BK MACO MOTO SIGN SPANIARD AS RIDER No.3

The Spanish rider Victor Carrasco has just joined the Slovakian BK Maco Moto Racing Team in the Endurance World Championship as co-rider with team mate and countryman Daniel Ribalta alongside the USA's Jason Pridmore. Victor Carrasco, 27 years old, was runner-up in the 2005 Spanish Supersport Championship. He finished tenth in the 2008 Spanish Championship Extreme and came third at the 8H of Doha 2007 with QERT, the Qatar Endurance Racing Team.

Alex Cudlin has just returned to the UK after completing his first test at Albacete in Spain with his new team, Phase One Yamaha. Testing at the Spanish circuit of Albacete, Cudlin got a taste of the new 2009 “Big Bang” Yamaha R1, and after riding with a different team for the past 3 years, it was very valuable for Cudlin to learn the ropes with his new Phase One crew.

“For me it was very important to have this test with Phase One. For the past 3 years I have been on a different bike with a different team, and have been riding on a different brand of tyres. It was great to start afresh with this team - they have the right combination of bike, tyres, riders, mechanics and back up. It feels like a brand new chapter in my career” said Alex.

After having such a long time off a bike, with virtually no riding since the 2nd last round of the 2008 World Endurance Championship in September, it felt great to get back in the saddle and have a good test, and Cudlin knows he has a lot more to give when the 2009 World Endurance Championship season kicks off in just 4 weeks time at Le Mans in France for the first 24 hour round.

“The new team and I worked well together from the first day and I feel like I'm already part of the Phase One family. With the progress that was made during the test I'm confident of a successful 24hour race with the Phase One Yamaha Team – I can’t wait to get out there and show what I can do as part of this team. There is a lot more speed to come yet and I feel I made the right progression throughout the weekend. This is a great opportunity to work with a world class crew and I feel very privileged to do so. For me it was very important to have this test with Phase One. For the past 3 years I have been on a different bike with a different team, and have been riding on a different brand of tyres. It was great to start afresh with this team. They have the right combination of bike, tyres, riders, mechanics and back up. It feels like a brand new chapter in my career” smiled Alex.

Team-mates Pedro Valcaneras and Alex's elder brother Damian were also very happy with the new "flat-plane crank" Yamaha R1, Damian "Damo" Cudlin in particular sending a strong message to his WEC rivals by circulating under the WEC lap record set by Kawasaki France in 2007, on just his second day on the new machine.

“I was really excited to ride this new R1, and after finally getting a go of it, the boys couldn’t wipe the smile off my face!” Damian beamed. “It’s vastly different from last years bike, but it’s the best Superbike I’ve ever ridden and it’s going to make a great Endurance machine. I can’t wait to go racing on this thing. It’s awesome.”

Cudlin tested a large variety of Dunlop’s new race tyres during the test. Clearly satisfied with the new material, Cudlin believes the Dunlop/R1 combination could be the one to beat in 2009. “We tested a lot of tyres for Dunlop and I was really pleased with the ones we chose for Le Mans. We just wanted data on race tyres- I didn’t even bother with a qualifier. These tyres work well with this bike and I’m confident this combination is going to be tough to beat this year.”

The Phase One Yamaha team will now be working hard from their base in England, to further develop the new Yamaha R1 and prepare a 2nd bike before the first round in 4 weeks time.
With the 2009 Yamaha R1 having major changes in the chassis and engine department, initial testing at its first stage of development was very positive and it is believed to be the bike to beat in 2009.

WORLD SUPERBIKES - ROUND 2 - QATAR

 Lap Record:: 2' 0.061 (Noriyuki Haga, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever:: 1' 58.053 (Troy Corser, 23/02/2008)
Last Years Winner:: Shuhei Aoyama

SUPERBIKE:
Ben Spies (Yamaha) set the quickest time on the opening day of qualifying action at the Losail circuit in Qatar. The three-times AMA Superbike champion – and race 2 winner at Phillip Island – dominated qualifying, ending the one-hour session with a time of 1 minute 58.886 seconds, eight-tenths of a second off the best time set by Troy Corser (Yamaha) last year. “Today went pretty good, the result will be more important Saturday but every time I come to the track with Yamaha the bike is getting better and it’s already such a fun bike to ride” declared Spies. “The team’s working really good, but there are so many people that are fast out there that if you have just an OK session you end up behind. It’s going to be a tough year, but we’re clicking off session by session and we’ll see where we’re going to end up." Spies, the only rider to lap below the 1’59” mark, was close to a second quicker than almost all his rivals, with the exception of Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), three-tenths behind. The young rider from Northern Ireland was the spearhead in the competitive three-rider Ten Kate Honda attack, with Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari placing third and fifth respectively. The latter two were separated by Max Biaggi,who took his Aprilia RSV4 to a provisional front-row grid slot thanks to a quick lap at the end of the session. In sixth place was the first Ducati, the Sterilgarda machine of Shane Byrne, while the factory 1098R machines are so far down in eighth (Michel Fabrizio) and eleventh (Noriyuki Haga) respectively. Last year’s winner Suzuki are so far struggling, with Max Neukirchner only down in thirteenth place, and Yukio Kagayama fifteenth, approximately 1.5 seconds off the pace. The two BMWs of Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus were right behind the Japanese rider in sixteenth and seventeenth.

Ben Spies: 1st
"The track has been great for my first day here and the team have been working great as always, we're continuing to make the bike better and better, hopefully we can get even faster for the race! We can't forget there are many fast guys out here and I'm sure they're doing their homework too."

Tom Sykes,: 12th
"I took it a little bit steady today, we've been working hard and trying race tires in preparation for Saturday. All in all were reasonably happy and it's left us a lot of tires to play with. Straight away I was in the top three in the session, I know I can run fairly consistently with the top guys, so tomorrow we're going to make some small changes to the bike and improve the set up. Australia didn't really happen in qualifying for me which made it harder in the race so I'm looking for a better grid position for Saturday."

Michel Fabrizio: 8th
“It feels like we lost his morning’s session as we completed very few laps so have had to make up for that this afternoon during qualifying, and haven’t had time to make the progress we hoped for. If we had gone straight out this morning without problems we would surely have done better than we did this afternoon. I have had some problems with grip and we need to see which tyres can last race distance but all in all,  I’m reasonably confident for now and we know what we need to try tomorrow in second qualifying.”

Noriyuki Haga: 11th
“Today was a strange day for me. We tried a different rear suspension setting to that used in Australia but the grip did not improve as we expected it to. Anyway the feeling I have with the 1198 is good and tomorrow we really just need to resolve the fact that I’m lacking rear grip. I will speak with my technicians again to decide how we will proceed tomorrow, we need to find a new way forward. There were some fast times recorded today so I need to pick up my pace tomorrow.”

Max Neukirchner: 13th
"This afternoon I had a big problem with lack of rear grip. The front felt stable but the back was not and I just couldn't push any harder. We had made some changes in the bike's balance from the morning and the track temperature was up a bit, but the way the bike worked was very different. I think we went in the wrong direction in the afternoon, but the good news is that we know what we did and we can go back to the set-up that worked in the morning without a problem. It's disappointing to be 13th but at least we know how to fix the problem and that's what we'll do tomorrow."

Yukio Kagayama: 15th
"The morning was not so bad and although we didn't change much on the bike - just the ride height - the bike didn't work so well in the afternoon. I don't think the change in track temperature was a problem, but whatever the reason, I had much less rear grip in the afternoon. So we will look at the telemetry, analyze the data and see what we must do to make the bike better tomorrow morning. My general feeling is that we will improve quite a bit, but tomorrow we'll know for sure."

Troy Corser: 16th
"Nothing special was wrong today, except that I thought that my bike felt slow. Checking the speed trap figures proved this but, at the moment, we are not sure why. It certainly felt pretty good in the turns, but it just lacked top end speed. We used just one bike today, because we wanted to do as much work as possible on it and keep things progressing. In retrospect that might not have been a good idea, but as we have no reference points for this bike here we just have to work as hard as we can and keep going forward, so it was better to work with the one bike."

Ruben Xaus: 17th
"We did the usual stuff today and just kept on working, working, working. I’m happy with the top speed of my bike and I don’t think my lap times are so bad. We didn’t make any big, big changes today, but worked on improving our understanding of the bike and trying to keep going forward. Here it’s all about staring from a real base (because we have no data from before), putting in a lot of work and giving our engineers lots to think about and work on. Tomorrow I’ll try a softer tyre and see if it gives me better grip, which should mean a reduction in my lap times."

 

SUPERSPORT:
The first day of Supersport action at Losail bore the mark of Yamaha as the two factory riders powered to the top two positions in qualifying. Cal Crutchlow from the UK set the provisional pole in a time of 2 minutes 02.634 seconds, with his French team-mate Fabien Foret just over a tenth behind. Crutchlow’s performance was even more impressive seeing as it was the first time he had raced on this track. The rest of the top 15 runners were all within 1 second, and they were headed by Phillip Island winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), in front of Hannspree Honda Althea’s Matthieu Lagrive, three-tenths off the pace. The provisional second row is led by the young Australian Mark Aitchison (Hannspree Honda Althea) ahead of Spain’s Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com), who is proving to be extremely rapid around this track. Triumph also had a positive qualifying hour, with Garry McCoy and Gianluca Nannelli eight and eleventh on the ParkinGo BE1 675 machines.

Cal Crutchlow: 1st
"Not too bad a day for me considering I've never really done much on this track, it's been good for me to come to a circuit were everyone else has been before and still perform well. The track is good, it seems to suit our bike quite well too. We've still got some stuff to work on and I'm looking to make the most of tomorrow's testing and hopefully we can make a break in the race. I'd like to see us on the podium on Saturday."

Fabien Foret: 2nd
"I'm a little bit sore, my shoulder is still achy and a bit tired. I'm surprised as I thought it would be completely better. We have it strapped up to ride with but it's not as good as I expected. This morning we had a few issues in practice, then I tried some new settings this afternoon in the early sessions before eventually moving back to last year's set-up. That felt good and we managed to get a reasonable time in the end. By the end of the session I was pretty confident, so I'm happy with the bike, just the shoulder is a bit tense and not so strong. I'm taking it easy and tomorrow will try to save a bit of my strength for the race itself."

Eugene Laverty: 7th
"The session finished well as I am seventh and, provisionally, on the second row of the grid. I’m happy with how things are progressing as we have been working through different tyre options. I started out on a hard tyre and then went for the softer one which was an improvement. I took a big chunk off my lap time from free practice this morning and I’ve dropped my time by around three seconds, so we are definitely getting there. We have a few changes to make to the front end of my Parkalgar Honda and I know once we get that how I want it I will feel even more confident than I do at the moment. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Miguel Praia: 14th
“All of the session I was pretty competitive and I stayed near the front for a long time, it was only at the end that I dropped my position. We were working on adjusting the bike for the race and I put in a lot of fast, consistent laps at a good pace. My Parkalgar Honda is fast and I know I can run race distance. Tomorrow we will concentrate on lap times. I’m very happy with the session, my position of fourteenth isn’t so good but I will work on that tomorrow.”

YAMAHA AUSTRIA FIRST TESTS - NEW BIKE AND NEW TYRES...

YART used the "official Michelin Test" in Valencia for their own first official roll out of their new Yamaha Austria endurance machines with the new "Big Bang" engines. The design of the Yamaha engineers was clear... Build To Win. Our team just had to prove it. Steve Martin took the long trip from Australia, with Igor Jerman and Gwen Giabbani arriving on time on the Monday. The first roll out took place under cold and rainy conditions. Despite the less than favourable conditions, all 3 riders were impressed by the easy handling and very strong engine performance. The following day was dry and the lap times immediately tumbled. The brand new specification Michelin tyres gave the riders great feedback and their durability was incredible, perfect for endurance conditions...in particular, the Michelin wets were a revelation for all three riders, so much so that they were able to use every minute on track in full wet conditions without any rider experiencing any slides at all.

The entire YART team have confirmed that it was indeed the correct decision to move ahead in 2009 with Michelin and on to the next level in World Endurance.

WHERE'S WOKKA....AGAIN?

Over the years, Race Corporation has always looked forward to the release of the latest "Where's Wokka" Annual and this year the wait has been a lot longer than usual, probably an attempt by the publishers to once again raise the anticipation level to fever pitch...

One question that they are still holding very close to their metaphoric breasts is - will Wokka be actually racing this year? This is a tougher question to answer this year, as the latest news is that Wokka seems to have joined the organizers...

WARWICK NOWLAND PRESS RELEASE:
Two time World Endurance Champion Warwick Nowland has recently returned from Geneva where he took part in a FIM Strategic Plan Workshop.

Wokka: “Basically my involvement is with the sporting commission. We look at all aspects of the sport in each discipline and there are 49 motorcycle world championship disciplines. I'm involved with all disciplines, which is great. Seeing how all the other classes work is really interesting. After last weekends meeting, I am putting forward ideas for technology in motorcycle sport. It is quite a broad region to imagine but it is about imagination and I like that...for example, along with yellow flags in road racing, a yellow flashing light on each bikes dash could be activated by race control. Additionally, due to my love of Endurance racing, I will work with the FIM's new marketing manager Olivier Godallier, on restructuring the entire image and concept of Endurance racing. I will also work with Paul du Parc on the technical regulations for the class. I was very honoured when I was asked to be involved in the workshop”  said Warwick. “It is very exciting to be able to have some input into the future of motorcycle racing. The sport has given me so much, so it’s nice to be able to give something back”

DAYTONA 200

Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom won the 2009 Daytona 200 by Honda aboard his factory Yamaha YZF-R6 at Daytona International Speedway. For the first time in history, the 68th running of the race began at night under the lights. A Honda pace car led the 72 rider field across the line for the series first-ever rolling start. And it was Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom who claimed the holeshot aboard his Yamaha YZF-R6. Behind him was his new teammate Josh Hayes, Geico Powersports Danny Eslick, Team M4 Suzuki’s Jason DiSalvo and Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke. Eslick used the extra cc’s in his Buell 1125R to draft pass the Yamaha’s on the back straightaway. However his lead would be short lived as the larger size of his Buell made it easy for the smaller, more aerodynamic bikes to catch up. Hayes, Bostrom and Eslick would continue to battle until Lap 11, when Eslick was forced to pit when his Buell's bodywork detached and began flapping in the wind. He would rejoin several laps down. The running order now was Bostrom, Hayes, Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, DiSalvo, Yamaha’s Josh Herrin, Zemke and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking. Cardenas continued to push his way towards the front once again making it a 3-way battle for the lead.

On Lap 17, riders began coming into the pits for fuel and tires. Hayes and Bostrom pitted on Lap 18, while Cardenas would be one of the last riders to pit on Lap 20. After everyone had taken their first pit stop, Hayes had opened up a substantial six second gap over DiSalvo who was running in second followed by Herrin, Zemke, Bostrom and Cardenas. Cardenas was once again on the move cutting laps a full second faster than anyone else on track. A fair number of fans came out to watch the AMA's first-ever night race. Problems with the tracks lighting system brought out the yellow flag on Lap 37, then Yamaha’s Tommy Aquino crashed on the same lap (uninjured) bringing out the red flag. The race was then restarted based on the running order at the end of Lap 37. But the restart didn’t go as smoothly as expected and it was absolute chaos with another yellow flag being thrown 11 laps later with the race order being completely mixed up. The Honda pace car reestablished the running order and it was to be a nine lap sprint race to the checkered flag.

It was a five rider battle-royal up front with DiSalvo and Bostrom routinely drafting past one another on the straightaway. Hayes made a pass on Herrin in the horseshoe but then immediately highsided his R6 as he tried to close on Bostrom. The running order was now Bostrom, Herrin, DiSalvo and Hacking with Bostrom opening up a second gap over second place. Bostrom would continue to hold on to his tiny lead and take the win by just over a half a second over Herrin.

RESULTS:
1. Ben Bostrom, Yamaha YZF-R6
2. Josh Herrin, Yamaha YZF-R6
3. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki GSX-R600
4. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki ZX-6R
5. Shawn Higbee, Buell 1125R
6. Barrett Long, Yamaha YZF-R6
7. Chaz Davies, Aprilia RSV1000R
8. Dane Westby, Yamaha YZF-R6 
9. Martin Cardenas, Suzuki GSX-R600 
10. Leandro Mercardo, Kawasaki ZX-6R
11. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600RR
12. Steve Rapp, Yamaha YZF-R6
13. Damian Cudlin, Yamaha YZF-R6
14. Pintar Bostjan, Yamaha YZF-R6
15. Russell Wikle, Suzuki GSX-R600
16. Miguel Duhamel, Suzuki GSX-R600
17. Garrett Carter, Yamaha YZF-R6
18. Eric Wood, Honda CBR600RR
19. Santiago Villa, SuzukI GSX-R600
20. Tyler Odom, Honda CBR600RR
21. Melissa Paris, Yamaha YZF-R6
22. Ben Thompson, Aprilia RSV1000R
23. Ty Howard, Aprilia RSV1000R
24. Chris Peris, Honda CBR600RR
25. Michael Barnes, Buell 1125R 

DAMIAN CUDLIN TOTALLY CONFUSED AT DAYTONA

Australian Damian Cudlin experienced a dramatic AMA debut in the 68th Daytona 200 under lights on Friday night. Making his first official appearance for the Evan Steel Performance
Racing Team, Damian figured strongly in the opening practice sessions at Daytona, running as high as 6th before encountering difficulties in Thursdays qualifying session, eventually starting from a disappointing 26th on the grid. However Damo re-grouped and showed his gritty fighting spirit, steadily climbing the order as the race went on under the Daytona lights. With 19 laps of the race remaining a pace car interrupted the race, before eventually being momentarily red flagged. It was at this point when confusion swept the AMA paddock and the race turned into a re-started 18 lap shoot out. What happened after the re-start is still a mystery in most peoples minds, particularly Damian’s, who labeled the event “a joke” at the finish.

DAMO: “What can I say? I don’t officially even know where I finished yet. All I know, and being new to this series I don’t want to point fingers at anybody just yet, but I was right behind [Chaz] Davies at the re-start when everyone ahead of me kept racing under yellow flags. It was blatantly obvious that people were going forward, and I did the right thing and stayed in order. Now it looks as though I’m the one who’s been punished in the results for staying behind the guy in front of me… You can quote me on this….. this race was a joke.”

Despite being disappointed with the final standings, which revealed a 13th place finish for the young Aussie, Cudlin praised his ESP Yamaha Team and added that more was to come from his new crew.

“We did the best we could in pretty tough circumstances and I’m proud of the ESP guys for getting through this one in such good shape. We had a rollercoaster weekend but this is a good group of guys and I’m sure we’ll get stronger and stronger as the season progresses. This is only the beginning.”

Damian will make his next appearance for the ESP Yamaha Team at thenext AMA round in Fontana.

WORLD ENDURANCE PERMANENT TEAMS LIST

...is HERE

Nineteen permanent teams are already registered two months before the 2009 season opening at Le Mans. Some other teams are still working on their application and finalizing their budget, to join before mid-April the full-fledged teams who will dispute the entire 2009 FIM Endurance Word Championship. It won’t be compulsory for the permanent teams to attend the Suzuka round this coming season. The battle for the 2009 World crown will be highly disputed, although the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team is no more permanent. Hence, Yamaha Austria Racing Team is now getting the status of 2009 favourite. Highly competitive last year in Suzuki SERT’s tail, the official Austrian Yamaha is stronger than ever with, on top of three experienced riders, Slovenian Igor Jerman, Australian Steve Martin and French Gwen Giabbani, the official support of tyre supplier Michelin. Apart from the Yamaha Austria Racing Team, the Formula EWC class is not short of title contenders. Bolliger Team Switzerland, World Endurance pillar, is back on the track again with a Kawasaki ridden by the Swiss rider Patric Muff, the Austrian Horst Saiger and team newcomer German Rico Penzkoffer. Seventh in 2008, RMT 21 Racing Germany is back, still on a Honda CBR 1000 RR. Phase One Endurance, British World Champions in 1993, 2000 and 2003 also want to take part of the 2009 title chase. Australian brothers Damian and Alexander Cudlin, and Spanish Pedro Vallcaneras, who made strong impression last year while racing for Folch Endurance, will ride the British Yamaha. Some surprise could also come from BK Maco Moto Racing Team. The Slovakian team made a fantastic comeback towards the end of last year and is entering with new riders. Next to American Jason Pridmore, already there last year, Maco Moto recruited Spanish Dani Ribalta, who also made impression on the Yamaha Folch Endurance. The Franco-Italian Suzuki RT Racing Team Moto Virus, Italian Yamaha La Fortezza Amadeus X-One and British Kawasaki Diablo 666 Bolliger will also be here for the runner-up positions.

Amongst permanent Formula EWC newcomers, two teams could join the battle for the lead. Spanish Josep Monge and French Hugo Marchand and several Le Mans and Bol d’Or winner William Costes will ride the Honda Michelin Power Research Team. The Honda seems to have podium potential. It’s the first time that Michelin is entering with a bike under its proper trade name. Prepared by Daffix Motos, who was an Endurance big name in the nineties, the Honda Michelin is here to test and develop products of the Clermont-Ferrand factory, but will be seen with no doubt at the front. However, the Yamaha YART would remain the top team for Michelin. We’ll also have to keep an eye on the dazzling French Suzuki of Team 18 Sapeurs Pompiers. Since their Endurance debut in 2000, the Firemen’s red Suzuki has played with the leaders on several occasions. Two Italian teams are also becoming permanent, No Limits Motor Teams and MSC Racing. In the Superstock class, Qatar Endurance Racing Team is putting its 2008 title at stake. The Qatar Suzuki will find the Team LTG 57 on their way. The French team on Yamaha was their closest competitor last year, just ahead on another French team, Endurance Moto 45 on Suzuki. The French Suzuki ABG Peformance and Italian Kawasaki Runner Bike will also be on the starting grid. They’ll have to use their experience against two Superstock newcomers: the Serbians of Markos Suzuki Serbian Team and the Spanish of Cordobia Patrimonio de la Humanidad, on Kawasaki. There are ten nations in those nineteen permanent teams, although the biggest representation is from France and Italy. More teams might join the 2009 championship permanently before mid-April, and the season opening at Le Mans.

...and for those who are wondering what has happened to SERT Suzuki...Dominique Meiland will be bringing a one-bike team to both Le Mans and the Bol d'Or and will STILL be the team to beat.

...THAT SPEED QUEEN RACE AT THE FRENCH GRAND PRIX...

What a let down...it's been cancelled. I suppose we all should have been aware that the current blind panic in the financial world has lead to many sponsors and potential sponsors pulling back into their shells, planning to "turtle" out the latest drop in paper values. Here's a message from disheartened organizer Sophie Smith:

"I am very sorry to tell you that the race in Le Mans is cancelled. Because we were unable to find a sponsor and the promotor of the MotoGP would not accept the race without financial support as well. Up to yesterday I tried to see if there was a solution to keep this race to happen but with no success. I am sorry for you and for everything that means."

FORMER PHASE ONE RIDER BEN WYLIE ALSO AT THE 2009 ISLE OF MAN TT

The Isle of Man TT recruitment program, who look for young and upcoming riders to take part in the classic races, approached, Ben, part way through last season, offering him the chance to ride this year. Ben jumped at the chance, as it has been one of his life long ambitions to race there.
“I have always been a big fan of the TT and considered entering last year, but the timing was wrong. Now I have everything in place, and I’m eagerly looking forward to making my debut. Having seen how well many of my fellow British Championship racers have done in the past few years, I have been inspired to compete even more. I’ve been in touch with the organisers for some time now, to get everything sorted for my time out there in May. They couldn’t have been more helpful, in terms of advice and encouragement and I have already begun my training and learning, so that I am 100% prepared, come Saturday 30th May. I’m extremely excited about going to the Isle of Man to race, and it will fulfil a long ambition of mine, so I can’t wait!”

Ben has already spent many hours on the small island, training on his road bicycle, and will continue training to learn the 37.7 mile circuit, until the end of May.
The minister of tourism and leisure, Martyn Quayle MHK: “Ben Wylie is another name in an already impressive list of riders looking to take part in the TT for the first time in 2009. Our rider recruitment programme is once more bearing fruit for us. When you look back at the newcomers in recent times, its fair to say the majority of them have become terrific additions to the TT entry list. I look forward to welcoming Ben and all the other newcomers to the 2009 TT.”

Ben will not only be taking his Yamaha R6 for the Supersport, but also the brilliant new Yamaha R1, which he is pictured with, for the Superstock and Superbike races.

The races will be shown on terrestrial TV for the first time this year, being broadcast on ITV and ITV 4 throughout practice and race week. There are also plans to use high end motion cameras and new technology to bring this major event to life more than before, so you will all be able to follow, Ben, on his journey of a lifetime. The team are currently looking for support from local businesses and people who would like their name or company logo on the bike. If you are interested in supporting this local, talented youngster, then please get in contact via his website, www.benwylie.com With the races being shown on TV, you could see your name on the big screen, and posters.

DAMIAN CUDLIN RACES IN THE USA

Evan Steel Performance Yamaha have managed to secure the services of hard charging Australian Damian Cudlin for the 2009 AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship. Cudlin, who hails from Taree, New South Wales, will make his much anticipated AMA debut at the Daytona 200 aboard the ESP Yamaha R6. Speaking from his current base in California, Cudlin explained his intentions for the 2009 season and what he expects from the challenging year ahead.

“I’m really excited to ride for the ESP squad this year and to make my debut in the AMA series. I’ve wanted to race in America for a while now, but the right opportunity just never presented itself. Now with the ESP crew behind me, I really think I can make a splash over here and build a career for myself in the States.”

"Damo", who’s been a front runner in the World Endurance Championship in the last few years, could prove to be a dark horse in the 2009 series, having finished 3rd in the hotly contested IDM series in Germany in 2008.

“I just want to prove myself against these guys out here, and improve as the year goes on. The ESP guys have given me a chance to do that, and I intend to make the most of this opportunity. I’ve never seen any of the circuits, or ridden against any of the AMA guys, so I know this isn’t going to be easy but I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could cope. I’m ready for the challenge.”

Damian will also compete in the full 2009 World Endurance Championship for the Phase One Yamaha Team alongside Spaniard Pedro Valcaneras and younger brother Alex.