Kawasaki WSB - 2010

Akira Yanagawa is returning to the World Superbike series this weekend aboard the Kawasaki as a wild-card rider at Silverstone for the British round of the championship.

The Japanese rider has been called on as a replacement rider for the injured Chris Vermeulen and has said he is looking forward to the event although he expects it to be tough.

Yanagawa began racing for the World Superbike Kawasaki team way back in 1997 and rewarded his team with three race wins and finishing in fourth place overall in the 1997 championship.

The last time that Yanagawa was on a World Superbike was at Sugo back in 2002 before the team decided to concentrate more on the MotoGP series.

Yanagawa still races in the All-Japan Superbike series which he was leading in 2007 until he finally lost out to Atsushi Watanabe.

Tom Grant - East Coast Yamaha

Tom Grant has been signed by the Gearlink Kawasaki team to ride for them at the Brands Hatch round of the British Supersport championship on the 8th August.

Grant was given the chance to test ride for the team last week at Mallory Park and they were so impressed with his effort they signed him to ride at the next round.

The 22-year-old Yorkshire rider finished eighth in the 2009 championship with the East Coast Yamaha team with a top finish of third place.

Grant is replacing the teams current rider Jamie Hamilton who has now parted company with the Kawasaki squad after a dismal season.  Hamilton, who is the reigning Metzeler National Superstock 600 champion, has only managed a top score of fourteenth place so far after a disastrous season which has seen him not only break his collarbone but also having his motor-home raided and all his equipment stolen.

Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 2010

Fernando Alonso crossed the line to take the chequered flag at the F1 German Grand Prix yesterday after Felipe Massa was forced to follow orders from his team, and moved across to let him pass.

The Ferrari team have been fined $100,000 due to a breach in regulations with the case now being referred to the FIA World Motorsport Council for further consideration.

Massa shot past Sebastian Vettel at the outside of turn one while his team-mate took the inside line and was forced wide by the Red Bull as the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton slotted into fourth place.

At the end of the first lap Sebastian Buemi was back in the pits for a new rear wing while Adrian Sutil was also in for a new nose cone.  Jarno Trulli was forced to retire from the race after suffering a gearbox problem on the Lotus as the Force India cars were seen re-entering after it was discovered that the drivers had both been given each others tyres.

Lewis Hamilton had managed to get ahead of Mark Webber after passing him on the inside of the hairpin on the opening lap with Jenson Button sitting in sixth place.

As the race settled down and the front runners had made their first stops it was clear that Massa was struggling on his new harder compound tyres as he was put under pressure from Alonso who attempted a pass on lap 20.  Massa then put in a number of quick laps, creating a 3 second gap before the second Ferrari driver responded and was back on his tail.

It looked that Massa was going to take his first win since his horrific accident 12-months before until he was radioed by his race engineer Rob Smedley informing the Brazilian that “Fernando is faster than you, confirm that you understand”.

On lap 49, Massa was seen to slow down, allowing Alonso to pass him before his engineer once again came on the radio to apologise, making it obvious to all that this had been team orders.

Alonso crossed the line to take the flag, 4 seconds ahead of his unhappy team-mate followed by the Red Bull of Vettel in third.

The two McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished in fourth and fifth places respectively ahead of Webber who had suffered with an oil problem the entire race.

Robert Kubica was in seventh position followed by the two Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished in eighth and ninth place while Renault driver Vitaly Petrov completed the top ten drivers of the day.

Here are the results;

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 67laps 1hr 27m 38.864s
2. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 04.1s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 05.1s
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 26.8s
5. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 29.4s
6. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 43.6s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +1 lap
8. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
9. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +1 lap

all results unofficial

Leon Haslam 2010

The North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club are delighted to announce that they have the father and son motorcycle riders Ron and Leon Haslam with them for a chat night.

The event takes place on Tuesday 3rd August following the British round of the World Superbike series at Silverstone where Leon will be competing on the Alstare Suzuki, currently running in second place in the World Superbike championship.

The talk night will take place at The Yorkshire Suite of the Golden Lion Hotel in Northallerton with the doors opening at 7.30pm and the event beginning at 8.15pm.

There is a bar at the event along with a raffle and TV highlights to be shown all for only £6 or £4 if you are a NYRRSC member.

Karun Chandhok - HRT F1 2010

The 2010 HRT F1 driver Karun Chandhok is to be replaced at the German Grand Prix by Sakon Yamamoto following his impressive performance at the Silverstone Grand Prix when he drove in place of  Bruno Senna.

The 28-year-old driver ended the British Grand Prix in 20th position for the Hispania Racing team and has been given a second opportunity to drive this time alongside Senna.

Chandhok is expected to race again later in the season with team test driver Christian Klein stating that from now onwards any of the four drivers may get a chance at the race seats.

The Japanese driver has completed 15 Grand Prix starts, initially with the Spyker team now Force India and then the Super Aguri team before joining the HRT F1 team as a test driver in April of this year.

Yamamoto said in an interview;

“The last race weekend was very exciting for me. Now, the team has given me another chance to race on Sunday and I will do my best to prove that it was the right decision.

“I have a lot of good memories of the circuit in Hockenheim. I like the track layout with the passing point at the end of the long straight and also the Stadium sector, which is very challenging. There is always a nice atmosphere with the spectators at the grandstands and I am always looking forward to come back to Hockenheim. Compared to Silverstone, I think we are more competitive and we can achieve a good result again.”

Chris Vermeulen - WSB Kawasaki 2010

It has been announced that the World Superbike Kawasaki rider Chris Vermeulen is to be out of the series for up to six months as he recovers from his injuries.

The Australian had previously decided to sit out the rest of the 2010 season and is to undergo keyhole surgery on his injured knee this week.

Vermeulen received the injury five-months ago at the Phillip Island round of the World Superbike championship which was aggravated when he crashed again at the Brno circuit.  The surgery will concentrate on repairing two of the three damaged ligaments in his right knee but it is the recovery period that will require the time to heal properly which led to his decision to sit out the remainder of the year to enable him to be fit for the 2011 season.

Akira Yanagawa has been named as the replacement rider for Vermeulen at the Silverstone circuit on the 1st August, suggesting that the team may still be looking for a full-term replacement for the remainder of the season.

The 39-year-old Japanese rider has previously been on the starting grid of the World Superbike championship over 100 times, achieving 20 podium finishes with 3 of them being on the top step from 1997 until 2001.

Since 2001, Yamagawa has been on hand as a test and development rider for the former MotoGP crew but is excited to be once again riding in the World Superbike series especially on British soil.

This weekend saw three races at the Snetterton circuit with the re-run of Race 2 from the Knockhill round of the championship taking place on Saturday and the two races from round seven going ahead as scheduled on the Sunday.

Race 1 (re-run of Knockhill race two – Saturday)

The HM Plant Honda rider Josh Brookes took the chequered flag in the re-run of the cancelled Knockhill race 2 on Saturday after passing his team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari on the final lap.

Kiyonari had dominated the race from the flag ahead of the Relentless Suzuki pairing of Michael Laverty and Alastair Seeley.  Tommy Hill on the Worx Crescent Suzuki had soon moved into third position passing both Relentless Suzuki riders as he chased down the leading HM Plant Honda duo.

Brookes was sitting in ninth place by the end of the first lap after a terrible start but by the seventh lap had passed Seeley, Michael Rutter and Laverty and was up to third place.  The HM Plant Honda rider was soon attacking Hill, passing him on the inside at Riches before going after his team-mate.  Kiyonari was defending his position but Brookes managed to make his way past on the final lap again at Riches to take his third win of the season.

Hill finished in third place ahead of Rutter in fourth, Seeley in fifth, Michael Laverty in sixth, James Ellison in seventh, Simon Andrews in eighth, Gary Mason in ninth and Tommy Bridewell in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Josh Brookes  AUS HM Plant Honda  19mins 41.650s
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN HM Plant Honda +0.594s
3. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +4.475s
4. Michael Rutter GBR Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati +4.989s
5. Alastair Seeley GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +5.485s
6. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +5.889s
7. James Ellison GBR Swan Honda +9.148s
8. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +11.305s
9. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +14.364s
10. Tommy Bridewell GBR Quay Garage Honda +14.386s
11. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +14.698s
12. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +15.007s
13. Dan Linfoot GBR Motorpoint Yamaha +17.458s
14. Andrew Pitt AUS Motorpoint Yamaha +28.761s
15. Peter Hickman GBR Ultimate Racing Yamaha +28.933s

25. Stuart Easton GBR Swan Honda 5 laps completed
26. Chris Burns GBR Splitlath Aprilia 0 laps completed

Race One - Snetterton

It was Michael Rutter on the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati that took to the lead as the opening race got underway ahead of Tommy Hill, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Michael Laverty and James Ellison.

Brookes was back in sixth place by the end of lap one despite claiming pole position in the Swan Combi Roll for Pole after another iffy start.  By the fourth lap the HM Plant Honda rider had moved up to third while his team-mate Kiyonari was forced to retire from the race following a mechanical problem.

Hill had fallen back down the field running behind both Seeley and Ellison but was soon looking to make a pass on the Swan Honda rider which he succeeded in doing to finish the race in second place.

By lap 7, Brookes had passed second place man Hill before being gifted the lead 7 laps later when Rutter was seen slowing down with a gear shift problem on the Ducati.

Hill finished in second place followed by Seeley in third, Ellison in fourth, Michael Laverty in fifth, Tommy Bridewell in sixth, Chris Walker in seventh, Stuart Easton in eighth, Simon Andrews in ninth and John Laverty rounding off the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

1.  Josh Brookes  AUS HM Plant Honda  24mins 13.327s
2. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +1.472s
3. Alastair Seeley GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +2.740s
4. James Ellison GBR Swan Honda +3.757s
5. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +4.152s
6. Tommy Bridewell GBR Quay Garage Honda +15.640s
7. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +17.779s
8. Stuart Easton GBR Swan Honda +18.417s
9. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +18.860s
10. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +19.131s
11. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +21.546s
12. Andrew Pitt AUS Motorpoint Yamaha +21.838s
13. Steve Brogan GBR Jentin Racing BMW +32.999s
14. Gary Johnson GBR AIM Suzuki +34.969s
15. Tom Tunstall GBR Doodson Motorsport Honda +44.072s

DNS Chris Burns GBR Splitlath Aprilia
DNS Luke Jones GBR PR Racing Yamaha

Race Two

Josh Brookes was denied his third win of the weekend after a technical problem occurred seeing him retiring from the race on lap 12.

It was the Swan Honda of James Ellison that took to the front of the pack as the race got underway ahead of Josh Brookes and Ryuichi Kiyonari.

By lap 3, Kiyonari squeezed his way through on Michael Laverty before passing his team-mate Brookes seven laps later.  On lap 9, the Honda rider had managed to get past the leading Swan Honda rider Ellison as they headed into Riches.  Brookes was hot on the tail of his team-mate until he was forced to retire from the race.

Kiyonari was leading the race 1.3 seconds ahead of Michael Laverty, Rutter and Ellison until Alastair Seeley attempted a pass on Ellison taking them both out of the race.

Michael Laverty made a move on the leading man only to run wide and lose his second position to a stalking Tommy Hill.  Rutter finished in fourth place ahead of John Laverty in fifth, Simon Andrews in sixth, Chris Walker in seventh, Andrew Pitt in eighth, Gary Mason in ninth and Yukio Kagayama in tenth.

Here are the results;

1.  Ryuichi Kiyonari  JPN HM Plant Honda  26mins 52.964s
2. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +0.591s
3. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +0.954s
4. Michael Rutter GBR Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati +1.584s
5. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +3.897s
6. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +4.899s
7. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +6.127s
8. Andrew Pitt AUS Motorpoint Yamaha +8.211s
9. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +8.349s
10. Yukio Kagayama JPN Worx Crescent Suzuki +9.566s
11. Peter Hickman GBR Ultimate Racing Yamaha 10.663s
12. Dan Linfoot GBR Motorpoint Yamaha +12.146s
13. Steve Brogan GBR Jentin Racing BMW +16.226s
14. Gary Johnson GBR AIM Suzuki +17.302s
15. Hudson Kennaugh RSA Splitlath Aprilia +17.607s

DNS James Edmeades GBR Redline KTM
DNS Chris Burns GBR Splitlath Aprilia
DNS Luke Jones GBR PR Racing Yamaha

Sebastian Buemi - Scuderia Toro Rosso

The Toro Rosso team drivers are to remain the same for the 2011 season with both Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi keeping their posts.

After confirming the news team boss Franz Tost said;

“I believe our drivers will be well prepared for 2011, which is why they are both confirmed for next year.   It is also logical, because one key role of Scuderia Toro Rosso is to bring on young drivers from the Red Bull Young Driver programme and at the ages of 21 and 20 respectively, both Seb and Jaime certainly still meet the right criteria.

Our drivers still lack F1 experience compared to the majority of their colleagues. Therefore, as they get more track time with every race, I expect to see an improvement in the final half of the season. This is particularly relevant to Alguersuari, because from Hungary onwards, he will be able to rely on the knowledge he picked up after making his debut there in 2009, knowing all the remaining tracks, with the exception of Korea. It is not just a case of their driving getting better, because it is also true that their understanding and engineering feedback improves, which is vital if we are to get the most out of our package.”

Tom Sykes - Kawasaki WSB 2010

The former British Superbike rider Tom Sykes is to make an appearance once again in the series when he rides the factory Kawasaki in the eighth round of the championship at Brands Hatch at the beginning of August.

Sykes is currently riding for the PBM Kawasaki team in the World Superbike Series where at the moment he is their only rider after team-mate Chris Vermeulen has been ruled out for the remainder of the championship through injury.

The triple header event will be Sykes first return to the BSB grid since leaving at the end of 2008 where he rode for the Rizla Suzuki team.  He began his 2009 season aboard the Yamaha before a switch to Kawasaki for this season but is really looking forward to being in front of a British crowd again.

Jonathan Rea - Hanspree Ten Kate Honda 2010

Jonathan Rea claimed victory in the opening race at Brno yesterday while Max Biaggi took the chequered flag in race two of the day.

Race One

It was the Aprilia of Max Biaggi that took to the front of the pack as the first race of the day got underway at the Brno circuit but before the end of the lap he had been passed by the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda of Jonathan Rea.  At the final bend of the first lap, Rea went around the outside of the Italian rider to put his machine in front and never looked back.

Biaggi was then passed by Cal Crutchlow on the following lap before Ruben Xaus put his machine in front of the Aprilia rider on lap 4.  The Italian rider soon returned to form and retook Xaus on lap 6 before finally catching and passing Crutchlow with only 4 laps of the race to run.

Rea crossed the line to claim his third win of the 2010 season ahead of Max Biaggi in second.  Crutchlow finished in third place followed by Sylvain Guintoli in fourth, Ruben Xaus in fifth, Noriyuki Haga in sixth and  James Toseland in seventh.

Leon Haslam finished down in eighth place after qualifying in fourteenth on the grid ahead of Carlos Checa in ninth and Lorenzo Lanzi in tenth.

The Kawasaki rider Chris Vermeulen, was involved in a three-bike pile-up at the first corner of lap 1 with Max Neukirchner and Jakub Smrz.  All three failed to return to the track with Vermeulen once again re-injuring his knee that was originally damaged at the first round of the 2010 championship at Phillip Island and it has since been announced that he is to miss the remainder of the season as he undergoes corrective treatment.

Troy Corser withdrew from the Brno round of the championship after suffering concussion and a chest injury following his accident in qualifying but his hoping to be fully fit for the Silverstone round.

Here are the results;

1. Jonathan Rea GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 20 Laps
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +2.518s
3. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +4.071
4. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +7.160s
5. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +8.602s
6. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198 +11.379s
7. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +11.513s
8. Leon Haslam GBR Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +16.487s
9. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1198 +20.829s
10. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Ducati 1198 +25.164s
11. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +32.602s
12. Shane Byrne GBR Althea Ducati 1198 +36.748s
13. Broc Parkes AUS Echo-CRS Honda CBR1000RR +39.183s
14. Roger Lee Hayden USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +59.889s
15. Matteo Baiocco ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 05.329s

Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR

Race Two

Max Biaggi claimed his ninth win of the season in race two after his initial battle with race one winner Jonathan Rea as the race got underway.

Rea took the lead as he got ahead of Ruben Xaus, Biaggi, Michel Fabrizio and Cal Crutchlow during the first few corners and looked to be on for his second win of the day.

by lap 3, Biaggi had passed Xaus and was chasing the race leader before finally passing him on lap 7 at turn 2.  Rea attempted to stay with the Aprilia but after just 2 laps Biaggi began to create an impressive gap.

Biaggi crossed the line almost 5 seconds ahead of Rea to take the chequered flag with Fabrizio taking the final step of the podium following the retirement of Xaus. With just 6 laps of the race remaining the Spaniard low-sided off of his BMW at turn one after a fantastic fight with Fabrizio.

James Toseland finished in an impressive fourth place after getting ahead of Noriyuki Haga with only 2 laps of the race to run.  Carlos Checa crossed the line in sixth place followed by Sylvain Guintoli, Leon Camier, Shane Byrne and Leon Haslam.

Despite Chris Vermeulen starting the second race he could only manage 2 laps before being seen heading to his pit garage to retire.

Tom Sykes and Max Neukirchner also failed to finish the second race after both tangled on the opening lap and Luca Scassa was unable to make it to the grid for race two after fracturing his foot in the first race incident.

Here are the results;

1. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 20 Laps
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +4.627s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198 +13.600s
4. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +16.372s
5. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198 +17.530s
6. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1198 +21.704s
7. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +23.769s
8. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +25.875s
9. Shane Byrne GBR Althea Ducati 1198 +30.374s
10. Leon Haslam GBR Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +34.002s
11. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Ducati 1198 +34.691s
12. Broc Parkes AUS Echo-CRS Honda CBR1000RR +49.270s
13. Roger Lee Hayden USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 03.258s
14. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +1 lap
15. Matteo Baiocco ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1 lap

Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR