WORLDSBK.COM - bis 20.06.2011

[WORLDSBK.COM]

The European Junior Cup is an exciting new class that will feature at the events of the 2011 Superbike World Championship organized by Infront Motor Sports. Open to 14 to 17 year old racers from around the world the European Junior Cup takes place at some of the most famous and legendary racing circuits in the calendar.

Riders will compete on identical race prepared Kawasaki Ninja 250R motorcycles and will have the opportunity to display their talent in front of thousands of racing fans when they take to the track, directly before Sunday's second World Superbike race.

The fantastic European Junior Cup package includes:

• Race prepared Kawasaki Ninja 250 R and pit equipment

• Transport of motorcycle to all rounds

• Entry fees, tyres and fuel

• Riding equipment and team wear

• Hospitality at the Junior Cup paddock village

• Technical support

• Race coaching from star riders

• Pre season training camp in Spain.

To prepare the young riders as they begin their international racing careers there will be an active coaching programme throughout the season, beginning with a training camp for all participants in Guadix, Spain.

The series then visits the following circuits:

• Assen (15-17 April)

• Monza (6-8 May)

• Aragon (17-19 June)

• Silverstone (29-31 July)

• Nurburgring (2-4 September)

• Magny-Cours (30 September - 2 October)

The European Junior Cup welcomes racers from a wide range of motorcycling disciplines. Entries will be considered from all riders who have held a competition license for at least one year in either road racing, motocross, enduro, supermoto, trials or minimoto.

For further information or to enrol in this exciting new youth series please visit the www.europeanjuniorcup.com website, which will shortly be online.

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On Thursday 9 December the new-for-2011 Liberty Racing Ducati team will hold a launch party in Prague, at the Hard Rock Café, to present itself to the world in an official form.

Riders Jakub Smrz and Sylvain Guintoli, plus the team staff, will meet members of the media in what will be a night of work and play, with various entertainments following the introduction of the team.

The Czech based team is an important part of the make-up of the 2011 entry list in the Superbike World Championship, and will arrive well-equipped to take on the rest of a high class field.

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The Ten Kate Junior Team has announced its line-up for 2011; Dutchmen Michael van der Mark will ride a Honda CBR600RR in Superstock 600, while Italian Luca Verdini (photo) will defend the team's colors in the FIM Cup Superstock 1000 on a Honda Fireblade.

This year Van der Mark made his debut for the Junior Ten Kate Team in the Superstock 600 European Championship during the last race at Magny-Cours. The Dutchmen scored a blistering seventh place, missing out the podium by three seconds, although he had nearly no four-stroke experience. After two titles in the Open Dutch Championships 125cc (2008/2009) Van der Mark went to the 125cc World Championship.

"I'm really glad that I will ride next season for the Ten Kate Junior Team," said the 18 year-old Dutchman. "Last season was one with many ups and downs. Luckily I got the chance from Ferry Schoenmakers at Magny-Cours to race for him during the final event of the Superstock 600 European Championship. It went very well and it was a great experience. Yet I´m careful with predictions, because I want to see first who else will ride next year in the Superstock 600. During the winter season I will train as much as possible to be ready for the new season!"

Luca Verdini scored his first major successes also in the 125cc, taking the Italian title. After this success Verdini stepped over to the Stock classes and notched some good results. In 2010 he ended second in the strong Italian Superstock 1000 championship on a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. The resident of Pesaro has had already a couple of wildcard entries in the FIM Cup Superstock 1000.

Luca Verdini (25 years): "I am very proud to ride next season for Ten Kate Junior. It is a great opportunity for me to show my skills. Ten Kate is without any doubt the most important and largest team in the paddock. It feels great to be part of this squad. Next season I want to end in the top-three of the championship and take as many podium places as possible. I'll give everything to make this happen."

Ferry Schoenmakers (team manager): "With Michael van der Mark and Luca Verdini we have two drivers who can drive along the top. I'm very pleased that we have signed already our riders, because on this way we can prepare ourselves perfectly for the new season. It is also good that we have for the first time a Dutch driver in our team. Hopefully this gives a positive boost to the national road race. Before the opening race, we will schedule some tests. Where and when will be announced later. I'm looking really forward to the new season. "

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This evening sees the 35th edition of the Caschi d'Oro Awards, organized as a yearly appointment in Bologna by Italy's leading sector publication Motosprint. For the fifth year running it will be held at the Teatro delle Celebrazioni in Bologna, one of the city's most traditional and prestigious theatres for cultural events.

All the protagonists of the 2010 season will be there to receive their awards, including 2010 World Superbike champion Max Biaggi, who will also be a candidate for the Top Rider award, chosen as every year by Motosprint's readers.

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Broc Parkes and David Salom from the Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki Supersport World Championship team put their 2011 specification racebikes through their paces at Almeria in Spain last week, in a test that had to be delayed because of changeable weather conditions.

The sessions were finally completed on Friday 3 December, with both Salom and Parkes able to make progress towards finding a strong base set-up, but unable to go for really quick times because of high winds and relatively cool tarmac.

Parkes is a vastly experienced rider in this class, but he is about to embark on his first full season for Kawasaki, after running three races for the team in 2010. "We had to take a couple of extra days of testing, and we only got a few hours each day in any case," said Broc. "It was windy and sometimes rainy, but we got to test the 2011 spec machine, which we had set out to do. The only trouble was that it was really cold, so you could only push so far in those conditions. We got a good base set-up for the next tests but the conditions were a little bit difficult at this one."

David Salom also had an eventually fruitful time in testing, despite some weather delays. "Our test was very good, despite the weather," said Salom. "We worked a lot on the set-up and everybody seemed happy, so we have a good feeling already as we approach next year. The weather always changed, rain, wind, dry - very mixed - but we made some progress which was the point of having the test."

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The 35th edition of Italy's Caschi d'Oro awards, organized by Italy's leading weekly magazine Motosprint, was held yesterday evening in Bologna, and as expected the top prize went to Max Biaggi. The Italian crowned a fantastic season by picking up his Golden Helmet award for winning the 2010 Superbike World Championship as well as the special Top Rider award, which he was voted for by Motosprint readers.

"It's great to win the Casco d'Oro, but for me the Top Rider award has a special significance, and it makes me feel so proud," declared an emotional Biaggi on stage. "It's fantastic to win it again after so many years, the last time was in 1998".

A helmet also went to Aprilia for the Superbike Manufacturers title, received by technical director Gigi dall'Igna, as well as to Tony Cairoli, Toni Elias, Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo, winners in their respective world championship categories.

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Ten Kate Honda's new World Superbike signing, Ruben Xaus, is using the winter break to catch up with some sponsors and this week is visiting the Madif Industries factory in Hong Kong. Madif has provided the Ten Kate team's clothing in recent years and Xaus has been wearing the company's Arlen Ness branded leathers, gloves and boots since 2000.

Xaus traditionally makes an annual visit to the factory to discuss the development of new products which, after thorough testing on World Superbike circuits around the world, find their way into protective clothing for street motorcycling.

Last week, Xaus tested the Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade for the first time at Portimao in Portugal and, despite almost incessant wet conditions during the two-day test, the Catalan rider emerged on top with the quickest time. The team's winter testing schedule will resume next month in Spain and Portugal before the long trek to Phillip Island in Australia for further testing and the opening round of the 2011 WSBK championship on 27 February.

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James Toseland and Ayrton Badovini have for the first time ridden their S 1000 RR machines that have been prepared in record time in Italy in collaboration with the parent company of BMW. Two days of testing at Portimao in Portugal were used to confirm the technical decisions made by the team in regard to the weight distribution and suspension settings, as well as various different electronic mapping .

The riders also put time adapting the bike to their riding styles, and covering a lot of laps that allowed them to provide important information to engineers . They have now returned to Italy, and will implement the changes for the future testing which will continue on the Portimao circuit, in late January.

"The package is very good," said Toseland. "The engine has good power and we are working to obtain a more even distribution. The bike 's strength is I think that the chassis provides excellent response when changing direction. We worked carefully on the set up of the suspension, weight distribution and the bike responds very well to changes. We must, however, work to develop the whole package . The team is fantastic and a lot of the guys are the same as those with which we won the title in 2004. "

"I was impressed by the professionalism of the team, which I already knew," said Badovini. "The bike is built well but, of course, is being refined. We have already seen the details of what we will be doing and I am sure at our second outing at the end of January everything will be even better."

Serafino Foti, team manager of BMW Motorrad Superbike Italy team, said: "We started working on the bike just a month and a half ago and we put in a lot of effort to be ready to test in Portimao. We are quite satisfied with the way the bike responded but obviously it remains to be seen what else happens as it was on the track for the first time in Portugal. The track, due to yesterday's (Thursday) rain, was very dirty, but we needed to cover a lot of miles and not take too much notice of the times we set."

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Following an accord signed in November and first tests a few days ago at the Valencia circuit, the SMS Racing Team has confirmed it will be moving up into World Supersport for the 2011 season with Ondrej Jezek, the Czech rider who has raced in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup over the past few seasons.

The 21-year-old from Brno had a difficult 2010 season, finishing 19th overall with a best result of 11th at Valencia on an MS Racing Aprilia RSV4.

Jezek and SMS Racing will take part in their debut year in World Supersport with a Honda CBR 600RR, and are next scheduled to test at Motorland Aragon in January.

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With the current year about to come to a close and the European winter already biting hard, thoughts naturally turn to 2011 and the prospects for another potentially thrilling year of action in WSBK racing.

With 13 rounds now confirmed on the calendar, including flyaway events in Australia and America, there is already a strong and solid entry of top Superbike riders.

In alphabetical order by manufacturer - all seven manufacturers of course - reigning champions Aprilia lead the charge. As well as official duo Max Biaggi and Leon Camier, Noriyuki Haga joins the fray on an Aprilia RSV4 next year, as lone rider in the Pata Aprilia squad.

As no regular WSBK watcher could have failed to notice, BMW Motorrad Motorsport has swept up the talents of 2010 runner-up Leon Haslam to partner double champion Troy Corser, making another exciting duo to keep an eye on in 2011. BMW starts the season with four representatives, in fact, the two official machines and also the BMW Motorrad Italia S1000RR Superbikes of Ayrton Badovini and James Toseland.

In the Ducati camp, the Althea Racing team will field Carlos Checa, third in the overall championship in 2010, hoping and expecting he can carry on a winning streak. The Liberty Ducati team, recently launched in Prague, will field Jakub Smrz and Sylvain Guintoli on their top class machines, while impressive 2010 debutants Supersonic Ducati have opted for youth again as they have secured the services of former Superstock star, Maxime Berger.

The Honda Ten Kate team, champions in 2007 with Toseland, will once more field serial winner Jonathan Rea. They have already enjoyed a fruitful testing union with the WSBK legend that is Ruben Xaus.

The manufacturer with probably most public attention of all so far in the off season, Kawasaki, is fielding three official new ZX-10R machines via the Kawasaki Racing Team and PBM partnership, with Chris Vermeulen, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz making an impressive trio. Kawasaki Pedercini has one rider - so far - in the shape of returnee rider Roberto Rolfo.

All change at Suzuki Alstare means Michel Fabrizio is their lone rider for 2011, but one with the lustre of recent race wins still shining as he joins the Alstare team.

Yamaha's official teamsters, Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri, could not come to the championship from more contrasting directions - Laverty from WSS and Melandri from MotoGP - but each has already been fast in testing and are sure to be in the mix from the very start.

With more entries sure to be confirmed soon, and the usual clutch of fast wildcards at most major events in 2011, the prospects for an exciting new season are already assured. Action gets underway for real at Phillip Island on Sunday 27 February but the official pre-season tests, first in Portimao in January and then Phillip Island in February, will be the first chance to see which of the top riders may be hitting peak form at just the right time.

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The collaboration between Termignoni and Genesio Bevilacqua's Althea Racing will get off on the best possible footing tomorrow after the team's general manager gladly accepted the invitation to exhibit the bike that Carlos Checa will ride in next year's World Superbike Championship at "Termignoni Day", at Predosa in northern Italy. The team will take the opportunity to show off the bike's new livery to the public and press for the first time.

"Termignoni Day is the ideal occasion in which to unveil our new 2011 colours - commented Bevilacqua - it was already our intention to exhibit the bike at the party and so we were very happy to receive an invite and to be able to present the bike at such a unique event"

"The presentation of Althea Racing's Ducati gives added value to an already impressive line-up of bikes - commented Luigi Termignoni - the Italian motorcycle manufacturer has always participated in SBK and we are proud to be able to equip Genesio Bevilacqua's Ducati outfit in 2011".

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Eugene Laverty has won the Irish Motorcyclist of the Year Award, joining some greats of Irish racing from the past in receiving this accolade. Laverty is also unusual in winning as a short circuit rider, as historically most recipients are closed road racers, like Joey Dunlop, Phillip McCallen, Brian Reid and several others.

Said Laverty, "It was a nice award to get, it was the first time I have won it and it was a public vote. Last year Ryan Farquhar won it and it is normally road racers who get it, so it was nice to be recognised. Tom Herron was the first winner back in 1978 and Joey Dunlop won it five times. It is a very nice trophy and it has a replica of Joey Dunlop's crash helmet on top of it."

Laverty has now completed his last test of 2010, but alongside his team-mate Marco Melandri he will attend the official tests at Portimao in January 2011 and then the Phillip Island tests that will take place only a few days before the start of the new season, between 25 and 27 February. Said Laverty, "Our recent Phillip Island tests went well, and it was a case of getting the bike adjusted to me a bit more. I have clicked with the bike as well. I am also getting on well with Marco; he is very laid back and down to earth. I am looking forward to riding at Portimao next time out, because in Australia there was only Aprilia and us, and we were definitely dodging each other on the track some of the times. This time there will be no escaping each other, and I really want to get a feel for what it is like to ride the Superbike in among other riders on track."

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The only vee-four in the class proved the winner in 2010, as all the many technical advances and adjustments that featured on the RSV4 from its arrival in 2009 finally meshed together the way the Aprilia engineering team, led by Luigi Dall'Igna intended them to.

Variable height intake trumpets, a bespoke Aprilia injection and ECU system, ride-by-wire throttle control and inertial inputs for bank angle and overall machine attitude were just some of the technical feasts enjoyed by Biaggi and Camier in 2010.

Easily the most race-focused of the 2010 machines, the RSV4 was at its best at either fast circuits or smoother circuits. On more bumpy or scarred surfaces, the Aprilia's pure racetrack genes actually made it more of a handful than most other bikes, as agility edged towards sensitivity.

A quoted BHP output of over 215@15,000rpm seems a little conservative, but the Aprilia also made great use of its relatively small frontal area and narrow engine - not to mention great traction exiting corners - to post its consistently high top speed figures. The bore and stroke of 78 x 52.3mm was not the most radical in the class, although a compression ratio of 14.5:1 seemed as high as any other.

Overall adjustability on the Aprilia was greater than any other machine, but also the ease with which it could be adjusted was class leading. Not only was the engine a moveable feast, the headstock and swingarm alterable in several planes, but the cassette gearbox also saved time in the pits between sessions.

The biggest controversy in the life of the RSV4 was of course the adoption of full gear drive cams from Miller onwards, as the last piece of the full-race jigsaw was put in place.

Right on the weight limit of 162kg, the Aprilia was a truly special machine in full WSBK trim, as Aprilia intended it to be, and it formed the basis of a clean sweep of Riders', Manufacturers' and Team's titles.

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Today, December 16th 2010, is yet another day to celebrate for Max Biaggi as Leon Alexandre Biaggi was born at the Princess Grace Hospital in Monte-Carlo.

The baby boy weighs in at 2.9 kg, and his mother is fine, she will be discharged in a few days time.

In this way Leon can now meet up with his little sister, the first-born, Inés Angelica who is already 15 months old.

To mark the happy event, here's a photo of the 2010 champion in another amazing sprint to the line!

 

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The official 2010 FIM Superbike World Championship Yearbook, from one of the most important motoring sector publishers, Giorgio Nada Editore, is now available in all good bookshops.

Every year, through the words and photographs of Claudio and Fabrizio Porrozzi, the official Superbike book testifies to the evolution and growth of the world championship for production-derived motorcycles.

The 2010 book is the result of close collaboration between Infront Motor Sports and Giorgio Nada Editore, leader in Italy and Europe in the publication of motoring books. The international prestige of the publisher ensures a wide diffusion of the book in Italy through the distribution network of Giunti Editore, the Giunti al Punto sales points and the Libreria dell'Automobile, as well as in foreign markets.

The synergy between Infront Motor Sports and Giorgio Nada Editore is part of a mutual understanding that aims to come ever closer to the vast audience of Superbike enthusiasts, enabling them to relive the excitement of the championship in the pages of the official yearbook.

The hardback 2010 edition is in Italian and English and comprises 192 pages in 24.3x27 cm format, printed on 150 gr. paper. It is available now and is an ideal gift for Christmas.

The publisher's web site is: http://www.giorgionadaeditore.it/

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Two months after the appointment of Bernhard Gobmeier as BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director, further changes are being made to key positions within the Superbike team. Rainer Bäumel, formerly the team's Technical Director, takes up the newly created post of Head of Race Operations with immediate effect. Stephan Fischer becomes the new Head of Development for BMW Motorrad Motorsport, while Josef Hofmann is appointed Managing Director of the Stephanskirchen factory. All three will respond directly to Gobmaier.

In mid-January, Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport will be bound for Australia. The next winter tests are scheduled for 26th to 28th January in Eastern Creek, before the team behind Troy Corser and Leon Haslam resume testing on Phillip Island on 2nd and 3rd February. Immediately before the season opens there on 27th February, Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport will be able to measure themselves against the other World Championship contenders for the first time at the final official Infront test held at the same track on 21st and 22nd February.

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Several changes will be put into place for next season in the FIM Superbike & Supersport World Championship and the FIM Superstock Cup following a meeting of the Superbike Commission made up of representatives from Infront Motor Sports, the FIM and the teams.

The most important regards the Saturday afternoon Superbike Superpole qualifying session, the new version of which will see the participation of the top 16 riders in qualifying, a change from this year, when the top 20 were allowed into the session. As a result now four riders will be eliminated after Superpole 1, leaving 12 and then four riders will be eliminated from Superpole 2, leaving 8 for the final Superpole 3 session.

The weekend time schedules have also been slightly changed, with the restoration of full Friday morning activity: World Supersport now has its opening free practice session on Friday at 9.45am instead of 2pm local time, and Superbike's opening free practice session is brought forward to 11.30am from 12.45pm. Saturday and Sunday schedules will remain unchanged.

In addition the minimum/maximum age limits in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup will now be extended to allow in riders born between January 1, 1985 and April 14, 1995.

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The Althea Racing Team unveiled the new livery of its 2011 bike yesterday on the occasion of Termignoni Day at the exhaust company's headquarters in the town of Predosa in northern Italy.

Hundreds of people and industry figures turned out to see team representative Moreno Coppola and Ducati Corse Superbike manager Ernesto Marinelli, take the wraps off the team's Ducati 1198F.

The main difference in the livery is that the bike has a lot more red and less white than this year's version, in line with the team's de facto official status. Spain's Carlos Checa will be the sole rider in the Italian team run by ceramics entrepreneur Genesio Bevilacqua, who was absent due to prior work commitments.

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The new European Junior Cup race series, which will run as a support class to World Superbikes in 2011, has announced the riders prize fund and the race specification of the Kawasaki Ninja 250 R racer the young cup riders will use.

The prize fund sees an amazing Euro 10,000 award for the series champion or the option of Euro 15,000 towards a season's racing in the European Superstock 600 championship 2012. The race prizes are equally generous with Euro 1000 going to each race winner and Euro 300 awarded to the pole position setter. 2nd position in the race wins Euro 600 and 3rd nets Euro 300. Female racers and the 'Young Gun' 14 to 15 year olds are also rewarded with special prizes of Euro 250 each.

The final specification of the Junior Cup Kawasaki Ninja 250 R now includes a full race exhaust system and performance ECU from Leo Vince and competition suspension from FG Gubellini, brake lines from Fren Tubo, lightweight race bodywork from Italian specialists Plastic Bike and adjustable footrests from Gilles Tuning. Febur will supply competition handlebars, subframes and pit equipment. The package is completed with digital lap timers from HM-shifter, gearing sets from Corsa Components and tyre heaters from Capit, Italy.

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One of the most highly-awaited riders for next year's Superbike World Championship, Marco Melandri, gave his team and fans a few worrying moments last week when he had to have a check-up on what he thought was a serious pain in his shoulder.

The 28 year-old, who is scheduled to make his WSBK debut next year for Yamaha after nearly a decade in GP racing, said on his Twitter profile: "I had a big pain with no reason, that's wierd".

Luckily a scan did not reveal anything and the Italian rider is now able to prepare for the next tests for Yamaha in the new year. "Everything is going good. I'm just getting old," he reassured his fans. "I need to be back on my R1 as soon as possible!".

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In its second year of existence, the factory BMW S100RR reached the podium twice and took a Superpole win, as promises were finally delivered on in full competitive trim.

What looked like potentially the most effective conventional four-cylinder machine in the pack went through a series of evolutions between 2009 and 2010, the machined and glued-together modular rear swingarm proving to be a point of focus in terms of rolling metal. An extensive test programme ensured that the many small advances in set-up and electronics got regular evaluations.

The incredibly narrow machine, all angles and stylistically pointed bodywork, came as a result of its skinny engine - despite having the widest bore and shortest stroke in its class, 80 x 49.7mm. Clever and compact, it featured a compression ratio of 14:1, not excessively high. BMW claims 210bhp, but it was probably a little more than that at the end of the year.

‘Finger' cam followers allowed the engine to rev higher than most others, and there was a cam design change for Brno. Intake trumpet lengths were altered at Misano, where a new rear suspension unit, and a new link, also arrived.

48mm wide Dell'Orto throttle bodies supplied the mixture to the engine. The unique E-gas ride-by-wire technology provided the interface between rider input and throttle valves. A homemade RSM5 BMW Motorrad Motorsport EFI system was used and in 2010 a whole new traction control philosophy came in, from the third round of the season onwards.

BMW used the proven Öhlins TTX suspension as well as the new 2010 advances, which meant either TTX20 or TRVP25 front forks, and at the back RSP40 or TTX36 rear shocks. The bike used by Corser was two kg heavier than that used by Xaus, mainly due to Corser's desire to change weight distribution. He also used Nissin brakes, while Xaus used Brembo units.

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Eugene Laverty is bidding farewell to his famous ‘50' plate as he heads to the World Superbike Championship in 2011 with the official Yamaha factory team. The Irishman has been forced to change the number which has served him well over the last nine years because Suzuki's Sylvain Guintoli currently has the plate. Instead, Laverty will now run with the number ‘58'.

Laverty first fielded ‘50' in 2002 when he made his debut in the British 125cc Championship, and has kept it ever since. His best results with the number were achieved in 2009 and 2010 in World Supersport, when he notched up 12 wins and twice finished championship runner-up on the Parkalgar Honda.

Laverty is certainly sorry to see it go. "I don't have an emotional attachment to it, but I do feel it has been very significant in my career so far, and for that reason I am a bit sad to be parting with it," he admits."I don't have a choice, but I did have a choice in choosing my new number, 58. I like it because it's probably the nearest you can get to 50. I'm sure I'll go back to it when I get the opportunity. This year Sylvain has it but I'd definitely like to get it back as soon as I can."

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Tickets go on sale today for the San Marino Round, the sixth event in the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship, which will be held at the Misano World Circuit on Italy's Adriatic Riviera, from 10-12 June.

Until 28 February 2011 it will be possible to purchase all types of tickets at a 20% discount rate, and this special offer also includes the purchase of the SuperTicket, which includes access to the Grandstands, Paddock and the Pit-Walk, and the Village Vending Area with shows, events, displays and sales points.

Tickets can be purchased directly on-line from the www.ticketone.it and www.misanocircuit.com websites.

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Leon Haslam and his long time partner Olivia Stringer tied the knot recently, in a small ceremony attended by only a few family members and close friends. The service was held in Sweden, in a very small and picturesque church, and all went to plan until the Haslams tried to get home. Poor winter weather conditions back in the UK disrupted their travel plans, as Leon explained.

"The ceremony and everything was just what we imagined it would be and went really well," said the newlywed Haslam. "We were both really happy. When we tried to get home to the UK for the wedding reception, which was scheduled for Saturday night, our flights were cancelled. When it looked like the next one would also be cancelled we changed our plans to travel back to Manchester airport. Because of our delays we had to postpone the wedding reception back home, and we are looking at maybe planning the rescheduled one for around the same time as the Donington Park Superbike round. We will make a decision about that soon."

Next stop for Oli and Leon is their honeymoon in Borneo, after spending Christmas at home in England. Leon may also try and squeeze in some track time with the BMW test team, somewhere in Europe, before he heads to Australia for the official BMW Motorrad Motorsport team's scheduled tests at Eastern Creek and Phillip Island.

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Ten Kate provides Honda with its main WSBK presence, and this year the ultimate homemade team extracted well over 210bhp from the Fireblade engine, which is hardly in its first flush of youth. Coyly, Ten Kate refused to provide torque and compression ratios.

A Honda race kit gearbox was engaged and disengaged by an STM cable operated mechanical slipper clutch, as ten Kate went its own way again in many technical ways. PI Research Pectel equipment provided fuel/air delivery, via 46mm bore throttle bodies, and the EFI system was a joint effort from original supplier and Ten Kate itself. An HRC Honda race kit airbox fed the intakes, the unremarkable bore and stroke figures of 76 x 55mm hardly in class leading territory.

Italian suspension gurus Andreani looked after the Öhlins forks and shocks, the best of what was available to customer teams, TTX25 front forks and TTX36 rear shocks, the more modern material only coming along by mid-season. They did get to use some even more advanced material later in the year.

Inconsistency of set-up saw the Honda a winner in the hands of Rea one weekend, then toiling the next - not the stuff of cohesive championship challenges.

Rea used a KR rear swingarm all year; the race kit version from Honda direct was also available. Despite this, chatter was an issue more than once for each rider. PVM forged magnesium wheels, another almost unique departure, featured seven spokes, while Nissin brake discs were 7mm thick, 320 mm in diameter gripped by Nissin/Yutaka callipers.

The whole bike was around 163kg, just missing out on the minimum weight of 162kg.

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