Motourage

Kenan Sofuoglu and Sheridan Morais will line up as teammates in the official 2012 Kawasaki DeltaFin WSS Team, managed by Vanni Lorenzini, and each rider has already started preparations in earnest.

Two time WSS champion Kenan Sofuoglu

Morais first got the chance to ride the Supersport Kawasaki at the end-of-season tests at Portimao, setting the fastest lap time and proving he will be a force to be reckoned with as he moves over to WSS from the Superstock 1000 class. He claimed a podium in that class on the 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R for the Lorenzini by Leoni team at the final round of the year.

Sofuoglu is already a double-championship-winning legend in the WSS paddock and will return after a season spent in the Moto2 Championship. He has already had the chance to test his new machine, and like Morais has set laps at Aragon and Valencia in Spain in readiness for the 2012 campaign, which starts at Phillip Island in Australia in late February.

Kenan Sofuoglu:
“I am very happy for this opportunity given to me by Kawasaki, a chance which has arrived in a particular moment of my sporting career. The experience in Moto2 was important but, for me, it is fundamental to fight for the title and I am sure that with the DeltaFin team behind me this will be possible. I come back to the Supersport World Championship happy with this choice, relying on the technical support of an important company.”

Sheridan Morais:
“I have a good prior relationship with Kawasaki and that has built up here in this paddock. My DeltaFin team and Kawasaki have become like my family in Europe and think it is really like a family. We have a job to do but we all get on and enjoy each other’s company as well. I am working with a lot of the same guys I worked with last year. The Supersport bike is really good and I have lots of telemetry and a number of different things to deal with on the Ninja ZX-6R, more than I did on the Superstock 1000 Ninja ZX-10R. We have had some dry testing time now, so I am getting used to the softer tires and working on suspension a bit. The bike handles so well and I am just getting used to it all. I’m loving it.”

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2011 Superbike World Champion Carlos Checa

The Althea Racing Team have already secured four championship titles, scooping the World Superbike and Superstock 1000 rider and manufacturer titles in spectacular style – and all in the space of a few hours – at the last round in Magny-Cours, France. The squad, still on an emotional high after such a successful 2011 season, hope to close the year in similar style. All three of Althea Racing’s riders – Carlos Checa, Davide Giugliano and Lorenzo Baroni – will be aiming for the top at the closing round of their respective championships, taking place at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal this coming weekend.

Checa, in his last appearance at the Portimao track late last year, just missed out on the podium, finishing both races in fourth position. He will certainly be looking to improve on that this time around. He will be joined in the garage this weekend by Davide Giugliano who, having taken the STK 1000 title for Althea at the previous round, will wildcard in the SBK category. Ernesto Marinelli, SBK Project Director for Ducati will return to his role of race engineer to support Giugliano in the Althea garage over the weekend.

Lorenzo Baroni will hold down the fort in the STK 1000 category, looking to improve on his overall points total. Currently lying in sixth position in the standings, mathematics shows that he cannot reach fifth ,but he will nevertheless be doing his best to finish the year in the best possible way.

The Althea Racing Team will formally receive the championship trophies at Sunday’s championship ceremony.

Carlos Checa:
“I won’t be changing anything this weekend, even if the situation has changed slightly in that I’ve won the title. The challenge for me is to treat this like any other race. I will be a little more relaxed of course but not too relaxed. I really like the track and think that we arrive there with the right ingredients to be able to make two great races. I will give it my all in order to take the greatest possible satisfaction at the end of the day. If we can win one of the races that that would of course be the perfect end to what has been, for me, a perfect season.”

Checa’s Superbike form at Portimao:
2010: Race 1- 4th, Race 2 – 4th
2009: Race 1 – 7th, Race 2 – DNF
2008: Race 1 – 2nd, Race 2 – 7th

Davide Giugliano:
“We go to Portimao prepared for this new experience. It won’t be easy but I know I have a team behind me that is 100 percent supportive, and this gives me confidence. The team is very motivated, having won the Superbike title, and to be in the garage with Carlos will give me even more motivation. I’m also very happy to have Marinelli as my engineer this weekend – to have the chance to work with him and other technicians who have in the past worked with greats such as Bayliss, is a real opportunity for me and I want to make the most of it. With regard to possible results, I prefer to keep quiet, but I think we can make two good races.”

Ernesto Marinelli:
“I am very happy to make a one-off return to a role that I love, to help Davide in what will surely be a high pressure event for him and in recognition of the title that he has brought to Ducati. I hope that my experience will help him in the next step along a career path that I trust will be long and as full of success as this year has been.”

MIST Suzuki ran a limited - but successful - BSB Evo season last year with AMA rider and team owner "Aussie" Dave Anthony

MIST Suzuki will race in the final round of the World Superbike Championship in Portimao, Portugal next month.

After a year of hard work building their Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike to the highest possible standard, the team are all set to begin testing this month in preparation for their first International Superbike event.

With more than two years experience developing and successfully racing Superbikes, the team are eager to use Portimao as the stepping stone to their 2012 race season. Having previously spent three years competing in the support classes at World Superbikes, the team are well respected in the paddock and are looking forward to showing what a small professional team can achieve on a tight budget.

“We are delighted to have been offered wild card places at Magny Cours in France and Portimao in Portugal, said Team Manager Mike Edwards. “Due to time constraints we have chosen to focus our attention on the later round in Portugal and are hoping to bring a new title sponsor on board to help with the running costs for the event.”

“We have had excellent support from Motec Europe, the world leader in the design and manufacture of engine management and data acquisition systems. MIST Suzuki are one of the few top level teams to be supplied with their latest electronics package. It is the same system that took former MotoGP rider [and current British Superbike points leader] John Hopkins to pole position at the Silverstone round of the championship earlier this year so we are feeling quite positive about things.”

He added “We have several projects under development for the 2012 season and hope to make an announcement on those soon. We are keen to push new technology in racing so are very much committed to seeking the widest possible audience to showcase our talents.”

With the bike build nearing completion, the team need just a little more help to reach 20,000£ target needed to cover the costs of competing. In return, the team is offering title sponsorship for the event plus exclusive access to the circuit, team garage and hospitality over the race weekend for selected guests. There is even the opportunity to work alongside the team if the hands-on approach appeals.

Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty today wrapped up the first World Superbike test of the 2011 season. Run over three days at the Portimao circuit in Portugal, Melandri and Laverty experienced mixed and challenging weather conditions as they put their 2011 YZF-R1 race bike through its paces.

Marco Melandri

Very limited dry track time made it impossible for the team to simulate any race distance runs to find a perfect set up for the Portimao circuit however they were able to successfully test and evaluate the updates and developments of the 2011 R1 and came away from the test confirming there were no issues and achieving positive results.

Successful evaluations included confirming the different weight distribution of the bike, updated electronics and performance running with the new 2011 FIM regulations that include standard fuel injectors, standard fuel regulator and standard fuel pump. The 2011 bike also features a small increase in horsepower.

Having only had shoulder surgery before Christmas with a recommended recovery time of two months, Melandri came to Portimao with the sole focus of learning the track and gaining valuable seat time on his new R1. Despite this the Italian rider impressed, without pushing he was able to challenge for some of the fastest times in the wet sessions (2nd in Wednesday’s wet session and 3rd in Thursday’s wet session), whilst keeping something in reserve for when fully fit in Australia next month.

Laverty continued to impress, the young rider continuing to adapt quickly to Superbike riding. He tested a few things with the team over the three days, again being unable to run race distance due to weather the time was spent focusing on development work. The final combined times saw him in third position just two tenths off the number one spot.

Eugene Laverty
Yamaha World Superbike Team 3rd, 1’43.707 83laps
“Despite the weather it has been really beneficial for me to get some more laps on the bike. I hadn’t had any time on the R1 in the wet before this test so if race one at Phillip Island is wet now it’ll be fine! I’m really happy with the bike, in the wet and the dry. It was a slow start on the first day but then we made a big breakthrough with the front setting and I jumped up to third which is at least where I should be. It shows we can be strong so I’m confident we can be on the pace wherever we go. When I walk into the garage I feel at home. We came here and picked up where we left off from last year’s Phillip Island test really smoothly. I’m looking forward to getting back to Australia now for the two day test and then getting stuck into some racing!”

Marco Melandri
Yamaha World Superbike Team 15th, 1’45.461 82laps
“I’m very happy with the results of this test. It was very important for me so soon after my shoulder operation to be careful and take it easy on the bike. I came here to focus on seeing the track and learning it along with some more time on the bike. We haven’t pushed very hard at all but I’m feeling very comfortable on it despite the discomfort of the shoulder. We seemed to find a very good wet set up very easily and I was surprised how easy it was to go fast. I’m looking forward now to getting to Australia, I’ve been training really hard to get back to full fitness so I am looking forward to being fully fit and really going for it and pushing.”

Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“This test was very important as we had full spec of the 2011 race bike so we had to verify that everything was right. It was also quite important for Melandri to test his shoulder after the operation before Christmas. I must say I’m impressed with the job he did. He was able to ride well. The first day he had a lot of pain but he adjusted quickly to the track and the second day in the wet where the riding style is not so aggressive he had more mobility. Eugene was also improving consistently. He worked hard on the set up on the Wednesday; the results were confirmed later in the afternoon with some fast laps. Unfortunately the weather did not help. I think for the future we should look elsewhere for less unpredictable weather. We leave Portimao with a good feeling and a competitive package. We have another two days of testing to work on the set up for the first Philip island race, I am confident Marco will be back in shape and fully fit.”

Team Suzuki Alstare World Superbike rider and former Xerox Ducati man Michel Fabrizio tested this week in Portimao, Portugal. The heavy rains that accompanied the test sessions provided less-than-perfect riding conditions, but the team was able to make some improvements and Fabrizio gained some valuable experience on the GSX-R1000

Michel Fabrizio:
“I am very happy with the bike and with the team. Although the conditions were bad, I could find out more about the bike and get used to the team. Of course we were disappointed that we could not try more things. It is important; however, that we learned lots, and so I have, overall, a positive story. I am looking forward to the next test, but will now look forward to spending a bit of time with my family.”

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

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.”

Yamaha bounce back with the first podium of the season

Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow showed solid race craft in the second superbike race today, confidently sticking with race leaders Max Biaggi and Leon Haslam to stand on the World Superbike podium for the first time. After dropping to fourth initially Crutchlow capitalized on his opportunity to move up when Johnny Rea was pushed wide by Haslam going into the first corner on lap three. He was never more than 0.3 seconds from the lead, taking his well earned podium in third at the finish line. Team-mate James Toseland wrapped up the day in race two with style, charging through the pack from 15th, overcoming a number of competitive riders to cross the line in sixth, nearly ten places up from the start.

Race one proved to be a display of consistency and determination from British rider Toseland. Starting from a less than perfect 15th on the grid, Toseland gradually worked his way through the pack. The final lap saw him close down a half second gap, taking Haga on the last corner to steal a well deserved seventh place finish at the line. His team-mate Crutchlow spent the majority of the race in third until an unfortunate low-side crash three laps from the end dropped him to 15th. He managed to pass 14th placed rider Tom Sykes on the last lap to stay in the points.

Crutchlow heads to Valencia in tenth position with 25 points, Toseland heads to the third round in Spain in 11th, tied on points with his team-mate with 25.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (14th, 3rd)
“It was a tough day today from the first race; I made a stupid mistake, my own fault I was pushing too hard. We’ve made big steps from Australia, all credit to Yamaha they’ve done a fantastic job. We came here fighting but unfortunately in the first race I went down and Johnny Rea got through and got the podium. I’m looking forward to the next weekend in Valencia, if we can continue doing a good job and getting the success we’re starting to experience it’ll be a good season, let’s keep the ball rolling. The team have put in a sterling effort this weekend. Well done to Max Biaggi and Leon Camier as well.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (7th, 6th)
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do but we’ve made massive improvements. We really deserved the third and sixth in that last race, After Cal’s Superpole he was unlucky to crash in the first race so I’m really pleased with his result in the second. The potential of the bike is very good, once we use the full power of the engine we’re right up there. It was only my crash that stopped me being on the front row I think. I was a bit sore today and my head was bit fuzzy after its knock yesterday so I wasn’t completely on form. Considering that and starting from 15th on the grid we achieved some good results. It’s a shame we started on the back foot this year but we’re moving on and we’re keeping on pushing.”

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Crutchlow conquers the first European Superpole of 2010 at Portimao

Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow set himself apart from the class this afternoon, storming through the Superpole heats to take pole and breaking the Best Lap record in the process. Crutchlow unleashed the full potential of the Yamaha R1′s power in ideal track conditions, leaving a gap of over four tenths of a second to second placed Aprilia rider Max Biaggi. Team-mate James Toseland had also been progressing well through the sessions with fast consistent speed until an unfortunate high-side on the last corner of the circuit in heat two relegated him to 15th on the grid for tomorrow’s two Superbike races. Although bruised Toseland was luckily uninjured in the high speed crash.

The second qualifying session of the race weekend earlier in the day saw both riders focusing on the set up for race day whilst ensuring they remained within the times for the subsequent Superpole sessions. Incredibly the first 14 riders of the session were within 0.7 of a second of each other. Crutchlow’s time, just 0.6 off the front man was particularly impressive considering the entire session was run on just one set of tires.

Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow claimed Superpole and broke the lap record in the process

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1st, 1’42.092)
“The Superpole lap wasn’t really a surprise to me to be honest, we had a good session beforehand and I knew we could go really well in the qualifying session this morning. We left a lot in reserve, so down in 14th place I wasn’t panicking. I knew we had a good pace for the pole session, I only used one qualifying tire and we only needed one lap to do it. Yamaha’s done a fantastic job in the last month, it was hard work but we’ve got there in the end, all working together. I’m quietly confident we’ll do a good job tomorrow as well.”

Riding with a still-broken hand, James Toseland could only manage 15th in qualifying

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (15th, 1’49.401)
“What a disappointing end to what has been a great qualifying so far this weekend. The Sterilgarda Yamaha Team have been brilliant in how they’ve transformed the bike from where we were in Phillip Island and I want to thank them for that. The mistake for me was that I was on the second lap on the qualifier tire and I was trying to make it work hard on the last turn as if it had been the first lap on it. Unfortunately it was a mistake, I suffered a lack of grip and the consequence is I’m now 15th on the grid.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“First of all I think a big thanks to the guys to have done such a good job since our not so great performance in Australia. I have to say Cal did a fantastic lap, we are confident that we will be in there tomorrow. The pace Cal had in practice was really good so I’m expecting good things. Unfortunately James had a big high-side during the second Superpole session which was unfortunate, but he has a good race pace which will help. For sure it will be harder for him to start from the back but I think he knows how to fight his way through. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.

Circuit Length: 4692
Weather: Sunny
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’42.092 (Cal Crutchlow, 28/03/2010)
Last Year’s Winner: Michel Fabrizio

Yamaha riders step up their pace in Portimao

The hard work of the Yamaha Sterilgarda Team following the opening round last month in Phillip Island was clearly seen in today’s first Superbike sessions at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. Both James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow made the most of the ongoing set up developments to put in highly competitive times, improving on their Phillip Island performances.

The first free practice session of the day gave the riders the opportunity to test out new electronic settings on their R1s. As the session progressed the improvements were clear as Toseland moved steadily up the times, taking the top spot with a 1’44.3 as the clock hit zero. Team mate Crutchlow was just over half a second behind in ninth having tested out some different tires to Toseland during the session.

The first qualifying session of the weekend saw both riders take turns at the top of the time sheet finding ever more speed as the grip levels increased. Intelligent tire choices and a more effective electronics package saw both delivering consistently fast, competitive laps with the potential for more improvement in tomorrow’s second session and subsequent Superpole. The session drew to a close with Toseland in fifth, less than three tenths off provisional pole and team mate Crutchlow less than one tenth of a second behind in sixth.

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (5th, 1’43.735)
“We’ve made some really good progress with our testing last week in Misano, we’ve gone in the direction we wanted to with the engine and electronics. We had a lot to try today, and we’ve gone in a really positive direction for the race set up with tire life and things like that. We’ve got a little bit more to do but I’m really pleased with the work Frankie and the team have done since Australia to here so a massive thank you to the team and hopefully we can keep it going in the top five now.”

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (6th, 1’43.769)
“I’m a lot happier today. We have definitely made improvements from Australia and we’ve also come back to a track with lots of grip. As the grip levels of the track improved over the sessions so have we. We still need to work on our bike to improve on really slippery track conditions and optimize our settings and performance. Tire life is looking better, and there was no chatter here so that’s that problem cured. We intend to keep working on our electronics and progress even further tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“It seems that the work we’ve done since Australia is working well. To see where both riders are is very encouraging. This gives us real satisfaction. I think we’ve worked very well with our tire choice and we’re pretty happy with how they are working. Tomorrow we’ll work again on the set up to see which will tires we’ll choose for the distance. For today we are satisfied.”

Circuit Length: 4692
Weather: Sunny
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’42.412 (Ben Spies, 25/10/2009)
Last Year’s Winner: Michel Fabrizio