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WSBK

2016 World Superbike Championship Rider Entry List

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The 2016 World Superbike Championship rider entry list is out, and while this story is mostly for reference, it also make official the news of Iodaracing moving from the MotoGP paddock and into WSBK.

Iodaracing will run a factory-supported effort for Aprilia Racing, using the now very mature Aprilia RSV4 racing package, with Alex De Angelis and Lorenzo Savadori at the helm.

The news means that every superbike brand, sans Suzuki, will be featured in the premier production motorcycle racing series, which should make for some good competition at the top of the sport.

The title defenders, Kawasaki Racing Team will have the target on their backs, but the Ducati and Yamaha packages are looking very strong as well.

World Superbike racing will start February 28th at Phillip Island, with a pre-season test scheduled right before the first round. Asphalt & Rubber hopes to bring you more comprehensive coverage of the 2016 World Superbike season, so stay tuned for our updates.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast – Episode 15 – Listener Questions

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Filling the lull of the motorcycle racing off-season, Episode 15 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees David, Steve, and Neil answering listener questions that were submitted via Twitter.

The guys cover everything from what rider apparel they have bought (and what happens when you show up to a media scrum wearing them), to how World Superbike will handle a two-day race schedule, and much much more. We think you will find the show highly amusing. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions!

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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Bikes

The 2016 Yamaha YZF-R1 Is Ready for WSBK Duty

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Yamaha is headed back to the World Superbike paddock, and it is not taking any half-measures in doing so. As such, the Japanese manufacturer has retained the talents of Sylvain Guintoli (World Superbike Champion, 2014) and Alex Lowes (British Superbike Champion, 2013), with the highly regarded Crescent Racing running the factory-backed team.

Officially debuting the team today in Spain, along with Yamaha’s other racing programs, the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team should be a potent package for the pinnacle of production motorcycle racing, and we expect strong results from them, right off the bat.

This is because the new Yamaha YZF-R1 had an entire year of honing at the national level, where in the USA it won both the Superbike and Superstock 1000 classes in the MotoAmerica racing series, and in the UK Josh Brookes took the BSB Championship victory as well.

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MotoGP

Brno’s MotoGP Contract Secured Through 2020 – World Superbike May Return

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The future of the Brno round of MotoGP has been secured for the foreseeable future. On Monday, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta signed a contract with the “Spolek pro GP ?R v Brno”, an association set up to promote the Czech Grand Prix, to host the race at the Masarykring in Brno from 2016 until 2020.

MotoGP at Brno has been shrouded in doubt for the past few years. An ongoing dispute between the Masarykring circuit, or Automotodrom Brno, and regional authorities left the circuit in debt to Dorna after failing to pay the sanctioning fee demanded.

The circuit owner Karel Abraham Sr. and Ivana Ulmanova, the circuit manager, were caught in a power struggle with the city council of Brno and Michal Hašek, the president of the South Moravia region.

Dorna had threatened to take the race off the calendar unless all of the monies owed to the circuit were paid, and a long-term solution was found to prevent further problems. A compromise has now been found to settle the dispute.

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MotoGP

Kicking Off 2016: Six Ridiculously Premature Predictions for the Racing Year to Come

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A new year is upon us, and with it, a new season of motorcycle racing, full of hope, opportunity and optimism. What will 2016 hold for motorcycle racing fans?

With testing still weeks away for World Superbikes, and a month away for MotoGP, it is far, far too early to be making any predictions. But why let that stop us?

Here are some predictions for 2016 that we are making.

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News

Miller Motorsports Park Sale Vacated by Judge

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Miller Motorsports Park is set to change hands, after the Miller family’s LHM Group decided not to renew its lease with Toole County on the property.

This created a situation where bids were tendered for a new operator, which lead to Mitime Utah Investment, LLC — a subsidiary of Chinese company Geely Holding Group, which is also the owner of automotive company Volvo — winning the bidding process with a sum of $20 million, two months ago.

That sale though has been vacated by Third District Judge Robert Adkins, who agreed with the petition of Center Point Management (CPM) that the company’s $22 million bid should have won, since it was higher and the County has an obligation to sell the property for the most money.

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Racing

World Superbike Races Will Split Over Saturday & Sunday

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The World Superbike championship is to undergo a radical shake up. Today, the Superbike Commission, WSBK’s rule-making body, announced two major changes aimed at improving the health of the series.

The first change is the most noticeable. As predicted when the 2016 WSBK Calendar was published, World Superbike races are to be held on both Saturdays and Sundays, with Race 1 being held on Saturday, Race 2 on Sunday. This means that Superpole has now been moved to Saturday morning, rather than the afternoon.

The move, the Superbike Commission says, is to provide a fuller experience for fans at a WSBK weekend. The move has been made after consultation with the teams, TV broadcasters, and with circuit owners, which produced positive feedback.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast – Episode 12 – Jerez Test

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Just because it’s the offseason doesn’t mean the guys from the Paddock Pass Podcast aren’t busy cranking out shows. Episode 12 finds David, Neil, and Tony after the Jerez test for both the MotoGP and World Superbikes, as well the Macau Grand Prix.

The boys talk about how the MotoGP teams are handling the unified electronics and adapting to the Michelin tires. They also gives us a status update on how the Aprilia and KTM projects are coming along.

Moving on to WSBK, there is a good discussion about the speed from the Kawasaki factory bikes, and how Nicky Hayden is handling the switch to the production class, with the Honda CBR1000RR. You will also enjoy Tony’s report from the Macau Grand Prix, the last stop on the 2015 road racing calendar.

The show is continues its mix of useful racing insight and friendly banter – if you ever wanted to know how much KTM’s Moto3 bike weighs in pixie farts, this is the show for you.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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