Josh Waters will continue to race for Yoshimura Suzuki in 2011, wild carding at the Miller Motorsports Park World Superbike round, and also making an appearance at the Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Race. “Josh showed he has the potential,” explained team owner Fujio Yoshimura, “I have told him we’d like him to ride again in America at Miller Motorsports Park. It’s a good start for the team and Josh and we will both get better.”
With Yoshimura indicating that Waters would be a member of the Yoshimura entry contesting the endurance race at the Suzuka circuit on July 31, that date would obviously rule out a wildcard WSBK entry at Silverstone, though the team is interested in entering Waters in other rounds later in the season.
Despite this seeming good news, it is best to take Yoshimura’s statement with a grain of salt. The team was to have raced at Assen in 2010, but was deterred by the Icelandic volcano. Instead, Daisaku Sakai raced at Monza, retiring halfway through Race 1 after a crash, unable to start Race 2. The team had planned to race at Imola and Magny-Cours as well, but budgetary shortfalls kept it at home. At the time, it was suggested that Yoshimura was saving money to race the full 2011 WSBK season. That is obviously not happening, with Waters simply a wildcard at Phillip Island and any other entries still up in the air.
Yoshimura Suzuki had a poor showing at Phillip Island (finishing eighteenth in Race 1 and thirteenth in Race 2), with Waters suffering from a deflating front tire in the first race. However, he did manage to score three points in the second race.
Source: WorldSBK
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