WORLDSBK.COM - bis 22.03.2010

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With the first European-based round of the 2010 SBK season arriving at Portimao on 28 March, the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and Superstock 600 European Championship classes will soon get underway, with strong entries confirmed in each category.

Populated by relatively young riders, and using machines which are very close to standard production models, these classes will once again run alongside the Superbike World Championship and Supersport World Championship categories at every one of the ten European-based rounds of the overall SBK series.

In the 1000cc class some exciting new machines enter the fray, including the BMW S1000RR and KTM 1198RC8 R. There will be 32 regular riders representing no less than eight different manufacturers in 2010 - Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, KTM, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. Given the strict rules of the class, each machine should be capable of running at the front. Last year three manufacturers won races, with five scoring podiums of some kind.

The 600 Superstock class features four different manufacturers - Honda, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha - with a regular entry of 19 riders coming from nine different countries.

In the Superstock 1000 class Ayrton Badovini joins Daniele Beretta in the BMW Motorrad Italia STK Team, and there will be seven riders on BMW machinery in total, making the S1000RR a popular choice in its first year in Superstock.

As well as some established names there will be new threats aplenty in the Superstock categories, each of which has provided major career steps for some top riders in the SBK and WSS classes.

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2009 European Superstock 600 Champion Gino Rea took his first steps into the Supersport World Championship at the season-opener last month in Australia.

Gino, from Epsom in England, is the latest in a line of Superstock riders to prove himself worthy of a promotion to a higher profile category inside the SBK paddock. He was tenth at Phillip Island, but even in his first ever WSS weekend he felt that an even better result was possible.

"I was frustrated more than excited by my first WSS race," said Rea. "I thought I had the pace to run with the group in front and I felt I should have gone a bit earlier." Rea was only seven seconds from a top six finish.

It is testimony to Rea and his Intermoto Czech team that even in their first race weekend together a complete WSS rookie like Rea still finished with a strong points score. But that was not quite enough for Gino, who has become so used to competing for podiums in Superstock racing.

"Tenth was not a bad position for my first WSS race but when you know you could have had a top six, it was frustrating," said Rea. "The good thing is that once we get the chassis set-up how we want it, I know we can be more competitive."

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Eurosport International and Italian network La7 will broadcast the presentation of Triumph and ParkinGO's race programmes for 2010.

The two networks will air the event, starting on Wednesday March 17th, with a press conference launching the Triumph ParkinGO European Series and Factory Team Triumph ParkinGO BE1, recently returned from the Australian WSS round.

Journalists from the most important motorcycle publications will attend the event. At Valencia, they will have the opportunity to test both standard and Supersport Daytona 675 and the Street Triple R, machine that will be used in the Triumph ParkinGO European Series. The challenge will start on the 11th of April at the Valencia circuit.

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After a great pre-season and pre-race test at Phillip Island things went off the rails for Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) at the opening round of the year, as two crashes (one in first qualifying and one in warm-up) badly beat up the English rider and naturally held back his raceday performances. He was to finish only 14th and 12th, having been second fastest in testing, and top four after first qualifying.

The upside, three weeks after the opening weekend ‘down under', is that there was no lasting damage to his body, and he is not only raring to go at Portimao, he is determined to make good ground at all the rest of the races in 2010. "The only thing I wanted was for the second race of the year to come along the week after Phillip Island. I just couldn't go fast after my crashes but now I need to get to Portimao, Valencia, Assen - all the other rounds. It is not about being fast at one track. I really like Portimao but I don't just want to go well, there, I want to be on the podium there, at Valencia, at Assen, and all the other places."

Byrne knows that his lack of raceday pace was simply due to being beaten up from his fall, and knows that injury free his weekend could have been different. His team-mate Carlos Checa won race two, after all. "All through testing and early practice we showed we had the speed. But I just feel disappointed for Genesio Bevilacqua, the team owner, because he put a lot of faith in me giving me that ride in 2010. I really wanted to be Carlos at Phillip Island, and be the one giving Genesio the podiums!"

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The new Team 06 Suzuki, which will be competing in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, was presented today in the splendid setting of the Imperial Forums of Rome along with their talented new driver rider Davide Giugliano.

Team 06 can count on the backing of the council of Rome and the official support of Suzuki Italy and the Piacentini Moto showroom. Mr Vannini, President of the Commission of Tourism for the Council of Rome, was there to wish the team who will be showcasing the colours of the city of Rome in all the major European circuits, all the best not only from himself but also from Majyor Alemanno.

Also present were the President of Suzuki Italy, Mr Ito and Paolo Ciabatti, General Manager of the FIM Superbike World Championship, as well as press and media representatives.

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According to a team press release, former Supersport World Champion Sebastien Charpentier has left the Triumph BE1 Racing Supersport World Championship team with immediate effect.

The Frenchman joined the Triumph squad following a two-year sabbatical from the sport but has decided to withdraw from the championship after failing to demonstrate the pace which made him a two-time champion in the opening round of the season at Phillip Island in Australia.

Following Charpentier's decision to leave Triumph BE1 Racing, the squad has engaged the services of fellow French rider Matthieu Lagrive (seen in the photo). The 30-year-old from Lisieux is an experienced Supersport campaigner with 72 starts in the class, with two pole positions and a best finish of third place to his name.

Lagrive will experience the three-cylinder Triumph Daytona 675 for the first time when he tests with team-mates Chaz Davies, Jason DiSalvo and David Salom at Valencia and will make his race debut in round two of the championship in Portimao, Portugal on March 28.

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Andrew Pitt is a rider who knows how to win at the highest level of Superbike racing, and although his technical package in the BMW Reitwagen team is not even close to completion at this early stage of the year, he was full of praise for his bike and team after scoring points in each race in Australia.

 

"The team have worked so hard with the material we've got and I wanted to finish both races at the very least. To get some points is a bonus because I don't think people understand just how standard our bike is at the moment. We are just at the start, but this weekend has been very encouraging."

At Phillip Island the bikes still had standard swingarms and only relatively basic intake and exhaust modifications, which made Pitt's double points scores all the more impressive.

Pitt even had a chance to compare his brand new bike to a proven winner, the factory Aprilia. "I ran a few laps together with Max (Biaggi) and Leon (Camier) and it was interesting because there were only a couple of areas where they were better. If we can improve in these areas then we really could begin to surprise a few people."

Now back in Europe, Pitt's technical staff are now hard at work to get their S1000RR machines into a greater level of full-race preparation before the next round at Portimao.

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Simon Buckmaster, the Parkalgar Honda Team Manager, was outspoken in his opinions on how well his rider Eugene Laverty would go in the first race at Phillip Island, but his confidence in the 2009 Supersport World Championship runner up was well placed. The number 50 bike won by over four seconds from pole man Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).

Said Buckmaster, "Great performance, but I don't think either myself or Eugene thought it would be as comfortable as that for us. One thing for sure, I don't think they will all pan out as easy as that, but we all enjoyed a great start for the team with Miguel Praia equalling his best result in 9th."

Next up for all in the Supersport class is the Parkalgar team's home circuit, Portimao. "We move to our home track round in Portimao in confident mood for both riders and once again for the win I only expect a challenge from Joan Lascorz or Kenan Sofuoglu," said Buckmaster. "I think practice and race results will be very similar. Not like in Phillip Island, where although Joan and Kenan had a quicker practice lap than us we had concentrated on the race tyre and knew we had great race pace."

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