WSBK: Yoshimura & Waters at Miller for Wildcard Ride

After a wildcard entry at the season opener on Phillip Island, Josh Waters will again ride a Yoshimura Suzuki in the World Superbike series, with the Australian and team entering this weekend’s round at Miller Motorsports Park . Though the entry had long been announced, as A&R reported back in early March, there was some question after last season’s lack of racing that the team would actually make it to America.

In fact, the Japanese team is also planning to enter Waters in the Suzuka 8 Hour endurance race along with the possibility of other WSBK wild card entries in 2011. Though he had a poor showing in Phillip Island, “Josh showed he has the potential,” explained team owner Fujio Yoshimura in March, “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.”

In 2010, Daisaku Sakai raced for the team at the Monza WSBK round after the Icelandic volcano’s ask cloud disrupted European travel and kept Yoshimura Suzuki away from Assen. The Japanese rider did not have the best weekend, crashing out of Race 1 and unable to start the second race. A similar fate besieged Yoshimura’s foray into WSBK, with the team’s plans to race at Imola and Magny-Cours falling apart with budgetary issues.

This weekend, Waters will be back amongst friends with the AMA Superbike series also racing at Miller. He nearly started the AMA round at Laguna Seca last season, filling in for Blake Young, only to be sidelined by injury. American Yoshimura Suzuki fields a team within the national series with riders Tommy Hayden and Young. All will be at Miller this weekend, along with on-scene coverage from A&R.