An exciting weekend of World Superbike action from Round 1 at Phillip Island. This weekend was also round 1 of the Motourage Fantasy Riders league.  Suzuki and Ducati – both factory and privateer efforts – came up big in Australia, and the players who picked those teams also came up big.

Here are the results of Round 1 of the Motourage Fantasy Riders league:

1st Swamphole Racing, Noel Nunkovich 46

2nd MinellaSpeed, Dave Minella 45

3rd Team Motorious, Ivan Lo 35

4th East Coast Racing, Brad Boutilier 33

5th Flying Monkeys, Jeff Ritter 29

6th team karbonated, Rebecca Saclolo 27

7th BNG Racing, Bridget Kirkland 27

8th Motherless Goats, Jared Koch 27

9th Dark Energy, Camila Restrepo 27

10th Team Rig, Lee Lilly 27

11th CornerSpeedPhoto, Dan Lo 27

12th Spieswise, A. Van Donselaar 24

13th Pretty.2010Pretty Pretty 16

14th irishlad, Dave Kelly 9

15th Uttley Allstars, Richard Uttley 6

16th JJ’s M1 Super Scooters, Jennifer Jabbusch 6

17th ducatinewstoday.com, Mark Morrison 0

18th Desmodromic Demonoids, Aaron Boyle 0

19th rozlanbgsp, Rozlan Abdullah 0

20th MotoGPNewsBlog, Chris Lykins 0

21st MotoGPBlog, Rob Jones 0

22nd Ow My Freakin’ Ears!, Leigh Berwick 0

It feels great to be able to post some real racing schedules for the first time in a long time.  We’ve been (not so) patiently waiting all winter long, and racing season is finally here. The next week brings us round one of the FIM World Superbike Championship and the Australian Superbike Championship, both happening at Phillip Island. Also, AMA Pro Road Racing returns to Daytona for the Daytona Sportbike class’s Daytona 200, as well as American Superbike, Supersport and AMA Flat Track. With the uncertainty that the US economy brings as well as the ongoing DMG fiasco, Daytona will be the first chance for many of us to take a peek into what 2010 has in store for American motorcycle racing.

Here’s what’s going on in the upcoming week:

At the Track

February 26-28
FIM Superbike World Championship Rd #1
Phillip Island Circuit, Victoria, Australia

February 26-28
Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship Rd #1
Phillip Island Circuit, Victoria, Australia

February 27-28
Castrol Power 1 New Zealand Superbike Championship Rd #4
Manfeild Park, Feilding, New Zealand

February 27
XIIR – Extreme International Ice Racing
The Aud, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

March 3-4
AMA Pro Racing Flat Track Grand National Championship Rd #1-2
Daytona International Speedway Short Track, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA

March 3-5
AMA Pro Road Racing Rd #1
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA

On TV

Sunday, February 28
Superbike World Championship Rd #1
Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia
SPEED
3:00pm-4:00pm (Same Day Delay) -Race 1
4:00pm-5:00pm (Same Day Delay) -Race 2

Friday, March 5
AMA Pro Road Racing – Daytona 200
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
SPEED
9:00pm-11:30pm (Live)

*The Official Motourage Daytona 200 Drinking Game: Drink every time Ralph Shaheen says “Under the lights.” You’ll be falling down by lap three.

Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli continued to work on finding the best set-up for their GSX-R1000 K10 Suzukis instead of chasing lap times today and ended the two-day World Superbike test at Phillip Island in Australia in 7th and 15th respectively.

Strong winds buffeted the 4.445 kilometer circuit and most riders took things cautiously, especially in the afternoon. Ducatis filled the top four places at the finish with Michel Fabrizio the fastest, with a time of 1:31.650. Second was Shane Byrne, with Jakub Smrz third and Carlos Checa fourth.

Alstare Suzuki's Sylvain Guintoli

Sylvain Guintoli: 147 laps (two days) 15th – 1:32.869:
“Today we did a lot of work on getting the bike working well with race rubber and didn’t concentrate of chasing lap times. I had a small get-off at the tight hairpin after Lukey Heights, but there was no damage to me or the bike. It happened when I lost the front end when I pushed a bit too hard on a tire that I didn’t really like – and now I like it less!

“I have had no problems with jet-lag or tiredness today, but I felt that I just couldn’t find my good rhythm. This sometimes happens to me when we test for a lot of time, like today when the two sessions lasted two and a half hours each. In a normal race weekend, practice lasts an hour and race is about 45 minutes and I always manage to find a good rhythm without a problem, so maybe the sessions today were a bit too long for me. But, we’ve done a lot of good work and now I am looking forward to next Friday and the start of the race weekend.”

Leon Haslam: 142 laps (two days) 7th – 1:32.279:
“I am not so happy with the final result, regarding lap times, but overall I am happy with all the work we’ve done and the things we found out and this will help us go in the right direction.

“Today we started with the two bikes set up differently and I preferred some things on one bike and some things on the other bike, so the mechanics will now try and put the best bits of both on one bike and that’s what I will start with during first practice next Friday. We spent quite a lot of time today trying out race tires, so that we will be in a good position next week, but that meant that we didn’t really go for a very quick lap time.

“I am not worried about the guys ahead of me today, because I know that things will be very different come the race next weekend. That’s more important than lap times today. I feel good about our prospects – and that’s the main thing.”

Overall results (two days): 1 Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati) 1:31.650, 2 Byrne (GBR-Ducati) 1:31.652, 3 Smrz (CZE-Ducati) 1:31.680, 4 Checa (ESP-Ducati) 1:31.959, 5 Rea (GBR-Honda) 1:32.175, 6 Haga (JPN-Ducati) 1:32.247, 7 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare) 1:32.279. 15 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare) 1:32.869.

Team Suzuki Alstare has signed an agreement with a new sponsor, Viru, for the 2010 World Superbike Championship.
Viru is an Estonian beer and is distributed by the Italian company Biscaldi Group, with whom Alstare has worked with on many SBK operations in recent years.

Viru is a fresh-tasting 5% Pilsner beer and is produced in a unique octahedral shaped bottle, whose design is said to be based on the famous churches and towers of old Tallin, Estonia’s capital. The beer is made from highest-quality barley from the pure grain fields of Lithuania and hops from the Czech Republic in the university town of Tartu.

Viru is a premium quality beer and perfectly fits the dynamic image of Team Suzuki Alstare.

Pietro Biscaldi from the Biscaldi Group said: “We are very happy to be involved with Team Suzuki Alstare because they are such an important team in the Superbike World Championship. We are looking forward to supporting them and fighting for the title this year.”

Team Suzuki Alstare is also happy to announce that Dark Dog will continue to be onboard this year, alongside their other current long- standing technical partners. All are optimistic about the season ahead, particularly after the superb performances of Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli in this year’s tests. Both Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli are already fired up about their prospects this year and will be going all- out for the title right from the first race of the year.

Sterilgarda Yamaha's World Superbike riders James Toseland & Cal Crutchlow

The Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team today unveiled their new livery for the 2010 racing season. The team launched the new design on location at the Sterilgarda headquarters in Castiglione delle Stiviere to an audience of international journalists and sponsors.

Riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow revealed their 2010 YZF-R1 racebikes then took time to answer questions about their upcoming season. Both two-time World Superbike champion Toseland and reigning World Supersport champion Crutchlow have the potential to fight for the championship title this year.

New racing developments to the 2010 bike based upon the production crossplane crankshaft R1 include:

• Increased engine power – Maximum engine power increased by 8hp, considerable power benefits over the full rev range.

• Weight reduction – Overall bike weight reduced by 3kg without losing the electric starter.

• Different radiator shape – For increased cooling capacity and also to reduce drag.

• Different fuel tank – Now made entirely from carbon fiber with greater capability and lighter.

• Re-designed bottom fairing – Narrower design for less drag, design allows for easier heat dispersal

• New exhaust system – For increased power in the middle of the rev range.

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team
“The first race is coming up in two weeks and testing has been really promising after riding a GP bike for two years. After the test in Phillip island personally and machinery wise everything should be set to compete at the front from the first race.”

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team
“I’m looking forward to the year ahead, it’s going to be a good challenge, but tough! Testing has gone well, hopefully we can turn that into good results from the first few races and build from there. I know we can do a good job.”

Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Manager
“After an incredibly successful season last year it’s back to business. We have two new riders and we’ve taken the bike to the next level over the winter, we want to keep the world title at Yamaha. The grid is looking really tough this year but we have two of the toughest guys at the front.”

Nando Sarzi, Sterilgarda Alimenti Spa CEO
“We were delighted to be able to join up with Yamaha in Monza in 2009, it was amazing to be able to share the year of successful racing together. We are very excited about 2010 and are looking forward to more success and our relationship continuing to develop.”

Sterilgarda joined up with Yamaha as a key Sponsor midway through the 2009 race season at the Monza round in Italy. The relationship has continued to grow successfully with Sterilgarda sharing in the championship success of 2009. For 2010 Yamaha and Sterilgarda have remained committed to strengthening their partnership further and continuing to work closely together, sharing a common passion for racing and the desire to be the best.

Sterilgarda Alimenti Spa is the second largest UHT dairy manufacturer in Italy, operating from their headquarters in Castiglione delle Stiviere (Mantova, Italy) with a turnover of 258 million € (2009), main products include UHT milk and cream, béchamel sauce, pudding, yogurt, mascarpone, fruit juices and soft drinks.

Join the Motourage Fantasy Riders Race League.

It’s simple. Just visit FantasyRiders.com and Create a New Team.

Once you have a team name, login and password, go to Join Personal League.

The league number is 80033, and – if needed – the password is veryfast.

There’s plenty of time to choose your riders, but make sure your picks are locked in by Feb 26 as no more changes will be allowed until after the first round.

As always, we’ll have a really cool prize for the league winner at the end of the season.

Good Luck!

-Dave

Riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland completed their final day of testing today at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. The two British riders have worked hard over the three days, experiencing a variety of weather conditions from dry to wet to intermediate as they and the team worked through various electronic and bike set ups ahead of the 2010 season.

The final session saw Cal fall victim to the drastically reduced grip of the track following yesterday’s rain. Fifty minutes from the end he lost the front of the bike on the slippery surface on the last corner before the home straight. In typical form he was back on his spare bike shortly afterwards for the remainder of the session. Team-mate James was consistently fast all day, ending the last test day just outside the top five in sixth position.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (4th, 1’42.9)
“It was frustrating to fall today, the track so was so slippery it was unavoidable, but it cost me some time on the track. Having said that we’ve had a really good test, we’ve worked through a lot of things and I think we’ve got closer to a good set-up for the first race. I’m really keen to get to Australia and start the next test before we kick-off racing.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (6th, 1’43.1)
“I’m really pleased overall. We’ve worked through a lot of stuff over the last three days and I feel I’ve got a lot more understanding of the bike. The team has worked really well and I’m pleased we’ve managed to keep consistent fast pace over the test. I think there’s more to come so I’m looking forward to getting started again!”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“Unfortunately the grip level was much less than Friday, so until the soft tires went on the lap times were not as fast as when we started the test. All the riders struggled to find good grip, so the problem was with the track, not the riders. Cal lost some time after his fall, he switched bikes but had no experience on the tire on the second bike so couldn’t push so hard. James rode really well today, he is always consistent and was definitely fast enough for the conditions out there. Overall we go to Australia feeling confident and with a good spirit. We’ve had a really successful test, we’ve got some great feedback and have made a good start to 2010.”

The all-British line up of Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland wrapped up a successful final day of testing in Valencia this afternoon. Both Crutchlow and Toseland had spent the two day test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit working through electronic and chassis settings on their R1 superbikes ahead of the 2010 season next year.

Day two saw big improvements from both riders as the times came down, covering some 60 laps each, despite neither of them getting the opportunity to take advantage of the faster tires towards the end of the day. They will now head home for Christmas before joining up with their new team again in Portugal in January for the first test of 2010 at the Portimao circuit in the Algarve.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1’34.1)
“Today was even better than the first day, we worked through a lot more settings in the sessions. I’m disappointed with my final time though as I think I could have been fastest at the end of the day but I didn’t get a chance to use the fastest tire. I’m happy enough with my overall pace and consistency. We’ve still more to do so I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike in January and keeping up the development.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1’34.3)
“A really encouraging test for me, again I’m happy being on a track I know so I can concentrate on the bike set up. I feel we’ve come on quite a bit with the bike over the last two days. I didn’t utilize the quick tire to its full potential as I got held up which is a shame as I was quite confident of getting into the 33s. I ended up on 34.3, which was a good pace. I’m getting used to the way of riding the bike and getting confident with the team as well. I think if we had a race tomorrow we’d be in with a shout!”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“For the second test for both riders and last test of the season I’m very satisfied. We’ve made some good improvements to the feel of the electronics and suspension, with some very useful feedback from the riders. We’ll take a break now and come back to it in January in Portimao and I think we will achieve even more.”

Sterilgarda Yamaha world Superbike riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland settled in for their second test with their new 2010 team today at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. The British pairing spent the day working through various electronic settings on the bike, including the anti wheelie control and the traction control to find a smoother feeling on the throttle of the championship winning R1. Crutchlow also spent some time working with the team to perfect his positioning on the R1, a larger bike than his championship winning R6.

James Toseland, Sterilgarda Yamaha
World Superbike Team (1’34.8)
“It’s nice being on a track I know so I could really concentrate on the bike, unlike Portimao in the last test where I was learning the circuit as well. I think we’ve been really competitive today, the times I’ve been doing have been really comfortable, so a sign for me that the bike and team is working well. We’ve been mainly working on the electronic side of things today. It’s such a new bike, there were a lot of things the team wanted to try out during the 2009 season but didn’t have time to do, so the team are taking the opportunity to try some new things with a new rider to see if there’s an improvement.”

Cal Crutchlow, Sterilgarda Yamaha
World Superbike Team (1’35.0)
“We worked through some stuff today, mostly positioning on the bike, it felt a bit different from Portugal so it’s been harder to get comfy today. I didn’t use any good tires in today’s sessions so I think I got some decent times which I’m pleased with, the times were consistent 35’s over the day. We’ve got some more stuff to try tomorrow and we’ll keep working hard methodically through everything.”

Massimo Meregalli, Sterilgarda Yamaha
World Superbike Team Manager
“I think the first day of the test went well, we got some good information from both riders. On Cal’s side we tried to fit him better on the bike as he’s very small. So we’ve made some changes to suit him. We’ve also bought along some new parts which we will continue to test. James is getting more confident with the bike and performing well so we’re looking forward to continuing tomorrow.”

2010 Yamaha World Superbike riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow wasted no time today, getting straight down to business with their first ride on the championship winning R1. Both riders were working with their new teams for the first time, but gelled quickly and had got down to under the race pace of Sunday’s championship final before the end of the first sessions.

Today’s session was the first step in adapting the bikes to their new riders, both Toseland and Crutchlow will start again tomorrow morning to make further changes and close in on the perfect set up for their 2010 race season. Despite a high speed high side in the morning session, Cal Crutchlow showed no signs of slowing down and continued to make significant time improvements over the afternoon’s practice time. New team mate and fellow British rider James Toseland also showed solid improvement over the day, despite being new to the bike and track he quickly got down to business and continued to shave time off his laps over the course of the sessions.

Having achieved an incredible victory on Sunday and lifted the World Superbike title for the first time, the Yamaha team were straight to business today, working hard to develop championship winning riders for the next season.

Cal Crutchlow earned the SuperSport world championship for Yamaha and has been rewarded with a move to the premier liter bike class

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1′42.7)
“It was a good enough day apart from a stupid crash this morning after about 30 laps, there seemed to be something wrong with my rear tire which caused me to high side. I hit my head and have had a few headaches today but ok apart from that. The testing has gone well, we’ve done quite reasonable times, all credit to the guys who’ve worked really hard. We haven’t changed much on the bike today, just tried to make it my bike a bit, tomorrow we’ll do some more and see how we go.”

Former World Superbike champion James Toseland hopes to achieve equal success for Yamaha in 2010

James Toseland, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1′43.7)
“I’m feeling really positive, it’s obviously my first time on the bike, it felt a bit alien after two years on a GP bike but the balance of the bike felt good and I’m really impressed with how the team’s working, I’ve got an old friend of mine as a chief engineer. I’ve been really impressed to work with him today and Silvano Galbusera (Yamaha World Superbike Team Technical coordinator) looking over him with his experience has been great. What’s been nice is the changes we’ve been making have always been in a positive direction, so to say we’ve got down to more or less race pace on a brand new track and a brand new bike is good, I’m pretty pleased with it.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team
“Cal’s first day went pretty well, it was easier for him compared to James as he already knew the track, but it was still a really good first test session for him. For James everything was new today, the bike, the track, tires, many things! I think tomorrow he will make another step. For the first day we are very satisfied with both riders.”