BSB » GSE to make shock Yamaha switch in 2009

circus can offer him a considerable pay hike, plus a top factory / near-factory ride with which to mount a serious assault on the WSBK title in 2009/10, I seriously doubt whether he'd trade the nice lifestyle he's built for himself and his new family in Europe for a second-rate 'mid-pack' 1 year deal in WSBK, only to find that when that dries up, he can't even get a decent ride in BSB. I think I'd rather stay in BSB with GSE (who love him now) and see how many more times I can lift the BSB title. Who knows... to use an Americanism, Byrne only needs to win the BSB title two more times to become the 'winningest' (hate that phrase) champion in the history of the series... Looks ominous to me...

Well the best thing about this news is finally Yamaha UK have seen the light and realised pumping more money into Rob Mc only adds to his overseas bank accounts and never into racing or results.

Rob only did any good when he had bikes on the grid far better than anything else (The Boost days) and since it became a competitive playing field he''s done nothing worthy and is out of touch.

Well done GSE for taking on a new an exciting challenge!! Woo Hoo...

Rob can now spend even more time playing golf and adding a few more inches to his waist.

Go Yamaha UK, Good luck GSE

1098RH
I think the "big bang" (wish they'd stop calling it that, it's so misleading!) will be very much like a 4 cylinder in it's power delivery, the torque will be comparable to any 4 cylinder at the same revs. It'll just be a bit more "tractable". The greatest advantage will probably be extending tyre life and therefore being able to use softer, stickier compounds....a well known r1 problem.

Andrew Long - A few years back the Japanese factories reached a gentlemans agreement not to field full factory teams in WSB. The politics is complicated, but Honda pulled out and took its factory team to BSB and used that as its testbed for the Suzuka 8 hour race. I beleive Yamaha pulled out earlier in relation to the "kitbike" rules debacle. Suzuki were felt to have become "too factory" the year they won with Corser - suddenly they had Japanese technicians crawling al over the bikes.

The only full factory team is Xerox Ducati at present, but BMW are entering next year. When BMW win, in 2 or 3 years, the Japs will probably re-introduce full factory teams.

If anyone thinks that Ten Kate Honda, Yamaha Italia, Alstare Suzuki or PSG Kawasaki aren't fully backed, financially and materially by the factories in Japan they are deluded...

Don't know where marshall gets his info from, but I know where I get mine, and Rob Mac will not be the no.1 Yamaha team next year.

Nitro - re the 'pipe and slippers' I reckon you're right. I've got just two words - Greg Lavilla. He was great for GSE, but because they could'nt move forward WSB, (not for lack of desire!!) he moved on, but is now running mid-pack, and I don't think Shakey fancies the same option - it's Xerox or nothing really. A seat on the Boulder Ducati, or maybe reuniting with Birdy does'nt really appeal to him - been there done that in MotoGP. I think he'll stay and help the team prove that it was never about the bike this year but about the team - riders et al

McBlob , what a ******* stupid post , sad that there are people like you out there with little or no idea other than to post stupid comments like that.
If you are that bored sod off and play with your wii or something and leave this to the grown ups.

give the ride to john kirkham!!!.he's too good to be in superstock and the 'jk' cup. and what is this about stiggy honda wsb???

Mike - the Japanese are not running full factory teams in WSB at the moment - factory supported yes - full factory no. The current arrangements are significantly different from the RC45 days when Honda had a bigger budget for WSB than GP.

Anorack. Semantics. Those are the Factory teams. Money, bikes, parts and development all comes from Japan.