Resch AUT Reitwagen BMW S1000RR

The seven-strong British challenge will be fronted by two-time former champion James Toseland who returns to the series for Yamaha after two seasons competing in MotoGP. Joining Toseland on the grid will be 2009 British Superbike winner Leon Camier who prepares to make the step up and see if he can replicate his championship winning form on the global stage.

Adding to wealth of British talent in the championship will be World Supersport champion Cal Crutchlow who makes the move to the series and will partner Toseland for Yamaha. The 24-year-old finished third in the 2008 British Superbike Championship, following this up by claiming the Supersport crown in his rookie season last year.

Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Shane Byrne (Althea Racing) and Leon Haslam (Team Suzuki Alstare) will complete the super-seven British line-up.

Once again the championship challenge can be followed on Eurosport and this season they will provide their most comprehensive broadcast package yet with LIVE coverage from every round on British Eurosport, high definition content on Eurosport HD and every race available on demand via the Eurosport Player.

From the second round in Portimao and for every European round of the Championship, viewers can also enjoy coverage in stunning high definition on Eurosport HD. All the action will be streamed LIVE on the Eurosport Player and for the first time, every race will be available as video on demand for those who missed it or simply want to watch again.

TV coverage of the first round of the World Superbike Championship 2010 at Phillip Island starts on February 27th and the scheduled times are as follows:

Saturday 27 Feb
0400-0500 LIVE Superpole qualifying on British Eurosport 2
0900-1000, 1215-1315, 1515-1615 & 2230-2330 Highlights on British Eurosport 2

Sunday 28 Feb
0100-0200 LIVE WSB race one on British Eurosport 2
0230-0330 LIVE World Supersport race on British Eurosport 2
0430-0530 LIVE WSB race two on British Eurosport 2
0900-1130, 1400-1630 & 2000-2230 Highlights on British Eurosport 2

Andrew Pitt - Supersport Champion 2008

Andrew Pitt has signed a two-year deal to ride alongside Roland Resch for the Reitwagen Motorsport BMW team for the 2010 World Superbike Championship.

The double World Supersport champion and former MotoGP rider has been out of the World Superbike series for four-years but is keen to get back in the championship.

Pitt said;

“After four years I’m very happy to be back in World Superbike and excited about riding for such a dedicated and passionate team.  The team also includes plenty of very experienced operators and BMW are obviously serious about the World Superbike program, so I think this is going to be a great thing.

I’m looking forward to the challenge of a new bike.  I’ve been working hard on my fitness and I’m more motivated than ever to have a successful two-years.”

Leon Haslam - Stiggy Honda Racing 2009

It has been confirmed that the Stiggy Honda team will not be taking part in the 2010 season in either the World Superbike  or the World Supersport series due to financial difficulties.

An official team statement read;

‘The Stiggy Racing Honda team has over its five years of participation been very successful, but nevertheless found itself put in a difficult economic situation and has been forced to withdraw from the World Superbike and World Supersport championships in 2010.

The decision has been made after a close evaluation of the team’s poor economic situation, which was created during this year’s expanded venture by participating in both championship classes, a huge financial project that was poorly executed by the team’s investors as a result of failing to fulfil their financial commitments for the 2009 season.

The Stiggy Racing Honda team has since its beginning shown great potential, starting up in 2005 in the Supersport class, slowly building its ground in the championship and year-by-year advancing to finally set a solid mark as a top contender. The team managed its best result in 2008 by finishing third in the Supersport championship with Joshua Brookes.

Being a private team in a championship like Superbike – consisting of seven factory teams – means not only stiff competition on-track but also an immediate financial weakness, making it very difficult to survive without solid financial back-up and support.

Despite financial disadvantages, the team has been able to achieve incredible performances in its Superbike rookie year, debuting the season with a third-place podium finish and repeating another three podium places during the season including eleven top five finishes – giving Leon Haslam the title of best privateer rider in sixth place in the championship. The team ended the year as the fifth-best ranked team in both SSP and SBK classes in 2009.

‘[This was] a magnificent result by everyone involved with the Stiggy Racing Honda team since its beginning – an achievement to be proud of and one that allows it to finish its career with heads held high.’

WSB Valencia 2009

Many of the top World Superbike riders will begin testing today in a two-day test session at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain.

Max Biaggi and Leon Camier will be on track to test the Aprilia Racing team bikes along with the teams test rider Alex Hofmann.

The Moto2 and the World Supersport series are also at the circuit this week, with the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda team hosting a full rider line-up from both the WSB and the WSS classes.  Jonathan Rea, Max Neukirchner, Kenan Sofuoglu and newcomer Michele Pirro will all be on hand to get to grips with the development of their machines.

Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli will also be in attendance for the Suzuki Alstare team after both riders recently took part in a testing session in Australia.

James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow will both be putting their R1 machines through its paces for the Sterilgarda Yamaha team.

It is rumoured that Jakob Smrz will also be at the track to test the Aprilia despite their being no confirmation of a signing between the Guandalini Racing team and Aprilia.

The Althea Ducati team will not be making an appearance at the two-day test session as the riders Carlos Checa and Shane Byrne along with the rest of the team are still working on next seasons bikes after changing from Honda in 2009.

World Superbikes 2009

In 2009 the introduction of the new Superpole format took place aimed at cost cutting to help the financial crisis but for 2010 further changes have now been scheduled.

For the Superbike series there is to be a 14-minute session for Superpole 1, 12-minutes for Superpole 2 and 10-minutes for Superpole 3 but the 7-minute break between each session will continue as before, although the break between the end of free practice and the start of the Superpole sessions has been extended from 15-minutes to 25-minutes.

In Supersport the riders have been given an extra qualifying session to take place on the Friday afternoon at 5pm with the actual race now taking place 5-minutes later than it’s previous slot, starting at 1.30pm.

In the Superstock 1000 series an extra qualifying session has also been added to the Friday afternoon schedule which will take place at 3pm.

The Superstock 600 race will now take place on the Saturday afternoon at 6pm, following the two qualifying sessions and one free practice session.

Leon Camier - BSB Airwaves Yamaha 2009

The 2009 British Superbike champion Leon Camier has been confirmed as the rider to race alongside Max Biaggi for the Aprilia team in the World Superbike series for the 2010 season.

Camier dominated the 2009 season on the Airwaves Yamaha, taking the victory on 19 out of the 26 races and with 22 podium finishes.

The 23-year-old made his debut in the World Superbike series as a wild-card at Donington before replacing the injured rider Shinya Nakano for Aprilia at the Portimao finale where he finished the day with an impressive sixth place in race one and seventh in race two.

Camier will now be riding for the team full-time alongside veteran rider Max Biaggi who finished the 2009 season in fourth place overall.

Broc Parkes - Kawasaki 2009

A new team will be on the grid for the World Superbike Championship of 2010, the Echo CRS Honda team, who have signed their first rider Broc Parkes.

The five-time World Supersport champion, Parkes, finished the 2009 season in 18th place overall for the PBM Kawasaki team, will be riding the former Stiggy Honda CBR1000RR machine.

The team from Varese in Italy have had an uncompetitive year in the World Supersport series and have decided to make the step-up to the WSB series.

Although there is no final confirmation, the rumours are that Ryuichi Kiyonari is expected to fill the second seat for the team on their debut into World Superbikes.

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

World Superbikes - Brno 2009

According to reports Yoshimura Suzuki will not be taking part in the MFJ National series for 2010 and have instead opted to race in the World Superbike series.

Although it has been said that Suzuki team would not be taking part in the Japan Superbike series, the team intend to continue with their current American racing program involving Tommy Hayden and Blake Young.

At a meeting last week, Yoshimura said that the decision by the company to withdraw from the Japanese series was entirely down to the dissatisfaction with the direction of the Japanese Superbike series, and is independent of the events going on in the DMG-run AMA Pro series – despite their apparent similarity.