Tag

world superbike

Browsing

After announcing his retirement from AMA Pro Racing, and what many assumed meant motorcycle racing in general, it didn’t take long for Mat Mladin to wind back up in the racing spot-light, this time with World Superbike aires around him. It would seem the recently retired Australian  rider is at least musing over a possible World Superbike ride this week, as was revealed in a post on twitter earlier today. Citing a couple of offers, Mladin seems to be at least interested in one of them. More after the jump.

UPDATE: EBR has officially unveiled the Erik Buell Racing 1190RR

As Erik Buell Racing begins to take shape (the company has now taken over the erikbuellracing.com domain), details about the company are starting to come forth. First up is the news that EBR will offer three race versions of the 1125 platform. The most interesting of these three bikes being the 1190RR, an 1190cc race machine made to take advantage of the latest racing rules for v-twins in the Superbike category at the world level.

After a successful inaugural season in the World Superbike Championship, BMW is looking to let some other riders, besides Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus, have some fun on the S1000RR. With two teams set to carry the BMW flag in the IDM Superbike series (German equivalent of AMA Superbike), a two-man team in British Superbike, and rumors of an AMA Superbike bid, BMW seems to be franchising better than a Pappa John’s Pizza.

And now according to Swiss publication Speedweek helping BMW make a bigger push into WSBK is the news that German team Reitwagen Racing will run a S1000RR as WSBK satellite team.

For the 2010 season, minor changes have been made to the way the race weekend will be scheduled, with the most notable change being the adjustments to the Superpole qualifying event. Instead of three equally durationed 12 minutes sessions for the Superpole, as we saw in the 2009 season, the 2010 Superpole format will be comprised of three sessions of varying length. More after the jump.

A lot of time has gone by since Wayne Gardner won the 1987 500GP World Championship or the 8 Hours of Suzuka, but that didn’t stop the Austrialian motorcycling icon from doing the rounds at the WSBK Portimao testing paddock this past week. Hoping on a variety of bikes, Gardner got a chance to see what WSBK riders were dealing with this past season, and gave GPone his thoughts on how each bike performed around the Portuguese track. Click past the jump for his thoughts and a video.

Living in the Land of the Free has its advantages, but one of them is not the gift of conveniently televised motorcycle races on SPEED TV. Did you miss Sunday’s race, and Tuesday’s rebroadcast? Well, we’ve got you covered…actually the organizers of WorldSBK.com have you covered. Click here for a list of WSBK races you can stream to your desktop, including Race 1 & Race 2 of WSBK’s stop at Portimao, Portugal. Thanks for the tip Cat.

UPDATE: Nakano has officially announced his retirement from motorcycle racing, saying “I think it’s time to stop and I have decided to retire. Thanks to everyone who has supported me during 13 years as a professional racer and eleven years in the world championships. Now, if my experience is a little help, I want to contribute to the motorcycle industry. I look forward to seeing everyone at the track in the near future, this time in a different capacity.”

Multiple sites are hinting that Shinya Nakano, teammate to Maxi Biaggi on the factory Aprilia WSBK team, could be announcing his retirement from World Superbike racing as early as today. Expected to make the announcement in a press conference in Japan, the Japanese rider would be retiring after 13 years of racing, and on the eve of his 32nd birthday.