Yoshimura Suzuki has confirmed it will turn its attentions to the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship at Monza having been forced to scrap its plans to perform at Assen.
The respected Japanese outfit was due to make the first of three
WSBK outings at Assen last week but was grounded by the Europe-wide flight cancellations as a consequence of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption in Iceland.
Nonetheless, with the flight ban eased, the team has instead re-routed its freights to Italy where it will participate at Monza with a modified version of the Suzuki GSX-R1000 that won the Suzuki 8 Hours, while former racer winner
Yukio Kagayama will assume rider duties.
"We are confident that the engine, the machine weight and total balance are competitive enough for the Yoshimura idea and passion in
WSBK challenge," a statement said. "We will participate with
Yukio Kagayama as first race to enter the WSBK, and also the final round in Magny-Cours in October also with Kagayama. His experiences in these courses and
WSBK will show the high performance.
“Then we enter the race at Imola in September with Daisaku Sakai. It is going to be his first race at WSBK, however his experiences of Suzuka 8H and Suzuka GP250 wild card entrant should help him."
Yoshimura plan to enter the World Superbike Championship full-time in 2011, potentially with Kagayama, who finished fourth and 11th at Monza last season.