WSB stars drive dirty

If you’ve been amazed by the sideways antics of the top World Superbike riders, imagine putting them all through their paces at Silverstone’s 4×4 off-road course. And then making it a competition.

That’s what the organisers of this weekend’s WSB round at Silverstone decided to do in the run up to Sunday’s races.

British WSB riders James Toseland, Chris Walker, and Leon Haslam made up one team, with Noriyuki Haga, Chris Vermuelen and Regis Laconi in the international squad. And joining them was Richard Bowman, our www.motorcyclenews.com competition winner, as part of his prize of a weekend of hospitality at Silverstone.

Each rider attempted the course accompanied by an instructor, and points were given for accuracy and smoothness. Perhaps surprisingly the joint winners were announced as James Toseland and the ‘Samurai of Slide’ Noriyuki Haga, before Toseland was disqualified, mainly for moving the gates to make it impossible for other drivers to navigate through. His team-mate Regis Laconi also received a prize suitable for his driving style, with a set of boy-racer furry dice heading his way for his more aggressive style.

Our competition winner and members of the press also got to try the course, which included such delights as ‘Suicide Drop’, a near vertical descent.

Competition winner Richard Bowman was then whisked away to the Ten Kate hospitality tent for lunch, while everyone else hid their amazement that not a single vehicle had been crashed or rolled.

In their spare moments, most of the riders were checking out the latest issues of MCN and MCN Sport. But we managed to grab James Toseland and Chris Walker to autograph a top-spec Suomy Spec 1R and Shark t-shirts and caps, which are all up for grabs this weekend. To enter the competition, follow the link on the right.