This week the World Superbike paddock returns to action at Imola, and while the championship is far from being decided there’s a lot of speculation about who will be riding where next year. As usual rumors of where Ben Spies will be riding in 2010 are making the rounds, and both MCN and VisorDown are reporting that the American will be riding alongside fellow Texan Colin Edwards on the Tech 3 MotoGP team whether he wins the WSBK championship or not. There has been neither confirmation or denial from Yamaha or Spies at his point, but railbirds have questioned where he would be next year every since an official Yamaha press release stated that they "forsee" Ben Spies riding a Yamaha in WSBK in 2010.If Spies does move on to MotoGP that would leave an opening on what could be the championship winning team, and Tom Sykes sub-par season on the second bike might mean that the team will have to replace both riders next year. That's the same situation that the team was in at the end of last year, and they shouldn't have a problem finding two topflight riders if they need them. Cal Crutchlow has been dominating the World Supersport series on a Yamaha this year so he is a prime candidate for moving up to the WSBK team. If Spies does make the move to Tech 3 that means James Toseland would be out of a ride, and there would be a lot of interest in getting the two time champ back into the series. Chris Vermeulen has already lost his Suzuki MotoGP ride, and the former WSS champion has been talking with Yamaha and other teams about the possibility of riding in WSBK. Those are some of the bigger names that are in the mix for 2010, but Leon Camier's dominant, sixteen win season in British Superbike on a Yamaha makes him a contender for a ride on one of the top teams.
The Ducati Xerox team has just announced that they have resigned Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio for the 2010 season. Haga sits second in the championship with six wins and fourteen podiums. Fabrizio is in third place with one win and twelve podiums. The team will be streaming live video from Haga’s garage at this weekend’s Imola round. The feed will come from the ducati.com website during Superpole, Sunday warm-up and the races.
The 2010 season will be the first season for Moto2. The series replaces the 250cc class that travels around the world with MotoGP and 125cc bikes. Moto2 was originally open to four stroke 600cc production engines, but that raised the ire of the Flammini brothers who run WSBK because their agreement with the FIM gives the World Supersport championship the exclusive rights to race 600cc bikes internationally. The FIM agreed, and DORNA, who run MotoGP and Moto2, changed the rules so that now all of the competitors in the series are now limiting to running a spec Honda 600cc engine in their own chassis. That seemed to satisfy the Flammini brothers, but the new series has generated tremendous interest forcing DORNA to deny the applications of nearly half of the teams who applied to compete in the series. Good news for a series that met with widespread skepticism when it was announced, but seemingly bad news for WSBK who will now be getting more competition for riders who are more interested in riding a 600cc four stroke in front of MotoGP decision makers than in WSBK or WSS.
After John Hopkins’ first lap crash in the last round at the Nurburgring it was thought that for once the Anglo American had come away from an accident unscathed, but upon further examination it was determined that he had suffered more serious injuries, "My doctor reviewed the scans and found a big bruise and bleeding on the brain. I had to see a neurologist to determine the severity of the condition, and he has confirmed the bruise on the brain, but no further bleeding. My shoulder has tendon and ligament damage which require surgery, as well as my wrist. For the next six to eight weeks I have been instructed to rest and then have another scan to see if the bruising has gone".
Hopkins injuries will keep him out of action for the rest of the season, and the Stiggy Racing team has decided not to replace him for the final three rounds. Instead the team will focus their efforts on Leon Haslam who sits sixth in the championship, 23 points behind Max Biaggi.
With the AMA roadracing series running their last round in New Jersey two weeks ago Chaz Davies has taken the opportunity to finish out the World Supersport season with ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing. Davies will ride alongside Australian Gary McCoy on a Triumph 675 in the final three rounds of the championship. The 22 year old Davies has experience in 125cc, 250cc, MotoGP, won the 2008 Daytona 200 and finished ninth in the AMA's Daytona SportBike class this year on an Aprilia RSV 1000R.
The V8 Supercar career of Troy Bayliss has been put on hold due to technical difficulties. The three time WSBK champ was scheduled to make his debut at Philllip Island, but a broken alternator belt on the warm-up lap ended the team’s day. Bayliss did finish 29th in a support race, and his next V8 Supercar effort will come at the Bathhurst 1000 in October.
