Motorcycle racing is dangerous

Well, duh. Except it's pretty amazing how many riders are on the sidelines right now thanks to injury...

• Regis Laconi, WSBK, DFX Ducati: injured in South Africa, being replaced by Lorenzo Lanzi
• Sylvain Guintoli, BSB, Crescent Suzuki: injured at Donington, replaced by Michael Rutter
• John Hopkins, WSBK, Stiggy Honda: injured at Assen, replaced by Jake Zemke
• Max Neukirchner, WSBK, Alstare Suzuki: injured at Monza, replaced by Fonsi Nieto
• Makoto Tamada, WSBK, PBM Kawasaki: injured at Monza, replaced by Jamie Hacking
• Neil Hodgson, AMA, Corona Honda: injured playing around on a motocross bike, replaced by Jake Holden
• Troy Corser, WSBK, BMW: injured at Monza, replaced by Steve Martin

It's a good time to be a good rider without a ride, if all the "regulars" keep throwing their bikes down the road and breaking their bodies in the process...

Take that, Europe

"BOOM!!!"

That's the sound of an American bombshell dropping into the predominantly European World Superbike paddock. Anyone need a quick reminder about who invented Superbike racing...?

Okay, I admit that I'm English, but I'm never going back and the USA is my home, so I'm just going to go ahead and be pleased for Ben Elbowz Spies.

Not convinced he can do well yet? Dare I throw out the names Merkel, Polen, Russell, Kocinski and Edwards? I do dare.

What a pair of races that was. Elbowz, the Sultan of Slide, the Pocket Rocket, Baldy Laconi, Jakub (can I buy a vowel?) Smrz and Fabrizio all looked rather great. Corser, Xaus, Sykes, Kiyonari, Nakano, Byrne and Checa looked a bit rubbish. Biaggi, Neukirchner, Kagayama and Rea ran hot and cold. The season continues to look ace.

And riddle me this: you have two smaller European manufacturers coming into the series after either a long break or for the first time, with brand new, never-raced bikes and they show rather well. Then you have Kawasaki, who have been in WSBK for years, who might have been better off providing their riders with scooters. What the hell is going on?

Team Green, you are the laughing stock of the bike racing world. Even when you try to quit a series you can't do that properly. You suck.

It's back

What is back? I was going to say World Superbike, but my plans are that this blog is also back. Inspired by my good buddy John Dagys' new blog, I'm going to try to get this one up and running again.

To be honest, it's been hard to be as excited about motorsport lately, with the global economic downturn claiming such racing victims as Subaru and Suzuki in the WRC, Kawasaki in MotoGP, Honda in F1 and the AMA, and Audi in the ALMS. But now that the season is getting underway, it's a good reminder that racing will always be there, and that these contractions can be a good thing, forcing the sport to think more carefully about how it goes about it's business.

So here's what I'm finding exciting at the moment:

• World Superbike - Having just watched the new Superpole qualifying format, along with the bevy of superstar riders and deep field of factory teams, I just can't wait for the first races tomorrow. And to have an American rookie on pole makes it even better...
• The Intercontinental Rally Challenge - Although it may not be the future of rallying, it's proving some important things that the WRC is simply going to have to pay attention to. Cheaper cars? Check. Simpler gearboxes? Check. Incentive for manufacturers to join in? Check. A kickass TV package with lots of helicopter and in-car footage? Check.
• Formula 1 - Everything points to an exciting season this year. It couldn't get much more exciting than the finale last year, but we may be looking at more than two people battling for the championship. Plus F1 races make my mate Dave want to have friends around and enjoy his superb BBQ, so I'm not arguing!
• Le Mans - 26 P1 entries. 26!!! Nine of the them from factory programs! Three of those from Aston Martin! Ridiculously good.
• All my favourite races: the TT, Sebring, Bathurst, Petit Le Mans, Nurburgring 24, MotoGP at Laguna Seca, Baja 1000 and of course Le Mans. These things are always great, regardless of the economy or quality of entry.

Damn, I love motorsport.

Here we go again

Time to finally break radio silence, and what a way to do it: a rant about this whole AMA situation.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, the AMA Superbike championship has been the top US motorcycle racing series for many years, featuring the participation of all four Japanese manufacturers. However, it's had its problems:

• A confusing set of rules which have changed a number of times and overlapping classes have caused a lack of continuity. Although the class structure appears to be kind of similar to the World and British championships with 1000cc Superbikes, 1000cc Superstock machines and 600cc Supersport bikes, the reality is very different. Superbike rules allow for a level of sophistication similar to that found in WSBK. This effectively shuts out privateers from winning, even a very well-funded satellite team like Jordan Suzuki. As such, they go play in Superstock, which features slick tyres, and then bring those Superstock bikes into the Superbike race, effectively forming a class within a class, a kind of "best of the rest" deal. Furthermore, there's a fourth class called Formula Xtreme, which is kind of a 600cc Superbike: much more leeway for modification and innovation. Once again you have the same problem, a couple of heavyweight manufacturer teams thrashing the pants of Supersport riders looking for extra track time.
• The racing is DULL, DULL, DULL. For some reason, Suzuki have been dominant for years. In fact, in the last two seasons a non-Suzuki has only won ONE race of the 38 run. The pattern is always the same: the two Suzukis roar out front pull miles ahead and may or may not fight it out amongst themselves. Meanwhile the other manufacturers have a second battle (along with one or two satellite bikes) whilst the true privateers wander around on their Superstock bikes waiting to get lapped.

Clearly change was needed, and when the AMA sold the series to the NASCAR-affiliated Daytona Motorsports Group, change was coming. However, DMG came up with a wacky class structure that seemed to elevate the Formula Xtreme-ish 600 Superbike class to the level of headliner, with a lame-duck 1000cc Superstock-type class called Literbike playing second fiddle. The manufacturers, who may have been okay with some levelling of the playing field and adoption of BSB-style Superbike rules (which are more like Superstock and allow for closer competition), were furious. They needed the premier class to be 1000cc, and I have to agree with them there. It didn't work very well when the Daytona 200 switched to Formula Xtreme, so the lesson should have been learnt.

The damage was done. No amount of backpedaling could fix it and conciliatory gestures by DMG such as "local variance" rules couldn't divert the manufacturers from their chosen course of action, establishment of a rival series, called the US Superbike Championship. DMG fucked up. Their attempt to tighten up the racing by removing technology and power from the manufacturers was worthy, but they seemed to forget that no matter what happens, the Big Four had to be involved, because even though they cause poor racing, they bring money, prestige, cool bikes and the best riders with them.

The split is bad news, there's no doubt about it, and even though USSB is saying it's not like the CART/IRL split, the effects will be the same. Everyone will have to pick a side: mechanics, riders, teams, promoters, media, TV networks, and, worst of all, fans. I can see some privateers sticking with DMG, safe in the knowledge that with the factories gone they have a chance at being AMA Superbike champion. Riders like Chris Perez, Martin Cardenas, Scott Jensen, Tony Meiring and Ben Thompson all now have a legit shot at the title. I'd guess that most satellite teams e.g. those that aren't factories but that bring the big trucks like Corona Honda, Jordan Suzuki, Hotbodies Racing and Rockwall Honda will go to USSB. Teams that have done well in Formula Xtreme may stick with DMG, such as Boulder Motorsports and Pegram Racing, both of which run Ducatis. True privateers may end up cherrypicking the best races from either series.

I can't imagine what will happen next. One thing is for sure: we're doomed to sit through another season of desperately boring American Superbike racing, regardless of whose name sits at the top of the program.

The annual US MotoGP review post

Since 2001 I haven't missed Laguna Seca's July motorcycle race weekend, with four years of World Superbike followed by 4 years of MotoGP. The transition from WSBK to MotoGP in 2005 was a tough one. On the one hand we were totally excited to see those amazing bikes and to have the biggest bike racing series there is in town. On the other hand we were shocked at the mind-numbing price gouging both in Monterey and at the track. The massive crowds only added to the misery making getting in and out of the track difficult, as well as getting around once there. Nicky Hayden's debut win helped make up for much of the negatives but I couldn't shake the feeling that something had been lost

The following year promised much but delivered little. Hayden won again, but it was less exciting, whilst the brain-frying 110 degree heat, coupled with a disastrous shuttle bus system for people who came in cars made for what was basically a shitty day. We had even foregone the usual plan of going for two days and staying in Monterey, gunshy of the hotel prices.

In 2007 we skipped the shuttle bus drama by riding in, although it turned out that they'd figured out the buses by then. It was this year that it seemed like Laguna Seca had finally gotten the hang of things, and the only major disappointment was the race, which turned out to be rather tedious.

This year again promised a dull race set against a backdrop of a well-run and easy-to-attend event. Anyone who watched the race knows that we were wrong on the first assumption, and I'm happy to say we were right about the second one. For the fourth year in a row we chose a different transportation option, going with the expensive (but worth it) VIP car parking pass. Getting in and out of the track was a breeze, and we were able to offset the cost of the pass by bringing our own food and beer, which wouldn't have been possible if we'd ridden or parked offsite and taken the shuttle.

Attendance was slightly down this year. In 2005 all 54,000 tickets sold out. For '06 the total available fell to 48,000, once again sold out, a feat repeated in 2007. This year there were 1,000 tickets left on the table - not bad at all. It felt busy, but it felt nice (see pic of me enjoying a drink above turn two!) and I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed the day, so much so that I might consider returning to the two-day plan for 2009.

And what about that race? Valentino Rossi proved once again why he is the greatest rider of his generation and perhaps the greatest ever, and Casey Stoner showed an almost Gibernau-ish indignance after being beaten fair and square by the Italian. It was certainly popular with the crowd... check out this shot of their reaction as he crossed the finish line to take the win:

A racing companion

For most people (particularly men) who follow motorsport, it's a lonely pursuit. Unless they have equally enthusiastic friends who are into the sport, they're forced to find internet forums where they can have rewarding, meaningful discussions and engage in discourse about their hobby. I can imagine this could get frustrating.

Luckily for me, that's not the case. When I first met my partner K nine years ago, there was little indication that she had any interest in any sport, never mind motor racing. She didn't even have a TV, let alone cable and she'd never seen the Speedvision channel. A typical situation could have developed where one partner learns to tolerate the interests of another, but in this case something strange happened.

Straight off the bat, she developed a fondness for my cranky but lovable Alfa Romeo Milano. This was a good start. Then she began to come to races, beginning with a trip to the Wine Country Classic historic races at Sears Point. That weekend was brutally hot and could so easily have turned her off racing forever. It didn't, perhaps because historic racing presents such a friendly, low-key environment or maybe because she was able to witness first-hand my enthusiasm.

When I bought a motorcycle she was envious, having had a certain amount of experience in hanging out with the messenger biking crowd here in SF, as well as having learned to ride many years ago. It wasn't long before she was also on two wheels again. As my interest in motorcycles grew, so did my interest in motorcycle racing, so she was able to share in the process of learning about this new side of the sport.

It wasn't too hard a sell in 2002 when we went to Italy for three weeks to convince her that we needed a night in Milan (to ensure a visit to the Alfa Romeo museum the next day) and a night in Modena so we had time to visit Ferrari. She loved the Alfa facility (which felt more like a private collection) but was less excited about Ferrari, which was more of tourist trap.

Back in the US my interest in rallying began to increase, and before long I'd had a chance to go to the WRC event in Sweden which convinced me to learn how to co-drive. My first event saw K come along to work as a timing marshal. Despite the fact she stood on the side of a mountain in pouring rain for hours on end she continued to enjoy rallying. It was at this point that she revealed her mother had been a co-driver many years back. Aha! So it's in the genes! Now everything started to make sense....

Late in 2003 we both went to the WRC event in Wales. This was surely going to be the make-or-break moment. As we stood in freezing fog on the Rhondda stage on Sunday morning, with her favourite driver Carlos Sainz out of the rally two days prior, could she still muster excitement and enthusiasm? The answer came from behind a tightly-drawn hooded rain jacket... "yes!"

Pretty soon she was joining the annual pilgrimage to the July bike race at Laguna Seca, initially World Superbike, then MotoGP for the last four years, each year educating whichever newcomers had joined us that year.

It was only a matter of time before she came with me on the ultimate racing trip... a visit to the Le Mans 24 Hours. Sadly, the gods decided that since she was clearly able to cope with wet motorsport events, it would rain like the devil on Le Mans in 2007. Once again she kept her chin up, and was rewarded with a great time and apart from the first and last couple of hours, a dry race (and a dry pitwalk on the Friday, evidenced in the picture below). It was quite a step up from our annual Le Mans weekend barbecues back in San Francisco which she'd taken to leading the arrangement of.


She was even brave enough to come to see NASCAR this year. She got a very good look at Michael Waltrip:


So, where to next for my racing partner-in-crime? Well, after we take the plunge of actually becoming married, she can look forward to a little high-speed action herself, perhaps beginning with an autocross and then moving to some track days, now that we have a car worthy of such pursuits. If past experience is anything to go by, I should be ready to start buying tyres on a regular basis, as she proceeds to become equally excited by engaging in some on-track fun as I have been.

World Superbike at Miller, a spectator perspective

We all know what happened in the races at Miller last weekend, so here's some non-racing observations from my first trip to this new track...

Event management was virtually flawless: Getting in and out of the facility was a piece of cake on all three days. Even on Sunday after the second WSBK race, when everybody left at the same time, it still only took about ten minutes to get out of the parking lot. From the checkered flag until I checked in at the airport took me 50 minutes, including a ten minute walk to my car and a twenty mile drive!

The schedule also ran to the minute - there were no red flags and any on-track incidents were handled quickly and effectively, no small feat given that the 4.5 mile track requires 250 marshals. The large run-off areas no doubt helped in this.

The crowd were great: Check this out from the track's CEO. I'd agree with him. People were courteous, friendly and it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves. Every rider got a supportive cheer at the end of a race, and the enthusiasm during the press conference after WSBK race 1 was terrific.

The track still lacks soul: The very things that make Miller so great (plenty of space and high degree of safety) also rob it of soul. At the end of the day it's a flat circuit in the middle of a plain and all the runoff means that decent spectating spots are extremely rare. The entry to the Attitudes was pretty good, as was the Witchcraft corner. There's one small part of the straight between Tooele turn and Clubhouse corner that is quite dramatic. The best parts, strangely enough, are the pitlane entry and exit, both of which allow you to get very close to the bikes.


Biggest complaint: concessions: They make a big deal of the six "oasis" areas dotted around the circuit. These feature grass, restrooms and concessions. So I set off to walk the whole damn thing on Friday afternoon, having had some water before I started. Halfway round I was getting thirsty. I had discovered that there were no open concessions at the Tooele turn oasis, so I faced either a long walk back to the Clubhouse corner oasis or I could push on to the oasis at the southwest corner. I did the latter. When I got there, there was nothing - no food, no drink, nothing. I checked my map and found that there wasn't supposed to be anything there. My fault, but had the the cafe at Tooele turn been open I wouldn't find myself miles from water. Now I had to choose whether to wait for one of the very occasional shuttles, or continue walking back around to the cafe at Sunset corner. Since there was no sign of a shuttle I kept walking. By the time I got to Sunset I was utterly dehydrated.

The food and drink vendors that were there were not bad. The permanent cafes offered some decent platters with rice, beans and salad along with the tri-tip steak, whilst there was always a Mexican food vendor on hand. The shortage of vendors in general was brought sharply into focus on Sunday lunchtime - the lines were LOOOOOOONG.

Thanks for the pitwalk: Three times on Friday and twice on Saturday and Sunday the World Superbike pitlane was open for spectators. Not many people took advantage of this because the only place it was written was on a small sign at the east end of the lane. If people spend $15 on a paddock pass, they should be told that the things they want to see most (e.g. WSBK riders and bikes) can be viewed. Most paddock-goers only got to see the back of the garages.

Don't listen to me: I predicted that Ryuichi Kiyonari would do well this weekend. Instead, he sucked, with a poor qualifying position that forced him to battle for mid-pack places in both races. He made solid progress in each but was never in with a shout, unlike his team-mate.

Miller World Superbike

My friend Chris and I fly out Friday morning for Salt Lake City, to go see the return of World Superbike to the USA. It should be a terrific weekend. Naturally I've been thinking a lot about what lies ahead and I reckon I've been hit by some divine inspiration about who's going to be a winner there...

Ryuichi Kiyonari.

Think about it: he was nearly a race-winner at Monza, a high-speed track with a long front straight, just like Miller. This time out, he won't be handicapped by being the only guy who hasn't been to the track before. They're ALL rookies this weekend. I think Kiyo's time has come.

Neukirchner's good for another win too, I reckon. That Gixxer is so quick.

Of course I'll be hoping for another Haga win because he's quite simply the coolest rider out there. Check back here next week for a report and some pics.

Close finishes

Followers of World Superbike and World Supersport have had an absolute ball in the last two weeks. If you add up the finishing gaps of the top three riders in World Superbike's two races at Monza, and the top six in the Assen World Supersport race, you'd get a scant 1.165 seconds. That's about the length of time it takes an F1 driver to do a line of coke.

The Assen round of World Supersport was perhaps the closest, craziest bike race I've ever seen. The whole race was like a first lap, with finishing positions very much like what you'd expect to see as the riders come across the stripe for the first time, never mind the 17th....

Yesterday's WSBK round at Monza was another classic, but we've come to expect that from the Italian parkland track. The insane front straight, along with the typically Italian (read chaotic) chicanes make for great overtaking opportunities and we weren't disappointed in either race. What's more, the retirement of Troy Bayliss in race two, along with the superb performances by ice cool German Max Neukirchner and certifiably mental samurai Nori Haga helped make the championship a little less of a one-horse race than it has been so far.

Roll on the next round, which sees WSBK return to the USA, at Utah's Miller Motorsports Park. I'm going to brave that state's bizarre alcohol laws in order to check out this terrific championship. How fucking excited am I....?

Irish road racing claims another victim

The sport of "real road racing" has claimed another victim, with the death of Martin Finnegan this weekend in the Tandragee 100 in Northern Ireland. This genre of motorcycle racing is well-known for its inherent danger thanks to the myriad of deaths at the Isle of Man TT over the years, but the frequent additional tragedies during the rest of the season every year tend to go less noticed. The last three years have seen the deaths of Richard Britton, John Donnan, Darran Lindsey and now Finnegan on the Irish roads, in addition to the more high profile losses at the TT that have included David Jefferies and Jun Maeda. Back in 2000 there were eight deaths in real road racing alone...

I'll never call for the banning of this type of racing, because those who do it know the risks, but almost always the news articles include a statement to the effect of "he leaves behind a wife and a young child". That was certainly the case with Finnegan, Lindsay and Britton. I guess I just wish these guys would transition to circuit racing once they become parents.

The value of grassroots

I attended my first race event of 2008 today, the second round of the AFM season. AFM is the main sanctioning body for motorcycle circuit racing in Northern California, and they race at Infineon (that's Sears Point to most of us), Buttonwillow and Thunderhill. I had a vested interest in going: the guy who I sold my dirtbike to last week was racing, and I needed to give him the title for that bike, so I was able to do that and get to see some racing.

There were 12 races in total for the more than 20 classes of bikes, ensuring massive grids of between 50 and 65 bikes. Needless to say that there was plenty of action, but I was pleasantly surprised to not see a single crash all day long. The jewel in the crown of the AFM is Formula Pacific, a class reserved for only the fastest riders, in which any AFM-legal bike can be entered. The field is much smaller, something like 28 riders, and the racing is as fierce as you'll find in any national superbike race.

It was a great day of racing in beautiful, sunny 80 degree California weather and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The most significant aspect of the day for me was confirmation of something I've always assumed to be true but never really thought about: motorsport would be nothing without the thousands and thousands of amateur and semi-pro racers like you find in the AFM and other grassroots organizations around the world. There would be no top-level motorsport because there would be nowhere for racers to learn their craft and it's the entrants that are the core of any successful grassroots racing group. I spent a lot of time wandering around the paddock today and was amazed at the amount of money people spend on what is basically a hobby. There's very little income at this level, and racers are lucky to be able to get their consumables and some parts paid for via generous local sponsors. But despite this, they spend huge amounts of their own money on their racebikes or racecars, as well trailers, RVs, trucks, tools, safety gear and other necessary infrastructure. What's more, they spend countless hours prepping for races, as well as entire weekends racing. From their passion springs forth strong local racing organizations where the best and brightest young racers can build their careers and go on to be part of the more widely-recognized professional side of the sport.

I'm fully aware that no-one is doing this out of the goodness of their hearts - racers race because they love to race. But I think it's worthwhile every now and then to recognize the important role that they play in this sport.

British Superbike - it didn't snow

After the disappointment of the first round of British Superbike being postponed due to snow (check out the utterly bizarre pictures of Brands Hatch buried in the white stuff), it was great to watch round two play out at Thruxton today.

So what did we learn?

Cal Crutchlow really IS that talented: His debut season was on the Rizla Suzuki, a device invented with the sole purpose of turning kick-ass riders into also-rans. Despite this, he showed flashes of promise. Now that he's on the HM Plant Honda, it's clear he's a race winner. This is best exemplified by the fact he won a race...

Holy cow, Michael Rutter, you're not as over-the-hill as you seem: Rutter is probably benefitting in the same way that Max Biaggi and Ruben Xaus are in World Superbikes, by being on the 1200cc Ducati before regulation changes slow it down, as they inevitably will. Still, he spanked Leon Camier in race one, even though Camier is on the bigger budget and de-facto "factory" Airwaves Ducati.

Karl Harris isn't done yet: It appeared as though Harris was on a downward slide, having lost his factory Honda ride at the end of 2006, and then being booted by the privateer Hydrex Honda squad following an average 2007 season. However, he's adapted well to the Rob McElnea-run Yamaha, and if hadn't been for the fact he was bitch-slapped by Tom Sykes' flying Suzuki in race two, he could have placed very well. Nice that we'll have an additional "win-capable" rider challenging Airwaves and HM Plant every race.

We don't really miss Stobart: The loss of the Paul Bird Motorsport Stobart Honda team to World Superbikes might have been more keenly-felt if it wasn't for the fact that other teams seem to be in with a shout, chiefly Rutter's NW200 team and Harris' Yamaha squad.

Are the Leons feeling the pressure?: Neither Leon Camier nor Leon Haslam looked quite as sparkly as they should have done today. Haslam has probably got the best bike but seemed to be outridden by his team-mate Crutchlow, whilst the promise shown by Camier last year that should be fulfilled by being on one of the top two bikes has not yet been.

Watanabe, whatalearningcurve: Atsushi Watanabe doesn't yet look like the superstar that Ryuichi Kiyonari was. In fact he looked like a bit of a rookie, being bashed around by BSB mid-pack regulars. The fact he's on the Suzuki probably isn't helping, but they're the cards he's been dealt. I'd like to think he'll adjust quickly, along the lines of Kiyo in WSBK this year.

This should be a great year: I was concerned that losing Stobart, Kiyo, Lavilla and Walker would seriously detract from the championship. It looks like I needn't have worried.

These guys are gods

Watching yesterday's MotoGP from Jerez in widescreen thanks to the BBC's great production values once again showed how unbelievably talented top-shelf motorcycle racers are. Some of them are even utterly cool dudes, to wit Colin Edwards. And Motorcycle Moment of the Year couldn't have gone to a nicer guy than the Texas Tornado himself. Check this craziness out:

Groundbreaking in motorcycle racing

It's worth noting two major shifts in motorcycle racing that are occurring this weekend:

1. MotoGP is running its first-ever night race, in Qatar on Sunday. After numerous tests, there was virtually unanimous agreement amongst riders, officials, press and spectators that it works very well. Formula 1 will stage its first night race later this year in Singapore, and no doubt everyone involved in that effort will be taking a close look at this Sunday's race.

One funny thing is how teams are tackling the unique challenges of running at night. Team members have struggled to identify their own bikes on track, so Kawasaki have placed an illuminated Japanese character on the front of their bikes. How's this for imagination: the character reads "front"!

2. The AMA has sold all of their Pro Racing properties to a consortium led by the boss of Grand-Am and Moto-ST, Roger Edmondsen, and boss of the Daytona Speedway, Jim France. Unlike Dorna and Flammini's deals with the FIM to lease commercial rights for MotoGP and World Superbike, this one has involved an actual sale. The only thing that is leased is the AMA name. I'm not sure whether this is the smartest move on the AMA's part, but it does indicate a strong motivation to be rid of Pro Racing once and for all. Now that it's in the hands of a proper commercial promoter, we can expect many changes to make the show more interesting and fan-oriented, although those changes will be brought in gradually throughout 2008 and over the off-season.

And World Supersport doesn't look too bad either

A brief epilogue to my World Superbike preview earlier this week...

It's worth noting that World Supersport might once again be worth a look. I followed it religiously back in 2002 and 2003 but kind of lost interest as some of the more competitive teams either left for World Superbike, lost their edge or dropped out. What followed was Ten Kate domination, with Karl Muggeridge, Sebastien Charpentier and Kenan Sofuoglu. This year brings promise of a tighter championship and more exciting races.

So who are we watching?

Ten Kate Honda: Acknowledged WSS masters, Ten Kate are giving British Superbike star Johnny Rea a year of apprenticeship before moving him up to WSBK. Rea is the real deal: very fast with amazing bike control honed from years of racing motocross as teenager. I'd like to predict he'll be a challenger all year despite his unfamiliarity with the tracks. Alongside him will be a man whose career highlight thus far was a WSS title, Andrew Pitt. He struggled in MotoGP, did pretty well in WSBK but he's great on a small bike, especially one as well prepped as a Ten Kate Honda.

Yamaha World Supersport: Consistently Ten Kate's closest challengers, Yamaha once again field two guys who have shown to be WSS experts and WSBK also-rans, Broc Parkes and Fabian Foret. Their issue will be the bike - the current generation R6 has never quite had the handling to match the Hondas, although its engine is very strong.

Gil Motorsport: The top Kawasaki team will this year have former 125cc champ Arnaud Vincent, WSS frontrunner Katsuaki Fujiwara, and WSBK race winner and crowd-favourite Chris Walker. It's a slight step backward for the Stalker who had a terrible 2007 in British Superbike, but let's hope he can regain his form as he returns to the green machines. Fujiwara is always near the sharp end on a 600.

Honda Althea: Formerly Italia Megabike, Althea is definitely the next best Honda team. Tommy Hill moves up from British Superbike where he had the speed but not the equipment, and often pushed too hard as a result. Joining him is WSS staple and former Ducati man Gianluca Nannelli. They'll be looking for podiums and the occasional win.

Others that might figure include Parkalgar Honda's Craig Jones, Intermoto Czech's Mathieu Lagrive, Stiggy Motors' Josh Brookes and Robin Harms, and the exciting return of Garry McCoy who will be on a Triumph 675.

World Superbike Preview

What a weekend we have ahead of us, as both World Superbike and V8 Supercars return to action. Today I'm going to take a quick look at what the former has in store for 2008.

Championship changes
Corona have departed as title sponsor, replaced by the Taiwanese LCD manufacturer HANNspree. I've never been particularly comfortable with a championship sponsor also being the main sponsor of a competing team (in this case Ten Kate Honda), so I'm a bit disappointed that series organizers the Flammini brothers weren't able to find someone else. Alas, you have to take what you can get when it comes to racing sponsorship these days, so we'll just let it slide. Incidentally, HANNspree will also be sponsoring Ten Kate's World Supersport effort, Althea Honda's WSBK and WSS teams (previously known as Italia Megabike) and Stiggy Motors in WSS. Talk about focussing your marketing dollars....

The other big change for WSBK is the return to the USA, with a round at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah at the end of May. Sadly, the AMA guys will be competing on a different configuration of the track so there will be no comparison of lap times, but it's terrific news that the US is once again on the schedule. I've bought my plane tickets, and am prepared to put up with 3% beer for a weekend if it means watching WSBK again!

Other noteworthy calendar items: the unfinished Parkalgar circuit in Portugal will host the final round of the championship (if it's finished in time). It is said to be a spectacular facility, so fingers are crossed. Also joining the calendar is Sentul in Indonesia, a circuit whose safety I have to question, and the Nurburgring in Germany which replaces the Lausitzring.

All in all, a nice full, diverse calendar. Well done Mr. and Mr. Flammini!

Contenders

Ducati Xerox Team: Without a doubt, Troy Bayliss has to be favourite to take a final championship before he retires. The new bike has been quick, and is developed enough to be reliable too. A question mark will remain over his new team-mate Michael Fabrizio. The young Italian has shown flashes of great speed but has been hampered by poor machinery wherever he has gone in his career. It's now time for him to show his true potential, which I'm guessing will be tail-end of the top ten.

HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Last year's championship-winners roll into 2008 with an all-new rider line-up, all of whom come from other championships. The team's success will therefore rest on how fast each rider comes to grips with the new bikes and new circuits. The main guy will probably be British Superbike ace Ryuichi Kiyonari, a man whose talent is never in question. However, I've seen him make some blunders in the past and he has a tendency to run a bit hot and cold sometimes. Behind Kiyo will be Carlos Checa. Will we see another Alex Barros-like rejuvenation, in which Carlos rediscovers his love of racing and returns to being a contender? It's distinctly possible. In his favour is the fact that only four of the tracks are those that WSBK has been to before which MotoGP hasn't. The rider on the team who knows the tracks best will be Kenan Sofuoglu, who took the World Supersport championship last year. The latest Ten Kate WSS grad to step up, will he be a Chris Vermuelen or a Karl Muggeridge? I think if he can hover around 7th or 8th and pick up the occasional podium, the team will be happy and will look for him to be a contender in 2009 or 2010.

Yamaha Motor Italia: No changes to the main Yamaha team, except in the engine department, which sees the arrival of the variable length inlet tract that is standard on the road bike and has been run by the US factory team in AMA. Their bikes were underdeveloped so it was hard to tell if the fancy intake made a difference or not. Even if nothing else changes, Nori Haga will always be a threat, and although Troy Corser seems to be past his best, he should still figure in the top six most weekends.

Team Suzuki Alstare: In addition to pulling their championship sponsorship, Corona also quit the Alstare team, who revealed their new sponsors this week. You have to wonder if they've been making budget cuts with the loss of Corona, and if so what effect that will have on the team. Yukio Kagayama, like Troy Corser, is typical top six material and usually has a mid-season purple patch, so expect a win or two from him. Many people have predicted new recruit Max Neukirchner to be championship material and with his first season on a race-winning bike, we'll find out. I share the opinion that he's a dark horse. The other new rider is Fonsi Nieto, a man who has built a career on his last name, not his riding skill. I'm guessing that this will probably be his last season in anyone's favour and he should end up on satellite machinery in 2009.

Sterilgarda Go Eleven: Top Ducati privateers, Sterilgarda boasts the most mercurial and fan-favourite line-up with bin-it-or-win-it specialist Ruben "Spiderman" Xaus and the remarkable Max Biaggi. There's no doubt that Max should be on a faster bike this year, but he once again played the silly season game badly. In testing the satellite Ducati has been on pace with the factory bike (not surprising given that they are identical in spec) so if development of the bike either stays static or the team get new parts when the factory does, Max can challenge for the title. Xaus is too inconsistent, but is an asset to the championship for his exciting style and occasional wins.

Worth Watching

PSG-1 Kawasaki: Let's face it: Kawasaki are not that good at building racebikes. Their lack of results in MotoGP and World Superbike demonstrates this, and it's only in the AMA's Supersport category that they've had any degree of success. Although the ZX-10 is new (again) can anyone reasonably expect a leap forward into contender territory. What is exciting here though is the arrival of MotoGP winner Makoto Tamada, who first made a name for himself winning WSBK races in Japan as a wild card. I think we'll see some promise from the Japanese this year, and perhaps he'll find himself on a competitive bike in 2009. As for his team-mate... yawn.

DFXtreme Racing: With an all-Aussie line-up this year, the plucky Italian team might be in the scraps near the front occasionally. Perennial Superbike under-achiever Karl Muggeridge steps up from the hopeless Alto Evolution team and hopes to save his career. Team-mate Russell Holland will sink or swim. He's got good results in Aussie Superbike behind him.

Paul Bird Motorsport: Coming from British Superbike, these guys have great pedigree, two wild-card wins in WSBK with Shakey Byrne in 2003 and a terrific rider in Gregorio Lavilla. Teams that have moved up from domestic championships have always struggled, except for Renegade who did well on factory equipment in the lame-duck 2004 season. As soon as they lost machinery advantage they were awful, with a 2005 to forget. Perhaps the shrewd leadership of Bird and the massive talent of Greg will be enough.

HANNspree Althea Honda: This is the team that was Italia Megabike in WSS and now steps up to the big time with former Ten Kate man Roberto Rolfo. Roby's jump to a front-running team last year was a disappointment as his team-mate won the title, so perhaps a reduction in expectation and pressure will allow him to ride with more vigor and less restraint. He is certainly a talented rider.

RG Team: A former Italian Superstock team, this is a major step for them. It's also the new home for Dr. Evil-alike Lorenzo Lanzi, who had a terrifically average couple of years with Ducati's factory team. This year he's back on a satellite bike and has run well in testing, so perhaps he'll win both German races again? My comments about Rolfo apply equally to Lanzi.

Filler

GMT94 Yamaha: Coming out of the endurance racing world, Seb Gimbert and David Checa both return to WSBK. This is a good team with pretty good riders, but I see them struggling in their first year. Look for results from them at the end of the year or into 2009.

Team Pedercini: They're always there, but in 2008 they switch from costly Ducatis with 400km rebuilds to Kawasakis. Yes, the slowest of the Japanese bikes. Pedercini, take your usual place in the high-teens or low-twenties.

Alto Evolution Honda: Sergio Bertocchi, former owner of this team, is still in litigation, whilst the team struggles to improve upon their position. The one bright spot for them is the arrival of Japanese 250cc ace Shuhei Aoyama, although I have to question his wisdom in taking this particular ride.

So there you have it. Whichever way you look at things, WSBK continues to go from strength to strength. Last season it provided way more entertainment than MotoGP, and it's distinctly possible we'll see the same thing again in 2008. The changes are all interesting and have certainly done nothing to detract from the spectacle, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I plan to.

One minute superbike

The good folks over at Superbike Planet just posted a great YouTube video of Ducati Corse building one of their factory World Superbike 999R bikes shot in time-lapse.

Makes the pathetic 2-hour long process to check the sparkplugs on my old CBR600rr look rather lame...

The AMA Superbike Sale

The commercial rights for the AMA Superbike Championship are on the block, and not a moment too soon, given the massive mismanagement over the years. Moto journalist Dennis Noyes has an excellent series of articles about it over at the Speed Channel website. Check out part one and part two, and keep your eyes peeled for the final two parts in the next few days.

Pirelli adds to its roster

Way back in the history of this blog I wrote a post about whether I considered motorsport activity when choosing tyres for my bike or car. At the time I noted that Pirelli rarely seemed to be a tyre of choice, but that it was hard at work on securing control tyre contracts.

This somewhat follows Dunlop's lead, who supply the BTCC, DTM and V8 Supercars, whilst being available for sportscar racing and domestic superbike championships.

Last week Pirelli announced that they had come to an agreement to supply the control tyre for the British Superbike Championship. This is on top of their new deal to be the sole supplier in the World Rally Championship, as well as their existing contracts with World Superbike and World Supersport. One notable effect of this is that BSB teams will now be able to race as wildcards in WSBK, since they will all now be running the same tyre that the World series uses. This should make for an exciting few races each time WSBK goes to the UK. Last time that happened, a Brit wildcard won both races (trivia time... who did it, on what bike and with what team???)

There's no doubt that Pirelli is working harder than any other tyre manufacturer to expand their presence in top class racing. This time four years ago they were only ever seen on a few cars in sportscar racing and with a handful of bike racing teams. This has certainly changed. However, in championships with open tyre regulations, Pirelli continues to be an inferior choice, something that has not changed despite their control tyre activities.

I wonder how all this has affected their market share?

There's still Pirellis on my Subaru...

World Superbike latest

Motorcycle racing always yields the silliest silly season, and World Superbike has already thrown up some surprising changes for 2008.

The plum job of being Troy Bayliss' team-mate at the factory Ducati team fell to Michel Fabrizio. Many question whether the young Italian has the raw talent necessary and fear another Lorenzo Lanzi situation. Jonathan Rea had been offered the seat but bizarrely opted for a role with Ten Kate's supersport squad. Strange.

PSG-1 Kawasaki are still looking for another rider to work alongside big-eared Frenchman Regis Laconi, but in the meantime they've entered into a technical agreement with Team Pedercini to supply Kawasakis to the former Ducati satellite team. Riders for that squad will be Vittorio Iannuzzo and probably superstock grad Ayrton Badovini.

Alstare Suzuki have lost both Max Biaggi and title sponsor Corona, but picked up Fonsi Nieto and Max Neukirchner instead, as they expand to three riders. Rumours of a Brazilian oil company coming on board persist.

Biaggi has ended up alongside Ruben Xaus at Sterilgarda Ducati, on theoretically factory-spec Ducati 1098Rs. I suspect a lack of technical skills in that team will hamper Biaggi's run for the title.

Another team expanding to three riders is Ten Kate Honda, who brought flying Turk Kenan Sofuoglu up from their supersport team, joining GP refugee Carlos Checa, and double British Superbike champ Ryuichi Kiyonari. I don't see any of them winning the championship (in 2008 at least) but Ten Kate are always a force to be reckoned with.

Yamaha continue with '07 riders Nori Haga and Troy Corser. Surely '08 will be Haga's year?

Two teams step up to World Superbike from elsewhere. Althea Honda (formerly Italia Megabike) will augment their supersport program by entering Roby Rolfo on a CBR1000 in superbike. Paul Bird Motorsport will move from British Superbike, seemingly as part of a world domination effort from Bird, who also runs one of the top World Rally teams. Riders are yet to be announced, but I'd keep my eyes peeled for Gregorio Lavilla, Steve Martin and/or Makoto Tamada.

Elsewhere, DFXtreme Honda, Alto Evolution Honda, Yamaha France and SC Caracchi have yet to announce their line-ups.

Down in supersport, Andrew Pitt is back, landing a plum job alongside Johnny Rea at Ten Kate. Althea Honda have Gianluca Nannelli and former Yamaha Brit Superbike rider Tommy Hill (who broke his leg in testing today). Speaking of Yamaha, their top WSS team, Yamaha Germany, brings in 600cc specialist Fabien Foret to replace the terminally injured Kevin Curtain, alongside Broc Parkes. The main Kawasaki team, GiL Motorsport, have another supersport star in Katsuaki Fujiwara, and have also signed the sadly under-performing Chris Walker, who will be running in his third different championship in as many years.

Notable riders still jobless and prospect-less include Sebastien Charpentier, Alex Hofmann and Lorenzo Lanzi.