WSBK: If Suzuki Goes, So Does Alstare Says Team Manager

Alstare Suzuki team manager Francis Batta has announced that should Suzuki decide to follow Yamaha’s footsteps, and withdraw from World Superbike competition as a factory, his Championship winning team would also withdraw, instead of pursuing a different manufacturer for its backing. The team announced, “If Suzuki decides not to take part in the World Superbike Championship next year, Francis will also stop rather than continue with another manufacturer.”

After Yamaha announced its withdrawal from WSBK competition at the end of the 2011 season, Batta felt the need to “clarify his position regarding current speculation about 2012.” Rather than continue with a different manufacturer such as Kawasaki, which was rumored, as Team Green is currently accepting bids for the 2012 factory team, Batta “would like to continue with them [Suzuki] alone in the future.”

“Batta and Alstare have been involved with Suzuki for the best part of thirteen years and this tremendous relationship has given to everybody an immense amount of satisfaction,” continued word from the team. “The strong relationship was forged right from the very beginning and has grown throughout the years and is one that Francis values very highly.” However, all this speculation rides on whether Suzuki will actually withdraw its official factory team from the Championship.

This season Alstare Suzuki fields one rider, Michel Fabrizio, who has finished on the podium only once. As Carlos Checa and the unofficial Ducati team have shown, a named-factory effort is unnecessary to lead the WSBK championship. The Italian manufacturer withdrew at the end of the 2010 season, and despite the Althea team lacking only official factory support, Checa has practically dominated WSBK, with four poles and ten wins on the season so far.