Warwick: “This is an important decision and one that I have taken very seriously. Denisa and I began talking about the possibility of working together in July last year. As the 2007 season progressed, I found myself loosing motivation to do exactly the same thing again in 2008. I was with a good team and we had a good bike but we weren’t winning races or evening getting on the podium. I thought to myself, we had 6 attempts in 2007 to get on the podium. Surely we must be on it 50% of the time or at least once! But last year was the worst season I have ever had in the Endurance World Championship. For me, it’s business. I had fantastic statistics when I left Endurance in 2003 and over the last 3 years, those statistics have been lost.

The team and our partners are aware of the work ahead but that is part of our motivation. Our results may not show straight away but as usual, this is about endurance and never giving up so the results will come. Right now, I’m very happy and looking forward to a fresh new start. I have to say thank you to everybody at Phase One Yamaha. The last 3 years have been enjoyable and I wish them good luck in this year’s Championship”.

MACO MOTO:
Denisa Greskova is a unique figure in the sport of Endurance racing. A successful business woman from Bratislava, Slovakia, Denisa brings her business ethics to a sport that will no doubt benefit from a woman’s touch! Over the past few seasons, Denisa has persisted to raise her team from hopeful beginners to serious challengers. In 2008 Maco Yamaha will be joined by several new corporate partners and with World Champions in their rider line-up, it underlines Denisa’s intentions to succeed.

The 2008 Q-TEL Endurance World Championship starts in 3 weeks time at the infamous Bugatti circuit in France.
The adrenalin continues in 2008 for our non-stop Australian, with roles in British Superbike, TV commentary (Warwick is doing World Superbike commentary with me for the Valencia round on the 5th/6th April) and a return to Asia!

News on all 3 will follow shortly.

There's a lot of talk about who is riding what bike at the pre-race tests for the Le Mans 24 Hour race in the middle of April. So far, the strong rumour is that, along with Warwick Nowland, the Maco Moto team have also taken both of Phase One's American riders, Jason Pridmore and Dave Stanton. Not only may they have lost all their riders but also ace mechanic Steve Rose is another former Phase One team member now working with Martin Kuzma's Slovakian team for 2008.

Just one further twist...Dunlop have also gone with Warwick to Maco Moto.

This may seem to be a huge blow to the British 3-times World Champions - but Phase One may be coming back hard, with the rumoured signing of former British Superbike riders James Haydon (last year on the Virgin Media Yamaha) and Hawk Kawasaki rider Peter Hickman. Haydon is a very fast rider on a good day...the trouble is, he has been unable to shine in recent years and an early season crash put paid to his racing fairly early on in 2007.

Peter Hickman won the British Superstock Championship in 2004 and competed in the Superstock class at the 2007 Le Mans 24 hour race on the Education Racing Team Kawasaki, alongside Loic Napoleon and Neil Rogers. Neil injured his hand in the race and Loic Napoleon refused to carry on doing back-to-back stints. Needless to say, Peter Hickman was less than pleased, as at one time the team were running 2nd in their class.

So, not a panic signing of slow guys, then. It might even give a new lease of life to the perennially under-funded British team.

There is also news that Barry Veneman - who rides for the RES Software Hoegee Suzuki team in World Supersport - has joined the SERT World Endurance team for the Le Mans race...although there is no news yet on which of the two bikes he will be riding or who he will be replacing.

The former Foggy Petronas Racing World Superbike team has instructed Wyles Hardy & Co to stage an online website sale of all remaining equipment and assets. The team, set up by ex-World Champion Carl Fogarty, will host a viewing day at their Burton-on-Trent base on Saturday 12th April. Each of the 500 Lots can be bid for and purchased only online at www.wyleshardy.com, with the deadline for bids of 12 noon Thursday 17th April. 

Key items on sale include a state-of-the-art SuperFlow ‘Cycledyn SF-250’ Dynomometer; leathers, helmets and memorabilia worn and signed by Carl Fogarty and former FPR riders including Troy Corser, Garry McCoy and Chris Walker; racing parts; garage mechanics’ tooling and equipment; machine tools; office and computer equipment; not forgetting the fully fitted Vipex Conestoga Double Deck Race Trailer. Full details and images of each Lot are included on the website. Carl said: “There should be something here for everyone from professional race teams, amateur racers to every motorcycling enthusiast. Our team always prided themselves on excellence so all the items, from the race trailer down to tools and equipment are of excellent quality and in great condition.”  

Viewing on Saturday April 12th starts at 9am and lasts until 4pm and Carl Fogarty is scheduled to attend the base at Unit 1, Stretton Business Park, Brunel Drive, Burton-on-Trent, DE13 0BY. Part of the proceeds from the sale will go towards Carl’s official charity, the NSPCC.

For further enquiries please contact: Mark.Edmunds@wyleshardy.com or see www.wyleshardy.com

One could be forgiven for imagining a small tornado hitting the normally bucolic track of Pannoniaring in Hungary last week, as former World Formula 1 Champion Michael Schumacher turned up in full leathers - and according to very senior sources, was not only pretty quick - but beat the times of one of the track instructors after only 5 hours of track time. He was there - in only 5°C - to test the German Superbike Championship Honda of Austrian rider Martin Bauer.

I don't think that this is just a one-off event. Strong rumour has it that he's going to be there again...testing a World Endurance machine.

We've already seen former Grand Prix Champion Kevin Schwantz bring massive interest to the Bol d'Or 24 hour race in 2004 - now, four years later, could the Le Mans 24 hour race bring an even bigger shock entry?

...and for what team?...

Taree’s Damian Cudlin has confirmed he will return to his former Phase One Yamaha Team for the full 2008 World Endurance Championship season. In a surprise late season re-shuffle, Cudlin, who rode for YART last season on his way to 3rd in the World Championship standings, will now race the Dunlop shod Phase One Yamaha R1 in his bid for the 2008 title.

"DAMO" CUDLIN

“I guess the best way to describe it is that it feels like coming home. It feels like I’ve been on holiday and now I’m back with my family at Phase One again. Although I had different plans for most of the off season, I decided I needed people around me who had faith in my ability as a rider, and who trusted me to do the job. Russell (Benney) has been a big supporter of my career for many years now and was willing to stick his neck out to get me back on board. I’m more determined than ever before and want to repay him and my team with
results. I’m happy to be back.”

Phase One showed a vast improvement of both bike and the rider line up last season but were thwarted with bad luck throughout 2007. This year Phase One mean business, and showed this recently with a scorching race simulation at the Dunlop tyre test in Albacete. With all the elements now in place, Phase One Team Manager Russell Benney believes it could see the Phase One Team return to the glory days of 2000-2003 and was happy to have his young charge back on board.

“I think that it would be true to say that I have never seen a rider so hungry for the rostrum. It will be great to work together again, I’ve missed both his sense of humour and his grit.” Benney said. “Its been a tough negotiation but securing the services of this experienced yet still young rider is crucial to our aim of re-winning the title.”

Cudlin will pilot the 2008 Phase One Yamaha R1 for the first time at the official ‘Pre Le Mans Test’ on the 26th/27th of March.

STEVE MARTIN AND IGOR JERMAN

With Australia's Damian Cudlin moving to Britain's Phase One, it has been announced that Steve Plater has replaced him in the Yamaha Austria World Endurance team. This is now the line-up for 2008:

YAMAHA AUSTRIA RACING TEAM #7   AUT           // 12 Podiums//            3^rd 2005 /          Vice Worldchampion 2006/    3^rd 2007

1^st  Rider          Igor JERMAN              SLO        Endurance World Champion 2002 /              5 Victories  / Winner Le Mans 1998         

2^nd Rider          Steve MARTIN            AUS        5 Podiums WSBK //3 Superpoles WSBK      // 2 Podiums EWC      

3^rd Rider           Steve PLATER           GBR        Vice Worldchampion 2007 // 1 Victory          //Winner Macau GP 2006+2007 / Winner Northwest 200 2007     

Reserverider    Olivier FOUR              FRA      // 4 Victories                                                   Winner Le Mans 2006 / Winner Bol d’Or 2007  

It looks like there's an eruption brewing in some top teams - rumours abound but everybody's tight-lipped and that leaves us awaiting press releases...the only thing I can say at the moment is that it looks like Australian rider Damian Cudlin is staying with Yamaha - but moving from Yamaha Austria to the British Phase One Team...

Ok, just as I say that, details have been released and Damian Cudlin will join Jason Pridmore and his American buddy Dave Stanton at Phase One Yamaha...RACE 24 has the press release...

...but this raises a couple of obvious questions...and the answers are probably not what you will be thinking...

Meanwhile, here's a nice picture...and expect bombshells to be falling pretty soon...

STEVE PLATER AT ALBACETE

Bolliger stalwart Horst Saiger was racing in the Daytona in the AMA Superbike event but only on a standard 2007 Huber Suzuki GSXR1000 - not the rocketships that the regulars have. Unable to attend the pre-race test, the team ran out of time trying to find a good set-up while trying to learn the track. Horst also mentioned that, as this was his first time at Daytona, he was trying hard to "keep everything tight at my backside" whenever he went up onto the banking!

But the Daytona bug has bitten Horst and he fully intends to go back next year and get at least a top ten finish.

I just thought that the girls would want the large version...Steve Mizera has signed to ride for the Italian "No Limits" team. Steve's official website is HERE

Initial winner Josh Hayes was disqualified after a technical infringement - the team had polished and lightened the crank, which isn't allowed - and therefore everyone else moved up a place...so Chaz Davies is the WINNER!

...and Richard Cooper and the factory BMW finished in 5th with team-mate Brian Parriott right behind him in 6th.

Congratulations Richard 'Cooperman' Cooper - from 11th on the grid to finish 3rd on the BMW! Full results HERE

RICHARD COOPER:
"It was a really good race, going right down to the wire to catch the Aprilia but we did it and the bike was great! Now it's the Datona 200 and the factory team BMW!"

They started their mission back in 2006 by sponsoring 4 Qatari riders, extending that commitment through 2007 and achieving second place in the championship for the two years, with equally impressive results with the remaining riders. The 25 year old Victor Carrasco, a name known as a wildcard for several years in the Supersport category of the WSBK and a rider in the CEV Buckler of Spain was pleased and honoured to be invited as a guest rider with the 1st official racing team in Qatar, Team Pit Stop. Friday’s race at the Losail track was one of the best races in the history of local racing in Qatar as Victor raced closely with the local riders and tried to help the riders on the track throughout the whole weekend. The idea behind his participation was to improve the level of the local riders and add some new challenges for them. His best lap time at Losail International Circuit in 2007 during the World Endurance Championship was 2.05.908 racing on Pirelli Dragon Slicks. He raced on the Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa treaded tires this weekend and managed an impressive best of 2.06.873 with consistent laps around this time. Victor and Team Pitstop took first place in the race and were proud to be part of the World Superbike weekend. The team's future plans are currently under discussion but rest assured, there will be a strong comeback in QIRRCH 2009.

Team Pit Stop is supported by several sponsors; the title sponsor Qatar Building Company, the newly-opened Park Plaza Hotel and Resort in Doha, Pronto Printing Press W.L.L., Gulf Agency Company - GAC and Pirelli S.p.A.

Twice world-champion Troy Bayliss took the double win in front of his home crowd, in what is to be his last ever Superbike race day at Phillip Island. Despite eight stitches in an elbow injury he sustained in a high-side yesterday morning, Bayliss rode the two races perfectly, leading the field from the start in Race 1 (restart) and leading for most of Race 2 after rival Corser crashed out in the early stages. Fabrizio had a much more difficult start to race 1 after failing to leave the start line He stalled his Ducati and was struck first by the unsighted David Checa (Yamaha GMT94 Team) and then a lot harder by privateer Vittorio Iannuzzo, who was injured in the impact, suffering a double fracture of his left wrist. As Iannuzzo lay trackside the race was red-flagged, and a complete 22-lap restart called. Fabrizio had his boot torn off in the crash and sustained muscular contusions to his right calf and, although in pain, returned to the grid for the race 1 restart. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was lucky to escape the race one startline incident with only a badly cut left foot, and he recovered from a DNF in the restart to take a fine 12th place in race two.

A WSBK race is never predictable and the race result is never quite sure until the end. The fastest rider in the restarted Race 1 seemed to be Max Biaggi who was able to recover from his 16th starting position to second place by lap 9 behind Bayliss.
It was a very good race also for Fabrizio, despite his pain. He was down in ninth at one stage, but then reached fifth on the 19th lap, following Bayliss, Biaggi, Xaus and Corser. Although he was holding an apparently safe second place Biaggi crashed, with Bayliss now alone and the four following riders were involved in a heavy battle, with the podium places going to Bayliss, Corser and Fabrizio.

In Race 2 a jump start for Fabrizio meant a drive through penalty, leaving him unable to catch up and with an eventual nineteenth place finish. Corser was also fast off the line and he was given a jump-start penalty in controversial circumstances. Unsure if the penalty signal was for him, he carried on initially, but fell on lap five, having led for three laps and looking strong for another podium finish at least. There were also jump-start penalties for Smrz, Laconi and Rolfo. Corser was uninjured by his high-speed crash exiting the first left-hand corner, and felt he must have slid off on oil or water lying on the racing line. Once again it was Bayliss in the lead from from three Spanish riders Nieto, Checa and Xaus...but Biaggi – trying to overtake Nieto – crashed again and had to abandon the race. A fast but lucky crash for him, with the bike very close to him as it bounced. Max was later diagnosed with a broken wrist but luckily the next race will be at Valencia in April and there’s enough time to recover.
In race two the podium went to Bayliss ahead of Checa and Nieto

Noriyuki Haga celebrated his 33rd birthday today but not in the way he wished on the racetrack, taking eighth in race one and seventh in race two. He found traction issues in each 22-lap race, following on from similar concerns in qualifying.

Troy Bayliss:
"It's something you dream of, to have a double win and I knew this year it would be difficult to achieve but I have a great team behind me who all worked really hard. overnight They had to build a new bike for me from scratch after my crash yesterday. I had a few ups and downs this weekend. After Race 1 I was struggling with the last 6 laps but in the end I managed to take the win. In the second race the tyres were a little slower but I felt better on the bike which was more consistent and a pleasure to ride. After race 1 I was so tired but after the second one I felt great. I had to concentrate hard today as in the second race, even though I was ahead I was aware I had to keep it together and put in some consistently good laps. It's been incredible, great weather and some good racing. I know there will be fighting to come later this season so two wins like that was just fantastic."

Michel Fabrizio:
"All in all, it was a good day. I'm sorry for what happened this morning on the grid but the bike failed to leave the start line and that unfortunately caused an accident. The blow to my leg from the impact from David Checa's bike meant that of course my leg was hurting a lot during the restarted race 1 but I gritted my teeth and did what I had to do. Then there was the jump start in race 2. I realised straight away that I'd done it and unfortunately after the ride-through penalty that they gave me, I wasn't able to catch the others. A big thank-you goes to my team today as they had to completely rebuild my bike between the two races, literally from the frame, so I'm very grateful to them."

CHristophe Guyot (Team Manager Yamaha GMT94 Team):
"What a second race at Phillip Island for the team Yamaha France Ipone - GMT94!!! David and Sébastien finished 12th and 13th and scored 7 points. What a result for us! Our both riders who finished the race together, only 21 seconds behind today’s winner Troy Bayliss. 21 second after 22 laps! If we compare the fastest laps it’s simply amazing: 1'33"714 for the Aussie; 1'34"201 and 1'34"214 for Sébastien and David. As we are still racing these bikes 12kgs over weight and on Endurance specifications mainly, we can be very happy with these results.

But the first race was very hard. Green lights, David started and hurt Michel Fabrizio’s bike which was stuck on the grid because of an engine problem. Red flag! Both David and Sébastien came back to the pit. But before the race was stopped Sébastien was 8th. The damages on David’s bike were important and as we only have one bike per rider we tried to repair it. But after the second start, David came back again to the pit. Michel, our engine specialist diagnosed a problem inside the gear box. On his side Sébastien was doing well, but he finished 16th, close to score his first points of the year.
Unfortunately David Checa's crash resulted in pain in his neck and quite a big wound on his foot. For race two both riders did a great job - David with his injuries and Sebastien with a lesser spec YZF-R1. WSB is a perfect experience for the team and is major benefit for our Endurance efforts. Our aim is to be on of the top contenders in WSB. For Valencia we will be able to lose a couple of kilograms and we have some additional YEC (Yamaha racing) kit parts available for our riders and therefore we have great hopes for that race as well."

POINTS AFTER 2 ROUNDS

1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 88
2, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 61
3, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 59
4, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 45
5, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 45
6, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 39
7, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 36
8, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 34
9, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 22
10, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 18
11, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 17
12, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 17
13, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 13
14, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 13
15, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 12
20, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 4
21, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 3
22, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 2

1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 33'51.257
2, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'0.062
3, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0'0.597
4, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 0'0.780
5, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0'0.976
6, Garry McCoy, Triumph, AUS, 0'1.228
7, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'6.590
8, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'10.266
9, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'10.594
10, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0'10.991
11, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'16.068
12, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 0'16.245
13, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 0'16.355
14, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'16.526
15, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'17.270
16, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'17.480
17, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'20.948
18, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0'36.396
19, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'45.078
20, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'46.640
21, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 0'52.165
22, Arnaud Vincent, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'57.732
23, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 0'57.879

DAVID CHECA - HIS VERY FIRST SUPERPOLE: (15th - 1'34.166 - Yamaha GMT94)
"I was not in Superpole at Qatar but one round later we made it. I did not have so much time to prepare on a qualifying tyre and there is a bit of movement from it compared to the race tyres. I had a scare on the first corner of my Superpole lap when I ran wide and I lost about six tenths of a second right there. I just gave it full throttle a bit too fast. After that I got my rhythm back, but my lap time was lost. We were happy to have got into Superpole and it was a good learning experience. I wanted to be on the third row because a rider always wants more!"

TROY BAYLISS ON POLE:
“It has been a bit eventful but I’m sitting here on pole and that makes me feel good about tomorrow’s race. Deep down I knew Troy was the man who I was going to have to beat. We always end up fast here and it was pretty close and I’m sure it’s going to be a good race tomorrow. I did a long-run yesterday and planned to do another one today but the crash put paid to that. I did quite a few laps and I’m reasonably happy with the tyres and I feel sure the first few laps will be decisive up to about lap 8 and then it’s definitely going to get slower and a lot harder for the rest of the race.”