WSBK silly season 2011

I thought the DFX Course Aprilia team was going to be a one bike ride....and Haga has the seat.



Too bad Sykes is up in the air and might be a posibility on so many different teams. I think Kawasaki should keep him ...he kept the green in the limelight (pun intended) this season with 3 top 5 finishes and a pole. It could have been better but should have been worse!!

I've not heard any mention of Sykes with Ten Kate, or with any team other than Kawasaki for that matter. I just hope he gets the decent ride he deserves

Here is another one





The World Superbike grid for 2011 is slowly beginning to take shape as the final round of the 2010 season looms.

A rush of announcements in recent weeks have served to firm up a few positions on the 2011 World Superbike Championship grid, though much is still to be decided.



The most obvious change to the list below is the absence of the factory Ducati team, which will withdraw from World Superbikes at the end of this weekend's event at Magny-Cours. Though their place will be assumed by privateer entries – Carlos Checa and Jakub Smrz so far -, the Italian firm's decision to quit will still be felt next year.



Elsewhere, Yamaha and BMW have firmed up their line-ups with the former luring MotoGP rider Marco Melandri and Supersport race winner Eugene Laverty, while the latter will be fronted by Troy Corser and Leon Haslam.



Haslam's defection came as a result of Suzuki's decision to limit its factory involvement, the Alstare team down to just one bike as a result, while Ten Kate Honda could be forced to follow suit with just a single machine for Jonathan Rea.



Aprilia will retain its champion Max Biaggi and British protégé Leon Camier, while Kawasaki finds itself in the unusual position of having too many talented riders disputing its two seats, with Tom Sykes's recent form creating a major headache for bosses who had originally plotted a Chris Vermeulen-Joan Lascorz line-up.



More will become clear as the weekend progresses no doubt as testing is due to start in earnest at Magny-Cours just a day after the races.



Aprilia Alitalia

Max Biaggi

Leon Camier



Suzuki Alstare

Michel Fabrizio

or

Sylvain Guintoli



Yamaha Sterilgarda

Marco Melandri

Eugene Laverty



Ten Kate Honda

Jonathan Rea

TBC



BMW Motorrad

Troy Corser

Leon Haslam



Kawasaki SRT

Chris Vermeulen

Tom Sykes

Joan Lascorz







I would go with new blood and who is hot= Sykes





Althea Ducati

Carlos Checa

2nd bike TBC



Liberty Ducati

Jakub Smrz



Pedercini Kawasaki

Tom Sykes



DFX Aprilia

Noriyuki Haga





That is just 14 bikes, wasnt it 2 years ago they had close to 30

Heard this on Sunday........Toseland to BMW `B` Team

Alex de Angelis with large euro`s to Ten Kate.

So, Guintoli has signed for a privateer Ducati team. I think its a shame both he and Smrz are riders i think have potential and i'm not convinced a Ducati is going to be the way forward for them next year. Is there any word of Ten Kate running a second bike? I've heard Kiyo is desperate to get back to WSBK to give it another shot, it doesn't look good does it.



Also, i've seen some photos of the post season test but no times yet, has anyone got anything?

Tom said:

So, Guintoli has signed for a privateer Ducati team. I think its a shame both he and Smrz are riders i think have potential and i'm not convinced a Ducati is going to be the way forward for them next year. Is there any word of Ten Kate running a second bike? I've heard Kiyo is desperate to get back to WSBK to give it another shot, it doesn't look good does it.



Also, i've seen some photos of the post season test but no times yet, has anyone got anything?

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Well de Angelis has 450,000 euro`s with him,s`bout it though.

Tom said:

So, Guintoli has signed for a privateer Ducati team. I think its a shame both he and Smrz are riders i think have potential and i'm not convinced a Ducati is going to be the way forward for them next year. Is there any word of Ten Kate running a second bike? I've heard Kiyo is desperate to get back to WSBK to give it another shot, it doesn't look good does it.



Also, i've seen some photos of the post season test but no times yet, has anyone got anything?

Click to expand...

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=42258

Sykes said this today about the new Zx10r WSBK



Overall, on our race run this morning I did some 1’39 laps and low 1’40s, where in the race on the 2010 bike I only achieved one 1’39 and rest were in high 1’40s.



Sounds like they are already about a half a second quicker right out of the box.



Another quote



Sheridan Morais, who is a Kawasaki racing regular in his native South Africa, was instantly blown away by the capabilities of a machine. He stated, ”It’s really impressive, incredibly fast. Even as a stock bike, on standard suspension, with the road fairings still on it, it has still been really quick. Even after only a couple of session in the dry we are not far off the World Superstock times already. It’s really quick: it blows my mind! I am really impressed and now we are fitting some telemetry to the road suspension, just to get some data. It is really comfortable to ride as well. I’m loving it!”





Could it be, Kawasaki a contender,

First post an all that guys. so first of hi to you all. I'm an armchair fan of WSB stems from James Toseland been local to me I'm Rotherham he was Kiveton, this BMW ride he's got am I right in thinking it's like a B team?, sort of like the Tech 3 Yamaha playing second fiddle to the Fiat Yamaha in Moto GP?.

justmick said:

First post an all that guys. so first of hi to you all. I'm an armchair fan of WSB stems from James Toseland been local to me I'm Rotherham he was Kiveton, this BMW ride he's got am I right in thinking it's like a B team?, sort of like the Tech 3 Yamaha playing second fiddle to the Fiat Yamaha in Moto GP?.

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Not too sure on that mate,but welcome to the site.BTW I`d stay in the SBK zone if I was youas the kids are throwing their dummies outta the pram in the MotoGP section.

justmick said:

First post an all that guys. so first of hi to you all. I'm an armchair fan of WSB stems from James Toseland been local to me I'm Rotherham he was Kiveton, this BMW ride he's got am I right in thinking it's like a B team?, sort of like the Tech 3 Yamaha playing second fiddle to the Fiat Yamaha in Moto GP?.

Click to expand...

Hello and welcome. As a JT fan you must have endured a few rough years. What do you make of it all? Back to a satellite team now and i guess JT has to prove himself all over again. I remain faithful simply by reminding myself of everything Troy Corser has been through and still made his way back to the front as a quality rider, if he can win a superbike title almost 10 years apart why can't James

Tom said:

Hello and welcome. As a JT fan you must have endured a few rough years. What do you make of it all? Back to a satellite team now and i guess JT has to prove himself all over again. I remain faithful simply by reminding myself of everything Troy Corser has been through and still made his way back to the front as a quality rider, if he can win a superbike title almost 10 years apart why can't James

Click to expand...

I am right then in thinking it's a "B team", thought so. I'd say he's only himself to blame he was of sorts holding his own until the last half of the season, wasn't he in front of Cal?, his last few rides have been dreadful, I'm sure it wasn't the case but it was as though he couldn't be ar5ed knowing Yamaha weren't renewing his contract, had he fared better in the last two meetings or so I'm sure Kawasaki/Honda or even BMW would have snapped him up. What he needs to do is set some realistic goals.

If Ten Kate could afford it, they would be well served to sign Toes.