The WorldSBK grid at Jerez will be full of replacement riders, as injury takes its toll, not just on the regular riders, but also on possible replacements.
Sylvain Guintoli is to step in and replace the still injured and departing Randy Krummenacher in the Kawasaki Puccetti team for the rest of the season, the Swiss rider having previously fractured his wrist.
Guintoli will ride for the Puccetti team in both the remaining rounds this year, at Jerez and at Qatar.
If you didn’t catch the hint in Leon Camier’s interview with us (for our A&R Pro subscribers), the British rider has switched teams for the 2018 World Superbike season, signing today with the Ten Kate Honda team for next season.
The move is a bold one for Camier, who has made a name for himself in the WorldSBK paddock by putting the MV Agusta F4 well beyond the ranks that many insiders expected it to achieve.
With Ten Kate needing similar helping developing the Honda CBR1000RR SP2, Camier’s presence in the garage next season is surely a welcomed sign for Big Red, but one has to wonder if its the best idea for Camier.
It has been over four years since Leon Camier last stood on the WorldSBK podium, but since Silverstone 2013 the Englishman has been able to do something remarkable; rebuild his reputation without having the silverware to show for it.
Having raced for Aprilia and Suzuki following his 2009 British Superbike title success, Camier was left high and dry for 2014 and had to take on the role of super-sub for the season.
It must have been a humbling experience for Camier, but it has certianly made him a stronger and more rounded racer, and since joining MV Augusta in 2015 he been the focal point of their WorldSBK programme.
“The bike has evolved from when I first rode it,” said Camier. “It was not a very good race bike at the start and now it is really quite competitive.”
In our latest look at road racing in the United States, we talked to Jake Gagne about the challenges facing an American rider trying to make his way to Europe. Previously we talked to Wayne Rainey, about how MotoAmerica is nurturing talent. You should give that a read too. -JB
Motorcycle racing needs its next American star. The lineage of world-class US riders has been long and storied over the years. That well of talent has dried up in recent years and the nation has been left waiting patiently for their next star.
From the days when King Kenny Roberts first left the US and went to Europe, there has been a constant torrent of talent from the West, but that torrent became a stream and most recently a shuck.
With the flow of racing talent having been directed off-road over the last ten years, it seems as though MotoAmerica might have once again given American riders a setting upon which to build their careers.
“I grew up racing motocross, and I was able to win some amateur championships,” said Jake Gange prior to the Magny Cours round of WorldSBK.
Could we see the return of Ben Spies to motorcycle racing? That’s the talk of the paddock right now, and the former MotoGP racer is helping fuel the fires with his social media posts.
Our sources point to Spies gearing up for a return to domestic racing, as he looks to ride in the MotoAmerica Championship (presumably on a superbike), and possibly also as a team owner as well, fielding his own entry.
This should come as a surprising but welcomed bit of news to motorcycle racing fans, as the 33-year-old seemingly retired from motorcycle racing after the 2013 MotoGP Championship season, after extensive damage to his shoulders seemed to rule him out of a future of racing motorcycles.
A major surprise out of Borgo Panigale this afternoon. Ernesto Marinelli, the man behind so much of Ducati’s World Superbike success, is to leave the company at the end of 2017 for pastures new.
Marinelli has been a lynchpin in Ducati’s WSBK operation, working with the company for 22 years. He started as a track engineer, working with both Carl Fogarty and Neil Hodgson, but soon took on a major role in Ducati’s racing operations.
The Italian led Ducati’s AMA racing program at the end of last century, working with such legendary riders as Troy Bayliss, Ben Bostron, Anthony Gobert, and John Kocinski.
After returning to Europe, he took over the role of technical director, then project manager of Ducati’s WorldSBK project.
For the first time since Portimao 2011, Yamaha was able to celebrate two riders standings on the WorldSBK podium. In an action packed Race 2 at Magny Cours, Chaz Davies claimed his seventh race win of the season, ahead of Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark.
For Yamaha, this was the culmination of their efforts throughout the last 12 months – to turn their WorldSBK program into a front-running effort. While there is still clearly work to be done to transform the YZF-R1 into a race-winner, it has now been able to claim five podiums in 2017.
Stefan Bradl is to miss the rest of the 2017 WorldSBK season. The Red Bull Honda rider’s wrist injury, sustained in a crash at Portimao, is more serious than initially thought, and the recovery period required means he will not be fit for either the Jerez or Qatar rounds of WorldSBK.
The decision was taken after surgery on Bradl’s right wrist. Pins were inserted and a torn scaphulonate ligament reattached, damage sustained in the crash.
The surgeons who performed the operation have ordered Bradl to keep his wrist immobilized to allow the damage to heal. This effectively makes it impossible for him to ride for the rest of the season.
History was made at Magny-Cours today, when Jonathan Rea claimed an unprecedented third WorldSBK championship in a row. It was a momentous day for the Northern Irishman, who also notched up the 50th victory of his career.
“To be honest I can’t sum up my emotions,” said the triple champion. “I just feel super proud of my team and Kawasaki.”
“It has been such a team effort, and even though I’m the guy who rode it over the line, there have been so many people involved to make it possible. Every season is different and special in its own individual way.”