MSS Colchester Kawasaki team boss Nick Morgan claims his squad have never looked sharper as they prepare for the intense cauldron of the Brands Hatch MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship opener this Easter weekend.

Team riders Simon Andrews and Gary Mason look to put the long off-season behind them after a positive test at the circuit last week. Andrews also has the added benefit of high-level track time with the Paul Bird Motorsport squad testing at Valencia this week. The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Superbike has been redeveloped over the winter with the important addition of a World Superbike spec Magneti Marelli engine management system.

MSS Colchester Kawasaki riders Simon Andrews and Gary Mason are ready to make serious runs for the BSB crown

MSS Colchester Kawasaki Team Owner, Nick Morgan, said, “We know this is potentially the most difficult season of British Superbikes yet, but we also believe that our riders are the strongest team we’ve ever put together. Both riders are mentally and physically strong, and our race machine is the most developed it’s ever been. We’ve never looked sharper so we definitely have all the ingredients for success!”

The team have retained 2009 sensation Simon Andrews who finished last season in sixth place and have added the super-keen, super-fit Gary Mason, who won last year’s Privateer Cup, for riders without full manufacturer support. The riders have been preparing all winter with fitness and never ending focus as they ready themselves to muscle round the 200mph, 200bhp Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Superbikes. Andrews has spent the winter climbing and skiing in the Alps while Mason has carried out a brutal martial arts fitness regime, seeing him train and spar with cage fighter Vaughan Lee at the Ultimate Training Centre in Erdington, Birmingham.

At the corresponding round last year, Andrews had a poor qualifying performance leaving him on row four, but he battled through to 5th at one point finally settling for a 7th and an 11th. Ironically, he had an all-race tussle with new rider Gary Mason in the first race with Mason coming out on top. This ride was especially impressive given that Gary was riding a three-year-old machine in the Privateer class.

Gary Mason commented, “Brands has always been a good track for me. I’ve had some good results, so fingers crossed, we can continue the form, and it’s so important we come away with two strong finishes. Nick is now my new crew chief so I’ll have great support from the off.”

Simon added, “I feel so ready for Brands now.  The WSB test at Valencia was great for saddle time, and with a year on the bike I feel I should now be pushing for good results at every circuit. It’s been a long winter; now it’s time to race.”

Although the team and riders have never been in better shape, they know that this year is potentially the most competitive season of British Superbikes ever, with several top names returning, including double World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson and Japanese ace Ryuichi Kiyonari, who has taken the BSB crown twice. Other top riders to look out for include Australian Josh Brookes and last year’s series runner-up and third placed men James Ellison and Stuart Easton, who find themselves as team mates for 2010.

The MSS Colchester Kawasaki sponsor line-up for 2010 includes: Kawasaki Motors UK, Mac Tools, Maxxis Tires, Hornee Jeans, Confused.com, Colchester Kawasaki, Rock Oil, B & C Express (Arrow Exhaust, Renthal and Tsubaki), NGK Spark Plugs Ltd, Goodridge, Skidmarx, Pro Bolt, MotoXclean, Icom, Talking Headsets, Brupac, TRW, Samco, Barrus, Touch 4, Colourlink, Sound Sense, Clinton Enterprises, Blackhorse Finance, JBL/Harman Kardon, Pipercross, GB Racing, Valta Moto.

Pembrey in South Wales will host the opening rounds of the UK F1 Sidecar Championship, thought by many sport insiders to be the best field since the late 1980s. A top-quality field of F1 sidecars, the like of which hasn’t been seen since the 1986 Silverstone Grand Prix, will be heading down to the former Spitfire base to set their mark on the opening stages of the Battle of Britain.

The 2009 FIM Superside World Champion Birchall Brothers are among the teams competing in UK and international competition

The current World Champions, Ben & Tom Birchall and former triple World Champions Tim & Tristan Reeves would be favorites to clean up under normal circumstances, but some interesting rule changes mean the odds may be about to be turned on their heads. The new World Championship rule amendments have forced teams to make the switch to standard engines as opposed to the highly tuned motors they have been able to run previously, and Tim Reeves estimates that the change costs as much as one second per lap. Coincidentally, one second per lap was about the advantage they had over the best of the National teams in previous seasons, so a seven or eight outfit scrap at the head of the field now looks to be on the cards.

The action gets underway on Saturday April 10, and culminates with the Eurosport televised races on Sunday April 11. Pembrey is located just off the A484 near Llanellli in South Wales, within easy reach of the M4 motorway.

The CTR team look to make their mark on the British circuits in 2010

Cheshire-based CTR Sidecar racing will also be running in the event and hoping to be pushing for a podium result. Strong pre-season testing at Mallory Park and Anglesey have left the team ready to make their mark on the map for the opening round.

Craig Chaplow CTR Driver:
“Pembrey is a special place for Dan and me, as we made our European debut there two years ago, but the thought of 30 F1 sidecars heading into a tight 180 degree hairpin gets the blood flowing, and we will have to ride hard to make our mark.”

A crash during Saturday's session affected Valentin Debise's performance for the rest of the weekend

Johan Zarco struggled all weekend with the setup of his Aprilia

The WTR San Marino Team returned to the Andalusian track of Jerez de la Frontera this past weekend, less than 20 days since they last tested at the circuit. This time they were treated to warm weather and clear skies for the Saturday session, but Sunday’s rain showers dampened their progress after a much-improved first session.

During the first day of testing, Moto2 rider Valentin Debise crashed just minutes from the end of his session, but neither he nor the bike suffered any serious damage. 125cc rider Johann Zarco experimented with his setup throughout most of the session, which saw his laps times continue to improve.

Both riders scored their best times of the weekend during Saturdays tests, with Debise posting a time of 1:45.852 (compared to 1:44.00 posted by Claudio Conti on day three), and Zarco with a time of 1:49.157 (a best of 1:46.492 was posted by Marc Marquez later in the weekend).

Unfortunately, on Sunday, problems hindered the progress of the team, with technical problems on Johan Zarco’s 125cc machine interrupting his session.  Valentin Debise blamed the heat and the previous day’s fall to his lack of performance.

Only the last day today was marred by time: the sky was cloudy, in fact, downloaded during the first afternoon and rain ruined the final rehearsals. The 125 team has set today a good engine and good chassis, although he struggled a lot and lost some ‘the road during the past few days, bringing the pilot not to feel at ease with his Aprilia. When they are able to solve these problems, the rain ended the round.

The final sessions on Sunday were cut short by afternoon rain showers. Zarco had spent much of the morning adjusting setups, and by the time he felt comfortable with his Aprilia, the rain had moved in. Debise had already logged most of the 750km allowed for Moto2 testing, so he turned his final 30 or so laps before the weather turned sour.

The WTR San Marino Team will now turn its focus to preparing for the first race in Qatar, April 10.

Johann Zarco:
“I’m not very happy with the results of the three days of testing because I hoped to be among the top six. We made some changes to the setup, and the engine was very strong, but I did become tired. The bike was good today, but I lost a little confidence. By the time we had everything working, it was too late to improve because the rain came. But I’m confident we have prepared well for the first race, and we will do well.”

Valentin Debise:
“We were able to run successful tests this weekend compared to our previous tests at Jerez. We worked a lot on wide lines in preparation for Qatar, because here is very similar – not so bad – then also in anticipation of the race. Let’s see how it goes.”

Prior to the British Superbike season opener at Brands Hatch this weekend, Simon Andrews will be swapping his MSS Colchester Kawasaki Superbike for the WSB machine of the Paul Bird Kawasaki Racing Team during their two-day test at Valencia this week.

The twenty-five year old Evesham rider will step in for the injured Chris Vermeulen during the test. Andrews has a year of experience on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Superbike and knows the machine extremely well.

Simon Andrews will swap his MSS Colchester-liveried Kawasaki for a Paul Bird-branded model this week at Valencia

The test is extremely useful to the MSS team, giving more track time to Simon ahead of the British Superbike opener this Easter weekend at Brands Hatch. The test also shows the very close relationship between the two teams which was highlighted over the winter as MSS inherited the WSB squad’s Magneti Marelli advanced engine management system.

Andrews has impressed the Kawasaki racing family, having given the UK squad their best recent British Superbike Championship position of sixth last year and regularly mixing it with the top riders through the season. Andrews said, “This really is a great opportunity and I intend to give the team as much feedback as possible. It also gives me valuable track time prior to the season opener at Brands next weekend.”

MSS Colchester Kawasaki Team Owner, Nick Morgan, added, “We’re supportive of Simon helping with the testing at Valencia and we think it’s a win-win situation. Ultimately it helps Paul Bird to have another viewpoint on the bike, it gives Simon a great opportunity to showcase his skills and it will possibly give us more direction and a race focused rider.”

Simon has a very busy period ahead as he tests at Valencia, races at the Easter Friday-Monday meeting at Brands Hatch, before the second British round at Thruxton, all in a two week gap.

IntentsGP are a luxury camping company offering affordable, hassle-free accommodation to motorsport racegoers all over Europe.

The two partners, Mark and Alex, are keen bikers, and having been to a number of events over the years, were tired of carrying all their camping gear on the back of their bikes.  Thus, intentsGP was born.

The Deluxe 4-8 Person Tent is just one option available from IntentsGP

They pitch your tent, kit it out with air beds, bedding, tables, chairs, generator, lighting, grills, coolers and other creature comforts ready for your arrival.

This year is their first full season, and they’re covering a number of MotoGP, WSB and BSB events as well as two Formula One Grands Prix.

Prices range from £124 for a two-man tent for two nights at the Silverstone MotoGP to £514 for an 8-man deluxe tent for two nights at the Nurburgring round of WSB. However, they’re offering a 20% discount on these prices if you pay for your booking more than two months before the event.

They are also holding an inaugural competition – two free tickets to the Silverstone MotoGP to one individual who can answer 3 questions correctly on their website. Every correct entry will also get a £20 voucher to use against any of their packages this season. If you win after already buying your tickets they’ll refund them on proof of purchase.

For more information, visit www.intentsgp.com

Round 2 of the Motourage Fantasy Riders League corresponded with Round 2 of the World Superbike Championship in Portimao, Portugal. Results and standings are posted below.
Round 3 of the Fantasy Riders league scores this weekend with the opening round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch Indy.
All rider changes for Round 3 must be submitted by the cutoff time of 17:00GMT (Noon Eastern time in the US) on Saturday, April 3. Log on to Fantasy Riders to make your changes, and good luck to all competitors.

Scores and rankings after two rounds
1st: MinellaSpeed, Dave Minella – 45, 50 = 95
2nd: Blue Galaxy, Alun Edwards – 0, 90 = 90
3rd: Flying Monkeys, Jeff Ritter – 29, 59 = 88
4th: Swamphole Racing, Noel Nunkovich – 46, 32 = 78
5th: East Coast Racing, Brad Boutilier – 33, 38    = 71
6th: Spieswise, A. Van Donselaar – 24, 32 = 56
7th: Team Motorious, Ivan Lo – 35, 16 = 51
8th: Ow My Freakin’ Ears!, Leigh Berwick – 0, 48 = 48
9th: CornerSpeedPhoto, Dan Lo – 27, 20 = 47
10th: team karbonated, Rebecca Saclolo – 27, 16 = 43
11th: BNG Racing, Bridget Kirkland – 27, 16 = 43
12th: Motherless Goats, Jared Koch – 27, 16 = 43
13th: Dark Energy, Camila Restrepo – 27, 16 = 43
14th: Team Rig, Lee Lilly – 27, 16 = 43
15th: irishlad, Dave Kelly – 9, 22 = 31
16th: Pretty.2010, Pretty Pretty – 16, 13 = 29
17th: luckyguess, N. Van Donselaar – 0, 26 = 26
18th: Uttley Allstars, Richard Uttley     – 6, 19 = 25
19th: JJ’s M1 Super Scooters, Jennifer Jabbusch – 6, 19 = 25
20th: ducatinewstoday.com, Mark Morrison – 0,0 = 0
21st: Desmodromic Demonoids, Aaron Boyle – 0, 0 = 0
22nd: rozlanbgsp, Rozlan Abdullah – 0,0 = 0
23rd: MotoGPNewsBlog, Chris Lykins – 0,0 = 0
24th: MotoGPBlog, Rob Jones – 0, 0 = 0
25th: gp1malaysia, Nazarie Francis – 0, 0 = 0

U.S. Television

Monday, March 29, 2010

10-11pm
FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series , Latvia
Discovery HD Theater

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

1-2am
FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series, Latvia
Discovery HD Theater

5:00am-6:00am
FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series, Latvia
Discovery HD Theater

2-3pm
FIM World Supersport , Portugal 3/28/10
Speed Channel

3-4pm
FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series, Poland
Discovery HD Theater

At the Track

British Superbike Championship Round 1 – Brands Hatch Indy
APRIL 2-5, 2010
SCHEDULE

Thursday: Teams’ Set up

Friday: MCN BSB Fans’ Friday
09.00 – 09.15 MRO Superteen Free Practice
09.20 – 09.35 Ducati Desmo Due Free Practice
09.45 – 10.15 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 – Group A Free Practice
10.20 – 10.50 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 – Group B Free Practice
11.00 – 11.30 Metzeler National Superstock 600 – Group A Free Practice
11.35 – 12.05 Metzeler National Superstock 600 – Group B Free Practice
12.15 – 12.40 SpeedyRetail.com British 125GP Free Practice 1
12.45 – 13.00 MRO Superteen Qualifying
13.05 – 13.20 Ducati Desmo Due Qualifying
13.25 – 13.50 MCN Pit Walk
14.00 – 14.50 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Free Practice 1
15.00 – 16.00 MCE Insurance British Superbikes – MCN Premiere Free Practice 1
16.15 MRO Superteen Championship Race 1 12 laps
16.40 Ducati Desmo Due Championship Race 1 12 laps
17.00 – 17.25 SpeedyRetail.com British 125GP Free Practice 2
17.40 MRO Superteen Championship Race 2 12 laps

Saturday:
09.00 – 09.25 SpeedyRetail.com British 125GP Free Practice 3
09.30 – 09.55 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 – Group A Qualifying 1
10.00 – 10.25 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 – Group B Qualifying 1
10.35 – 11.00 Metzeler National Superstock 600 – Group A Qualifying 1
11.05 – 11.30 Metzeler National Superstock 600 – Group B Qualifying 1
11.40 – 12.20 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Free Practice 2
12.30 – 13.10 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Free Practice 2
13.15 – 13.35 // Swan Combi Challenge F2 Sidecars Free Practice
14.15 MRO Superteen Championship Race 3 12 laps
14.40 Ducati Desmo Due Championship Race 2 12 laps
15.00 – 15.40 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Free Practice 3
15.50 – 16.15 SpeedyRetail.com British 125GP Swan Qualifying 1
16.25 – 16.55 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Swan Qualifying 1
17.05 – 17.25 Swan Combi Challenge F2 Sidecars Qualifying
17.40 MRO Superteen Championship Race 4 12 laps

Sunday:
09.00 – 09.40 Pit Walk
10.00 – 10.50 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Free Practice 4
11.00 – 11.25 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 – Group A Qualifying 2
11.30 – 11.55 Metzeler National Superstock 1000– Group B Qualifying 2
12.05 – 12.30 Metzeler National Superstock 600 – Group A Qualifying 2
12.35 – 13.00 Metzeler National Superstock 600 – Group B Qualifying 2
13.10 – 13.25 Bonhams British Historic Grand Prix Free Practice
13.30 – 13.40 Pillion Laps
13.45 – 14.10 SpeedyRetail.com British 125GP Swan Qualifying 2
14.20 – 14.50 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Swan Qualifying 2
15.00 – 15.20 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Swan Roll for Pole Q1
15.28 – 15.40 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Swan Roll for Pole Q2
15.48 – 15.56 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Swan Roll for Pole Q3
16.00 BSB/EVO Front Row Press Conference
16.15 Metzeler National Superstock 600 Shoot-Out Race 14 laps
16.45 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Shoot-Out Race 14 laps
17.15 Bonhams British Historic GP Championship Race 1 12 laps
17.45 Swan Combi Challenge F2 Sidecars Race 1 15 laps

Monday:
09.00 – 09.10 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Warm up
09.20 – 09.35 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Warm up
09.40 – 09.50 Metzeler National Superstock 600 Warm up
09.55 – 10.05 SpeedyRetail.com British 125GP Warm up
10.10 – 10.20 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Warm up
10.30 – 10.40 Swan Combi Challenge F2 Sidecars Warm up
10.55 Bonhams British Historic GP Championship Race 2 12 laps
11.30 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship 24 laps
11.55 – 12.45 Pit Walk, Safety Car and Pillion laps
13.15 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Race 1 30 laps
14.00 Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship 22 laps
14.45 SpeedyRetail.com British 125GP Championship 22 laps
15.30 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship 26 laps
16.20 MCE Insurance British Superbikes Race 2 30 laps
17.10 Swan Combi Challenge F2 Sidecars Race 2 15 laps

Jeremy Guarnoni

Yamaha made a clean sweep of the podium yesterday, taking all three top spots in the Superstock 600 class at the opening round in Portimao. An action fuelled race saw French riders Jeremy Guarnoni and Romain Lanusse, both of the MRS Racing Team fight it out for the top two spots on their Yamaha Superstock YZF-R6s. Guarnoni eventually won out with his team-mate Lanusse crossing the line 6.1 seconds later. Lanusse took the second spot by just .1 of a second from Norwegian rider Frederik Karlsen also riding an R6 for the MTM Racing Team.

Jeremy Guarnoni, MRS Racing Team (1st)
“I was second on the grid and I was going to try and have a good start. Last year I struggled with my starts so I’ve been practicing for this season. I had a good start, I didn’t lose position in the first and was behind Marino but in the second corner he made a mistake and I got the first position. I pushed hard for the rest of the race but after the fourth lap my mechanics told me to take it easy. I had a good feeling with the bike so I got a good rhythm so ended up with a six second lead at the end.”

Adrien Morillas, MRS Racing Team Manager
“The weekend was perfect, the results were better than expected. The progression of the team is better and better from pre season to now and we saw that this weekend. We have good materials from Yamaha with great support. We are so happy with the result. There’s still a lot of work to do but we hope everything will continue as we have started.”

Waikato’s Andrew Stroud is the No.1 superbike racer in New Zealand once again. The 42-year-old father-of-seven convincingly won both the premier superbike races at the fifth and final round of this year’s Castrol Power 1 New Zealand Superbike Championships at the new Hampton Downs circuit on Sunday, giving him a record eighth national title, and his first since 2006. Stroud seemed untroubled in winning the day’s first 15-lap superbike race – leading in from start to finish — but it was a different story in the second leg, the 20-lapper that also counted as the national TT title race.

In the second outing, Stroud had to power his Brother Suzuki GSX-R1000 through the field after a bad start, eventually snatching the lead from defending champion Robbie Bugden (Suzuki) at about the midway point.
Brisbane rider Bugden had no answer for Stroud, although he kept the Kiwi hero honest and harried him to the end, finishing less than a second behind Stroud.

“I didn’t get a great start and got pushed around a bit at the beginning,” said Stroud. “But I didn’t panic and when I saw the gap widening, I just put my head down a bit.  I beat Australian Shawn Giles to take the New Zealand superbike title in 2006 but, for the past three years, it’s belonged to Robbie (Bugden). It’s good to have it back … to take it back for New Zealand.”
Read more…

It seems hard to believe, but today’s AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike race saw a famous name in motorcycling take his first win in the ultra competitive class. Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider, Tommy Hayden bounced back from a disappointing Saturday race in the windy conditions and came back after an overnight talk to himself to score his very first American Superbike win at the Suzuki Superbike Challenge weekend races at Auto Club Speedway.

Under calm and clear blue skies, the field was missing its’ pole sitter as Aaron Yates suffered an unfortunate fall during Sunday morning’s warm-up session. Yates, who also took pole position at the season opening Superbike race at Daytona, was examined at the track infield care center and then transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center for further examination of what was reported initially by the Jordan Suzuki team to be a right leg injury.

At the start, Saturday’s race winner, Larry Pegram on his Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing Ducati, took the lead with a hard charging Josh Hayes in second on his Team Graves Yamaha, followed by another fast starting John Hopkins on his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki, Hayden and his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate, Blake Young. Hayes showed his intentions early as he passed Pegram for the lead on lap two. Hopkins started to fall back as Blake Young and then, a few laps later, National Guard Suzuki rider Jake Zemke got by “Hopper” also. The first three then broke away and then Pegram showed his strength by just plain powering by Hayes on lap five while Hayden ran a patient third around the 21-turn, 2.36-mile speedway road course.

Young ran impressively as he closed on teammate Hayden but the big change happened up front when, completely unexpectedly, Larry Pegram slid down as he ran back onto the front straight banking on the end of lap nine. He was able to get back up, and after a trip to the pits for an inspection, he rejoined the race and completed fifty percent of the distance giving him three valuable points.

Read more…