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2008

Have your say: Is MotoGP doomed?

26 November 2008 by Michael Guy

Have your say: Is MotoGP doomed?

With companies like Aprilia and BMW using the production-based WSB series to develop new motorcycles and technologies, you have to ask why we need such an expensive racing series like MotoGP? BMW...

Shinya Nakano concludes two day Aprilia test on the pace

26 November 2008 by Michael Guy

Shinya Nakano concludes two day Aprilia test on the pace

WSB rookie Shinya Nakano ended his two day test at Valencia satisfied after setting an impressive 1m 35.3 best at the Valencia race track in Spain. Riding the Aprilia RSV4 for the first time, the...

Shinya Nakano gets first ride of WSB Aprilia RSV4

24 November 2008 by Michael Guy

Shinya Nakano gets first ride of WSB Aprilia RSV4

Shinya Nakano got his first taste of the Aprilia RSV4 he will campaign in next years World Superbike Championship at Valencia today. The Japanese rider has spent his career racing in 250, 500 and...

Aprilia wheel out liveried-up RSV4 WSB racer

19 November 2008 by Andy Downes

Aprilia wheel out liveried-up RSV4 WSB racer

MCN has exclusively witnessed the next step in the story of Aprilia’s awesome new RSV4 superbike. The full race version, which is due to be campaigned by Max Biaggi in World Superbikes next year, was...

Colin Wright: “It’s all going to come down to time”

18 November 2008 by Rob Hull

Colin Wright: “It’s all going to come down to time”

GSE Racing Team Manager Colin Wright told MCN it’s going to be a battle against the clock to get ready for the 2009 season following the team’s recent visit to the Factory Yamaha World Superbike...

Honda offer Michael Schumacher WSB ride

18 November 2008 by Chris Newbigging

Honda offer Michael Schumacher WSB ride

Reports have emerged that Honda Racing would allow former F1 multiple world champion Michael Schumacher a ride in World Superbikes in 2009. Honda Racing’s Carlo Fiorani told Italy’s Gazzetto dello...

Watching WSB with dad

16 November 2008 by Gems557

Watching WSB with dad

This is a photo of my 5 week old baby watching the last round of WSB with his dad.

Kawasaki choose Paul Bird to run factory WSB effort

07 November 2008 by Michael Guy

Kawasaki choose Paul Bird to run factory WSB effort

Kawasaki have ended weeks of speculation by confirming that the British based Paul Bird Motorsports team will run their factory effort in WSB from 2009. Bird will be tasked with turning Kawasaki’s...

Shane Byrne tops final day of Parkalgar test

06 November 2008 by Michael Guy

Shane Byrne tops final day of Parkalgar test

Shane Byrne made a seriously impressive start to his World Superbike career by topping the time sheets in the two day test at the Parkalgar circuit in Portugal. The newly crowned BSB champion set a...

Shakeys Byrne's first outing

05 November 2008 by matto3227

Shakeys Byrne's first outing

Here are some images from Shane “Shakey” Byrne’s first test outing on the Sterilgarda Ducati in Portugal on Tuesday morning. Shakey was on track with other top riders such as Ben Spies, Tom Sykes and...

Spies shows pace after first day of testing

05 November 2008 by Michael Guy

Spies shows pace after first day of testing

Ben Spies proved he will be a WSB contender in 2009 by matching the lap time of Noriyuki Haga first time out on the Yamaha Italia R1 at Parkalgar. The American posted a 1m 44.0s lap onboard the bike...

Sykes and Spies test 2009 Big Bang R1

04 November 2008 by Michael Guy

Sykes and Spies test 2009 Big Bang R1

Tom Sykes and Ben Spies got their first taste of the all new big bang Yamaha R1 they will be campaigning in next years World Superbike championship  on Monday. The two WSB rookies got out on track a...

Portimao WSB impressions

03 November 2008 by harvey ken.

Living here in Portugaland having been a life long fan of all motorcycle events you can imagine how we felt knowing the WSB was coming to a track minutes away from our house. Sunday was a day to remember with one of the greatest riders of the modern era competing at this new venue. He did not dissapoint. Troy Bayliss went out in style. What a pity there were down sides to our day. Why is it, when...

Portimao WSB: Perfect end to career for Bayliss with double win

02 November 2008 by Liam Marsden

Portimao WSB: Perfect end to career for Bayliss with double win

Troy Bayliss has ended his WSB career in perfect form after grabbing pole position and taking the double win at the Parkalgar Autodrome, with Brit Leon Haslam finishing third. As in the first race...

Portimao World Supersport: Kenan Sofuoglu dominates to take win

02 November 2008 by Liam Marsden

Portimao World Supersport: Kenan Sofuoglu dominates to take win

2007 World Supersport champion Kenan Sofuoglu marked his return to World Supersport in spectacular fashion by taking a dominating win at Portimao. Sofuoglu took the lead in to the first corner, but on...

Portimao WSB: Troy Bayliss takes race one win

02 November 2008 by Liam Marsden

Portimao WSB: Troy Bayliss takes race one win

World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss has taken his tenth race win of the 2008 season in the first WSB race at the new Portimao circuit in Portugal. Bayliss took the lead on the first lap and...

Portimao WSB: Bayliss on pole for final races of career

01 November 2008 by Liam Marsden

Portimao WSB: Bayliss on pole for final races of career

2008 World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss will be on pole for the final two WSB races of his career after setting the fastest time during torrential rain at Portimao. Bayliss was the only rider to...

FGSport rebrands as Infront Motor Sports

01 November 2008 by Michael Guy

FGSport rebrands as Infront Motor Sports

World Superbike promoters FGSport have announced that it has re-branded to Infront Motor Sports following the sale of it’s majority share holding to Infront Sports and Media. FG Sport headed by...

Portimao WSB: Corser on pole, Brits on the pace

31 October 2008 by Michael Guy

Portimao WSB: Corser on pole, Brits on the pace

Troy Corser made the most of the drying track conditions in the final minutes of the opening qualifying session to set provisional pole position for Sunday’s two WSB races. The Australian, riding the...

Portimao WSB: Strong start for Brits in Free Practice

31 October 2008 by Michael Guy

Portimao WSB: Strong start for Brits in Free Practice

British riders Cal Crutchlow, Leon Haslam, Jonathan Rea and Chris Walker made an impressive start to the final round of the WSB championship in Portugal by all securing a place in the top seven after...

Shinya Nakano to Aprilia WSB

31 October 2008 by Michael Guy

Shinya Nakano to Aprilia WSB

As exclusively revealed on motorcyclenews.com over a week ago, Japanese rider Shinya Nakano will partner Max Biaggi after signing to ride for Aprilia in the World Superbike Championship in 2009. The...

Portimao World Superbikes: Corner entry concerns for HM Plant Honda

30 October 2008 by Rob Hull

Portimao World Superbikes: Corner entry concerns for HM Plant Honda

HM Plant Honda Team Manager Havier Beltran has said grip levels, mainly on corner entry, will be the big concern this weekend for the final round of WSB at the new Portimao circuit. HM Plant Honda...

Portimao World Superbikes: Leon Haslam eyes double podium

30 October 2008 by Rob Hull

Portimao World Superbikes: Leon Haslam eyes double podium

Leon Haslam has his sights set on a double podium at the all-new Portimao circuit in Portugal this weekend. The runner-up in the 2008 BSB campaign will get an early shot at the WSB paddock with his...

Anthony West poised for Stiggy Honda debut

30 October 2008 by Matthew Birt

Anthony West poised for Stiggy Honda debut

Axed factory Kawasaki MotoGP rider Anthony West will make his Stiggy Honda World Supersport debut at the new Portimao circuit in Portugal next week. The Aussie, who has lost his ZX-RR berth to Italian...

Jonathan Rea gets early Superbike ride at Parkalgar

27 October 2008 by Rob Hull

Jonathan Rea gets early Superbike ride at Parkalgar

Jonathan Rea will make an early graduation up to the World Superbike class this weekend at Parkalgar. Rea has already signed a deal to ride for the Ten Kate Honda World Superbike team after a season...

HM Plant Honda complete day one of Parkalgar test

23 October 2008 by Rob hull

HM Plant Honda complete day one of Parkalgar test

HM Plant Honda are just coming to an end of their first day of testing at the new Parkalgar circuit in Portugal. The BSB team has headed out for a two-day test ahead of their World Superbike wildcard...

Who Goes Where in World Superbike?

23 October 2008 by Tom Mckenzie

Who Goes Where in World Superbike?

Take a look at this week’s issue of MCN where you’ll find the full low-down on riders swapping and changing teams in the World Superbike paddock for 2009. With the top four in the 2008 British...

Max Biaggi seen testing Aprilia RSV4 superbike

23 October 2008 by Tom Mckenzie

Max Biaggi seen testing Aprilia RSV4 superbike

Three time 250 Grand Prix Champion Max Biaggi has been spotted testing his 2009 Aprilia RSV4 race motorcycle at Valencia last week. The Roman Emperor still has one round left of the 2008 WSB...

Video: Portimao Parkalgar circuit behind the scenes and guided lap

21 October 2008 by Michael Guy, Angus Farquhar

The World Superbike championship will be heading to Portugal for the first time on November 2 but MCN has already been there to get a guided lap of the track and video behind the scenes as the finishing touches are being put on the new Portimao Parkalgar Autodrome. Check out the two ideos below to see and interview with the circuit boss and take a guided lap of the new track with World Supersport...

No WSB at Brands Hatch in 2009: Jonathan Palmer reaction

20 October 2008 by Rob Hull

No WSB at Brands Hatch in 2009: Jonathan Palmer reaction

MSV Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer has spoken of his disappointment of losing a World Superbike slot for Brands Hatch in 2009, but has remained hopeful of a special one-off event to take place around...

World Superbike announce provisional 2009 calendar

20 October 2008 by Rob Hull

World Superbike announce provisional 2009 calendar

The FIM has released a 2009 provisional calendar for WSB and, as reported in MCN at the start of the month, Brands Hatch is not on the schedule. Below is the provisional calendar released today: The...

Team Stiggy signs Anthony West for 2009

16 October 2008 by James Keen

Team Stiggy signs Anthony West for 2009

Team Stiggy Motorsport Honda have signed Australian rider Anthony West for 2009. The 27-year old will leave MotoGP at the end of the season to compete in the World Supersport Championship. Anthony is...

Polita to Partner Byrne in WSB

08 October 2008 by Niall McGlone

Polita to Partner Byrne in WSB

Alessandro Polita will partner Shane Byrne in next years World Superbike Championship. The Itailian already rides for the Sterilgarda team as part of their Superstock outfit and currently lies second...

WSB: French round

07 October 2008 by Duff

WSB: French round

On Sunday I went to the SBK final round in my home country. Here’s a few pictures I took.

Magny Cours WSB: Troy Bayliss wins race two

05 October 2008 by Liam Marsden

Magny Cours WSB: Troy Bayliss wins race two

Newly-crowned World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss has taken the win in race two at Magny Cours. Bayliss again took the lead from the start, but as in the first race, Haga took the lead on the first...

Magny Cours World Supersport: Andrew Pitt takes win and championship

05 October 2008 by Liam Marsden

Magny Cours World Supersport: Andrew Pitt takes win and championship

Hannspree Honda rider Andrew Pitt has taken the World Supersport race victory and World Supersport championship at Magny Cours. Pitt didn’t have it all his own awy, as team-mate Jonathan Rea took the...