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Official: Michel Fabrizio to Alstare Suzuki

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Our World Superbike silly season round-up from three weeks ago is now 3 for 3, as Alstare Suzuki has announced the signing of Michel Fabrizio to its “factory” team, replacing the departed Leon Haslam. The announcement is a homecoming for Fabrizio, who raced for Alstare’s European Superstock team back in 2003, but the Italian rider has a ton of work ahead of him as Suzuki’s support for the WSBK team is still highly questionable. Fabrizio got his first taste of the Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 World Superbike while testing at Magny-Cours last week, his first time back on an inline-four, after riding an v-twin all these years.

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Rumors

WSBK Silly Season: Haslam to BMW, Fabrizio to Alstare Suzuki, & Haga to an Aprilia [UPDATED]

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UPDATE 3: Michel Fabrizio has signed-on with Alstare Suzuki team for 2011.

UPDATE 2: Leon Haslam has signed with the BMW Factory Squad.

UPDATE: It’s being reported that Noriyuki Haga has agreed to ride with the DFX team on a factory Aprilia RSV4, with  an announcement delayed out of deference to Biaggi’s impending WSBK crowning.

While the MotoGP silly season is just starting to wind down, the World Superbike shuffling of riders is apparently just getting underway. So far this silly season we’ve seen , confirming that he’d be with Ten Kate Honda next season, despite being only two years into a three year contract, which was a strange announcement at the very least.

After Ducati’s little spat with Infront Motor Sports last month, the Xerox Ducati Team will be no more in 2011, leaving factory riders Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki S.O.L. when it comes to gainful employment, which is where our fist batch of silly season rumors starts us. If Moto.it‘s Carlo Baldi is to be believed (he is the listed press officer for Althea Ducati after all), Haga will find himself on a satellite Aprilia ride, while Michel Fabrizio will go to Alstare Suzuki. If you’re a die-hard WSBK fan you may realize that means that current Alstare Suzuki star Leon Haslam must be finding work elsewhere, with Baldi putting the British rider in the factory BMW squad. Still with us?

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Racing

WSBK: Crutchlow Fastest at Imola Testing

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Cal Crutchlow was the fastest overall rider at World Superbike’s two-day testing session at Imola this week. Showing marked improvements over the course of the testing sessions, Crutchlow has his best times during Wednesday’s sessions, as did many of the riders.

Leading the pack on Tuesday was Leon Haslam. Haslam crashed twice on Wednesday though, with his last crash involving Shane Byrne. Bryne ended up cutting his hand during the incident, and it is expected that he broke his second metacarpal bone.

Noriyuki Haga looked to have regained his form, and finished fifth from the testing, while his teammate Michel Fabrizio showed impressive times, finishing second. Absent from the leader board tussle was Max Biaggi, who finished in just 9th place after the two days of testing. Full results after the jump.

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Racing

WSBK: Battle for Second Leaves Runaway Finish During Race 2 at Misano

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Hot World Superbike racing continued under the Italian summer sun as Race 2 was underway at Misano on Sunday. The home track for Aprilia looked for Max Biaggi to try for another weekend double, but BMW and Troy Corser set themselves as the team to beat all weekend long. With Corser on the pole, The Emperor had his work cut out for himself, not to mention the fact that the majority of the top WSBK teams had tested at Misano, and brought their A-game this weekend. Check after the jump for all the spoilers, results, and video highlights.

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Racing

WSBK: Geriatrics Battle for Race 1 at Misano

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Max Biaggi turned a year older yesterday, making the Italian rider 39 years-old, but he isn’t the only rider on the World Superbike grid that’s whose a bit weathered with age. Battling for Race 1 at Misano this weekend, the old duffs came out of the woodwork, and showed that you can teach an old dog new tricks after all. Get out your walked, and check out all the race spoilers after the jump.

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Racing

WSBK: Surprise Superpole Qualifying Excites Misano

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World Superbike hits Italy again this season, with WSBK stopping at Misano for its racing action. Sunday’s race should be a good one as there was a surprise result in Saturday’s Superpole qualifying event. Mixing it up on the front row is a glimpse of faces of old, some newcomers, and the usual suspects, which could sort itself out very interestingly in Sunday’s races. Find the full results after the jump.

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Racing

Bayliss Faster Than Haga and Fabrizio at Misano Test

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Troy Bayliss may not be making a comeback to World Superbike racing, but he showed he still has what it takes to out-pace the current Xerox Ducati factory squad during testing at Misano. Bayliss showed strong riding at the Mugello test a few weeks ago, but at Misano he was half a second faster than Fabrizio, and nearly a full second ahead of Noriyuki Haga’s best time.

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Racing

WSBK: New Record Set During Superpole at Monza

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Max Biaggi took his first career Superpole today (as well as Aprilia’s first Superpole), at his home track of Monza no less. As if that wasn’t enough for the Italian rider and his Italian team, Biaggi also set the fastest top speed for the track on a superbike (205 mph), as well as a lap record (1’42.121).

Superpole however wasn’t as kind to the other Italian manufacturer, with only Michel Fabrizio making it into the third Superpole round. Fabrizio finished 3rd for the day, but his teammate, Norikuki Haga, finished at the bottom of Superpole 2 in 16th position.

With Ruben Xaus finishing 6th in the Superpole, six different manufacturers will make up the top six riders on the starting grid come Sunday, which should make the races exciting for any fan. Check the full Superpole results after the jump.

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Racing

Question of the Day: Should Ducati Give Factory Support to Althea Ducati and Carlos Checa?

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Our good colleagues over at MotoBlog.it delved into this idea today, and it brings up an interesting issue. At what point does Ducati begin supporting the privateer efforts of Althea Ducati and its rider Carlos Checa?

Checa is of course already has a win under his belt this season, not to mention that he has had very strong and consistent finishes. Checa also leads the factory Ducati riders by 18 (Haga) & 50 (Fabrizio) points…all of which was accomplished on a machine that should be inferior to what Xerox Ducati has been racing, and achieving lesser results with to this point in the season.

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WSBK: Another Nail-Biter for Race 2 at Phillip Island

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Phillip Island served up another nail-biter for WSBK fans this Sunday. With the race winner making a last lap pass, no one could have guessed the top four finishers in this race. With a few familiar faces, along with a few new hopefuls, wrapping up the first stop on the World Superbike Championship only wets the appetite further for the rest of the WSBK season. Rider quotes, video highlights, and race standings after the jump.

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Racing

WBSK: Photo Finish for Race 1 at Phillip Island

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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.

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