SportBiKeZ

Ulsterman Eugene Laverty (22) will replace Fabien Foret in the Yamaha World Supersport Team for the Donington and Vallelunga rounds, as the French rider continues his recuperation at home in France.

Third in the 2006 British Supersport series, Laverty has more recent experience of 250cc GP machinery, but is pumped at the prospect of running in top-level 600cc racing. ”I'm really excited at the chance to ride a competitive Supersport machine”, said Laverty. ”Two years of riding underpowered bikes has led to two difficult seasons for me. For Yamaha to pick me up and offer this opportunity is fantastic, I'm over the moon! I can't wait to get to Donington and start working with the team to set up and get out on track".

James Ellison is on course to appear at Donington Park as a wildcard entry in a fortnight’s time for round 11 of the World Superbike Championship, despite injuries to his right hand that put him out of the Cadwell Park BSB last weekend.

Ellison had to sit out the two races on Bank Holiday Monday when an injury to his arm caused too severe during the F1-style qualifying session on Sunday.

Ellison picked up the injury riding on a Honda Enduro launch a week prior in Malaga alongside Cal Crutchlow and Leon Haslam.

Ellison said the ripped tendons in his lower right arm and hand were caused by the strain of riding and spent Monday in pit lane with a brace on his injured arm.

But Hydrex Bike Animal Team Owner Shaun Muir said the former Grand Prix and AMA star was still on course for a wildcard appearance at Donington Park for the up coming World Superbike round.

Muir told : “We are waiting on Friday night or Saturday morning to make our decision on James. That’s when the splinter is due to come off his arm, but he’s on a course of daily injections and there is no reason why the injury shouldn’t be sorted for Donington.

“As long as there are no repercussions of the injury, James will be fully fit for the World Superbike weekend.”

Garry McCoy is planning to make his return to motorcycle racing at the penultimate round of the World Supersport Championship at Magny Cours on 3rd to 5th October.

Garry McCoy has been out of action for over a month after suffering a horrific crash during the Saturday Free Practice session at Brno, Czech Republic.

McCoy collided with Ten Kate rider Andrew Pitt and lost control of his SC Triumph Daytona 675 and hit the Armco barrier.

The Australian suffered severe injuries including a broken T6 vertebrae and three broken ribs which affected his internal organs.

After travelling from Andorra to attend Craig Jones’ funeral, McCoy said:

“I still can’t take a full breath because of the broken ribs. One of my ribs broke in three places which has caused a lot of pain. With the broken vertebrae I have to wear a body cast which doesn’t sound too bad but for the first six weeks I have to wear it day and night everyday.

"I’ve only taken it off to shower and when I sleep I have to wake up first before I turn over!”

“After the six weeks are up, I then need to wear it for another two weeks but only during the day. I’m already looking forward to getting on the bike again. In a way I feel ready now but I know I’ll have to wait.”

Heading in to the 11th round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park this weekend and there is still no further news on what riders will be racing in what teams in 2009.

Historically all the major signings are completed by the Brands Hatch race at the beginning of August, but this season the whole WSB paddock remains in limbo one month on.

The main reason for the delay is over who will replace Troy Bayliss in the Xerox Ducati team when the Australian retires at the end of the season. To date there have been numerous names thrown in the hat ranging from Max Biaggi, Chris Vermeulen, Noriyuki Haga, Ben Spies and Briton Shane Byrne.

Ducati were expected to make the eagerly awaited announcement last week, but the decision has been delayed yet again and MCN understands that there is a whole series of meetings planned this weekend which could determine the final outcome.

With the factory Ducati ride still undecided it’s proving difficult for any of the other rides to be finalised. Currently there have been no confirmed signings at the Yamaha Italia team, Ten Kate Honda are yet to announce their three man rider line up and Alstare Suzuki have only one rider confirmed with Max Neukirchner already signed for 2009.

BMW is another big player with a ride available. The new to WSB manufacturer announced the signing of Ruben Xaus back in June, but are yet to confirm their second man.

WSB has also become a melting pot for young and old talent with BSB young guns and MotoGP veterans all fighting for a top ride alongside the established WSB regulars.

The good news for Ryuichi Kiyonari and his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Team is that he will enter the Donington race on a wave of confidence after his double win last time out at Brands Hatch. The bad news for his rivals is that he actually thought he would stand more of a chance of his first World Superbike win at his most favoured UK racetrack, Donington Park!

Said Kiyo, "I like Donington, although it is quite a difficult circuit, with a very fast part followed by the very tight area around the hairpin. Before the season, I thought that Donington would be my strongest circuit but, after winning at Brands Hatch, I will be trying extra hard for another victory".

Britain's James Ellison will be lining up as a wild-card ride at this weekend's Donington Park round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship despite still feeling the effects of a recent wrist injury that forced him to sit out the last round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.

The 27 year-old from Kendal had scored points in every round of the BSB championship on his Shaun Muir Racing 1000cc Honda Fireblade, but had to miss Cadwell, and is now looking forward to racing in World Superbike once again, after two years in MotoGP and a year in AMA Superbike.

"I'm so looking forward to racing at Donington, it's unreal!" declared Ellison. "I was so frustrated at Cadwell but my wrist is fine and I have no concerns about it at all now. All it needed was a little bit of rest and now I'm raring to go. We had a good run in the BSB races at Donington and I'm hopeful we can give a good account of ourselves once again. We know our bike is good, we have got the electronics working a lot better and I'm really up for this one. Top ten would be a great result, but I'm hoping for a top six if I'm being honest and despite it being probably the strongest field of the year what with all the British wild cards, I'm feeling very confident".

Ellison is familiar with the World Superbike paddock, having won the European Superstock Championship in 2000 and 2001, before embarking on a season in World Supersport in 2002. He scored his best WSB results in 2004, taking his Yamaha to fifth and sixth at Brands Hatch.

Having made an instant name for himself in WSB circles at the recent Brands Hatch WSB round, Tom Sykes and his Rizla Suzuki BSB Squad will be back for more global action at Donington on September 7th.Since the Brands WSB round Sykes has scored a third BSB win and then a fourth place at Knockhill, and most recently two second places at Cadwell Park; results which put him second in the championship with three rounds remaining.Said his Team Manager, Jack Valentine, "It's off to World Championship duty for Tom and Rizla Suzuki in a fortnight and we want to be challenging for the podium if possible. The GSX-R1000 is right on the money and so is Tom - the fans really helped us at Brands earlier in the month and I hope they'll come and show their support again at Donington".

In the eight months since BMW’s announcement that they would
enter the Superbike World Championship in 2009, the project has
gathered pace and race fans everywhere have now been able to see the
tangible aspects of the project properly for the first time. The new
BMW S 1000 RR has been tested at various racetracks in Spain, but it
has now had its first test at a track used by the Superbike World
Championship - the Eurospeedway Lausitzring.

The German
circuit was on the WSBK calendar up to last season and the recent two
day test gave the team a chance to compare their lap times and
performance with last year’s race weekend. At the end of the
test, the team and the three test riders were all happy with the
progress of the bike and eager to work on analysing all the data before
moving on to the next stage in the bike’s development.

The three riders, Steve Martin, Kevin Curtain and Jeremy McWilliams, said;

“The
basics of the S 1000 RR are very good, the engine has good power, the
chassis and suspension are working well and the bike has the basis of a
Superbike racer already.”

This sentiment was echoed by BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s General Manager Berti Hauser, who added;

“I
am very happy with the professional way all three riders worked and the
amount of feedback they have given us. We are under no illusions of the
amount of work we have to do before the start of the season next year,
but we are ready and looking forward to facing this huge challenge. Up
to now, we have done very little work on the electronics and have
preferred to get the bike’s basics working well and I think we
have achieved that. If our project continues at this good pace, I think
we could surprise a few people next year.”

Whilst the main
focus of attention has been at the track, a lot of work has been going
on near Rosenheim, a small town about sixty or so kilometres south east
of BMW’s headquarters in Munich. It is here that BMW Motorrad and
their partners, Alpha Technik, will prepare the Superbike racebikes in
a brand new state of the art facility, incorporating 7,000 square
metres of workshops and offices. The main workshop area is split into
three parts and has two dynos - one for the whole bike and another
which can simulate any racetrack in the world. One of the three
buildings will house BMW Motorrad´s Off-Road and Enduro team,
whilst the other two will be for the Superbike project and for spares
and parts. The progress of the facility's construction has been rapid
and eight months ago there was nothing but grassland where there are
now workshops, offices, meeting rooms and a canteen for all the
employees.

The new facility marks just another step of BMW
Motorrad and Alpha Technik on their way towards the 2009 Superbike
World Championship season.