Without a doubt, the dominant story of the MotoGp off-season has been sudden and unexpected withdrawal of Kawasaki. However, the permutations of the story simply won’t go away.
1. DORNA boss, Carmelo (Caramello???) Ezpeleta has told Kawasaki that they MUST run 2009 as contracted and that, if they do, he will look at letting them out of their contract with DORNA which officially runs to the end of 2011. In this article in crash.net, the DORNA heavyweight spells out the reasons why.
2. Bizarrely, the article also announces that Kawasaki test rider, Olivier Jacque, was seen testing the 2009 MotoGp bike at Eastern Creek yesterday….how weird is THAT?
3. Strong rumours are bubbling in the Japanese bike industry that Suzuki have decided to follow Kawasaki out the door, and have ALREADY pulled the plug on their team. Three separate sources within the game have confirmed this scenario. In the authoritative motogpmatters.com web site, more details are emerging, including one that I highlighted a number of weeks ago, that being that Rizla have not yet confirmed their involvement with the team for 2009. I quote below the article in full.
“To paraphrase a great Irish wit, to lose one manufacturer may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness. After the dramatic withdrawal of Kawasaki from MotoGP, rumors persist that Suzuki is to follow. MotoGPMatters.com has now been passed on this rumor from three independent sources, two of which are inside the Japanese motorcycle industry, and it is starting to look less and less far-fetched.
The problem is, all that we have heard so far are the five chilling words “Suzuki is out of MotoGP,” without any further details being provided. As a result, it is hard to say just how much credence we should attach to this story, but there are good reasons to consider it within the realms of the possible.
Firstly, there has still been no confirmation of Rizla extending their contract with the MotoGP team. The Dutch manufacturer of cigarette papers has already announced that it won’t be sponsoring the BSB Suzuki team, which is also managed by Paul Denning, the manager of the MotoGP team. Even if Rizla are still interested, the amount involved is – in MotoGP terms – negligible. Indeed, the Rizla deal angered many inside the MotoGP paddock, as the sum involved – low seven figures, to include sponsoring the BSB team – is only about 5% of what would be needed to run the entire program for a year. A title sponsor, so the argument ran, should cover a big chunk of the teams fees, as Repsol does for Honda, Marlboro does for Ducati and Fiat does for Yamaha.”
So, while the field may appear to be strewn with dead MotoGp bodies, it’s main opposition, WSBK and WSS appear to be going from strength to strength, with confirmation of official entry lists for both classes last night.
Here’s the WSBK list
No. Rider Nat. Bike Team
41 Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati 1098R Ducati Xerox Team
84 Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati 1098R Ducati Xerox Team
19 Ben Spies USA Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha World Superbike
66 Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha World Superbike
7 Carlos Checa ESP Honda CBR1000RR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda
65 Jonathan Rea GBR Honda CBR1000RR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda
53 Alessandro Polita ITA Ducati 1098R Sterilgarda
67 Shane Byrne GBR Ducati 1098R Sterilgarda
71 Yukio Kagayama JPN Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 Suzuki Alstare
76 Max Neukirchner GER Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 Suzuki Alstare
23 Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki ZX 10R Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team
100 Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki ZX 10R Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team
24 Brendan Roberts AUS Ducati 1098R Guandalini Racing
96 Jakub Smrz CZE Ducati 1098R Guandalini Racing
15 Matteo Baiocco ITA Kawasaki ZX 10R PSG-1 Corse
86 Ayrton Badovini ITA Kawasaki ZX 10R PSG-1 Corse
55 Regis Laconi FRA Ducati 1098R DFX Corse
9 Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Honda CBR1000RR Ten Kate Honda Racing
33 Tommy Hill GBR Honda CBR1000RR HANNspree Honda Althea
94 David Checa ESP Yamaha YZF R1 Yamaha France GMT 94 IPONE
25 David Salom ESP Kawasaki ZX 10R Team Pedercini
99 Luca Scassa ITA Kawasaki ZX 10R Team Pedercini
36 Gregorio Lavilla ESP Honda CBR1000RR Pro Ride World Superbike
3 Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia RSV4 Aprilia Racing
56 Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia RSV4 Aprilia Racing
11 Troy Corser AUS BMW S1000 RR BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing
111 Ruben Xaus ESP BMW S1000 RR BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing
31 Karl Muggeridge AUS Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 Celani Race
77 Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Honda CBR1000RR Squadra Corse Italia
44 Roberto Rolfo ITA Honda CBR1000RR Stiggy Motorsport AB
91 Leon Haslam GBR Honda CBR1000RR Stiggy Motorsport AB
88 Roland Resch AUT Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 TKR Suzuki Switzerland
And here’s the WSS list
1 Andrew Pitt AUS Honda CBR600RR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda
54 Kenan Sofuoglu TUR Honda CBR600RR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda
35 Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha World Supersport Team
99 Fabien Foret FRA Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha World Supersport Team
13 Anthony West AUS Honda CBR600RR Stiggy Motorsport AB
105 Gianluca Vizziello ITA Honda CBR600RR Stiggy Motorsport AB
50 Eugene Laverty IRL Honda CBR600RR Parkalgar Honda
117 Miguel Praia POR Honda CBR600RR Parkalgar Honda
77 Barry Veneman NED Suzuki GSX-R 600 Hoegee Suzuki Team
TBA TBA Suzuki GSX-R 600 Hoegee Suzuki Team
21 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN Kawasaki ZX-6R Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com
26 Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki ZX-6R Kawasaki Provec Motocard.com
8 Mark Aitchison AUS Honda CBR600RR HANNspree Honda Althea
14 Matthieu Lagrive FRA Honda CBR600RR HANNspree Honda Althea
24 Garry McCoy AUS Triumph 675 Triumph BE1 Racing
69 Gianluca Nannelli ITA Triumph 675 Triumph BE1 Racing
7 Patrick Vostarek CZE Honda CBR600RR Intermoto Czech
55 Massimo Roccoli ITA Honda CBR600RR Intermoto Czech
51 Michele Pirro ITA Yamaha YZF R6 Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni
28 Arie Vos NED Honda CBR600RR Veidec Racing RES Software
127 Robbin Harms DEN Honda CBR600RR Veidec Racing RES Software
32 Fabrizio Lai ITA Honda CBR600RR ECHO CRS Grand Prix
83 Russell Holland AUS Honda CBR600RR ECHO CRS Grand Prix
19 Pawel Szkopek POL Triumph 675 Factory Racing
96 Matej Smrz CZE Triumph 675 Factory Racing
71 Jose Carlos Morillas Cuenca ESP Yamaha YZF R6 Holiday Gym Racing
88 Yannick Guerra ESP Yamaha YZF R6 Holiday Gym Racing
9 Danilo Dell’Omo ITA Honda CBR600RR Kuja Racing
30 Jesco Günther GER Honda CBR600RR RES Software Veidec Racing
5 Doni Tata Pradita INA Yamaha YZF R6 YZF Yamaha
Somewhat healthy, wouldn’t you say? Someone has already noted that the WSBK field is almost exactly twice the size of the MotoGp grid. And this does not include the confirmed entries for SuperStock 1000 and SuperStock 600 both of which classes will be over-subscribed without a doubt.
As noted before, watch this space.