World Superbike headed to Valencia, Spain this weekend for the third round of the WSBK season. With a strong Superpole by Cal Crutchlow, all eyes were on the Sterilgarda Yamaha to see if a surprise victory would occur. With the Championship heating up as riders are vetted into place, Valenica would prove to be a battlefield this weekend with more than one rider firing a warning shot across the proverbial bows of their competitors, signaling their intention to compete.
The wait is over, World Superbike racing action is back as Race 1 was underway at Phillip Island today. Perhaps a glimpse into the racing year, the action from down under did not disappoint race fans, and sets up WSBK to have a excitingly close season. Click past the jump for all the racing news of Race 1 at Phillip Island, including rider quotes, video highlights, and race standings.
The World Superbike Championship has returned to us, helping fill the winter snow & rain blues. Coming to us this weekend from Phillip Island, Australia, WSBK shows some new faces in the Superpole mix now that Ben Spies has left World Superbike for greener pastures. With the weather holding out, Superpole at PI had some surprising results, and some not so surprising results. Click past the break to get the low down.
This is a busy week for Yamaha Racing, with its MotoGP squad headed to Estoril and WSBK getting ready for its second-to-last stop in Magny-Cours. Fresh from the tuning fork brand is another announcement for its 2010 rider line-up, and this time around it concerns James Toseland.
Coming straight from Yamaha HQ, James Toseland, the former World Superbike Champion and current MotoGP satellite rider, will be headed back to World Superbike for the 2010 season, taking the place of Ben Spies who will be moving into Toseland’s now empty seat at Monster Tech3 Yamaha.
After first announcing that Ben Spies would stay in WSBK for 2010, and move up to MotoGP for 2011, commotion surrounded both paddocks that the American Superbike rider could in fact be bumped to MotoGP as early as next season. Today, Yamaha has officially confirmed what many had speculated: Ben Spies will join MotoGP via the Monster Tech3 Yamaha MotoGP team for the 2010 season.
MCN is reporting that James Toseland is set to make an announcement tomorrow (Thursday) regarding his plans for 2010. Toseland is expected to divulge that he and American rider Ben Spies will be doing an almost direct bike swap for next year. The plan has Spies taking a seat at Tech3 Yamaha alongside fellow Texan Colin Edwards, while Toseland takes the #1 seat at the Yamaha factory World Superbike team.
Colin Edwards has announced he is close to inking a deal with Tech3 Yamaha to stay on for the 2010 MotoGP season. With today’s announcement of Ben Spies staying in World Superbike for next year, the prospect of possibly two seats at the most sought-after satellite team has surely gotten the silly season gears turning.
While in Laguna Seca for the US GP, Fiat Yamaha riders, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, along with Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders, Colin Edwards and James Toseland, stopped by the Yamaha North America corporate offices for a little press stop and corporate tour.
Wanting to make the most out of the trip, Yamaha put together a video that reveals the secret to their riders’ success.
Silly season continues here at Asphalt & Rubber. Next up on the rumormill is James Toseland, who is rumored to be looking at a return to World Superbike, possibly with the Alstare Suzuki team.
After being rained out yesterday, the Qatar GP, at the Losail International Circuit, finally got its green flag today. There was however a good omen to the start of the season, question mark riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden made it onto the starting grid and finished a respectable result. We don’t want to give away anymore of the MotoGP season opener, so continue reading for all the spoilers.
In these last months, some serious events at Monster Tech3 Yamaha have occurred. First, there was the pits that separated James and Colin from each other. And despite all this, James Toseland has kept a very low profile and refused to talk about the events that have surrouneded him, that is, until now. Continue reading to hear what Toseland had to say about himself, and the current state of the Tech3 camp.