WSBK » Byrne confirmed with Sterilgarda Ducati

Above post should say Ruben didn't crash much!

Sterilgarda - Biaggi was paid by FG Sport. Don't know who paid Ruben, but first year with Sterilgarda he paid for his own bikes and crash much! I'm sure he will be on a good wage with BMW.

Re Polita - he is supposed to be good in Superstock and is familiar with the Ducati so he may develop nicely.

Good luck to Shane and agree that it is very sensible for Ducati to have him under contract.

Short of actually replacing Bayliss next year, this looks to be the next best option, especially as he's working directly for Ducati. That's a better deal than even Xaus and Biaggi had. Ducati are smart and are covering all their bases here. If Fabrizio doesn't sit on Haga's back wheel / bag some wins next year (which I can't see him doing), or indeed if Haga is under par and doesn't click with the 1098 (which could happen), I can see Shakey sliding into the Xerox camp in 2010 !! Indeed, with his talent, he could cause some major upsets in '09 on a factory supported Sterilgarda F09 !! Bring it on...

says in mcn that byrne is contracted to ducati rather than sterilgarda so if thats true he'll def be on a top spec bike.

Looks like an FO9 for Shakey according to todays MCN........ Would Shakey have signed without the promice of "competitive" machinary??
Lavilla for the ride......... nah, he's riding round for a wage nowadays!!! (my "opinion" only, thanjs very much..... )

The rumour was that FGSport were paying Biaggi's wages this year, so I'm not sure how much money Sterilgarda have. Xaus wouldn't be cheap to have in the team in terms of his bike repair bills!

Oh yeah. Nearly forgot the key ingredient... Polita is an I-tai !!! They do like their home grown riders those Italians, but if they haven't got one that can actually win / challenge for the title, then they'll gladly accept any old Tom, D1ck or Harry so long as he wins !! Faint tinge of hypocrisy by any chance ...?

Still don't see that Lavilla deserves the Sterilgarda ride next year more than Shakey. Alongside him maybe, as this Polita kid seems like a bit of an unknown quantity, although probably cheap. Sterilgarda can't be hard-up having run Biaggi and Xaus last year...

Stan,

Lavilla was only out of a job because Suzuki pulled out of World Superbikes when the control tire rule came in. He also never had a bike capable of winning a championship, as he was on 750 four when the 1000 twins were dominating and when he got on the GSXR1000 Suzuki it was restricted and he was in a one man team developing a new bike.

As for him being a sub, he was a very good one - not even Troy Baylis could win the British Championship at his first attempt.

James Haydon... Goodness me, what a catalogue of disasters that bloke has had, together with more opportunities than the rest of the BSB / WSBK paddock put together. I have to admit he works well as part of the commentary team on Eurosport with Carter and Whitham, but honestly... from WSBK on the Foggy Petronas in 2003, Virgin, Rizla, Hawk Kawasaki, GSE in BSB after that, and now just a 'presenters stooge' on Eurosport BSB coverage. Surprised he's got the neck to appear on TV to be honest. Gets paid a wage I suppose. He's a bright bloke though, so given that, personally I'd rather have stayed out of the TV limelight and worked my way into team management somewhere to maintain credibility...