Walker out as PSG-1 re-signs Nieto, Laconi.
Chris Walker has lost his PSG-1 Kawasaki seat for 2007 after team-mates Fonsi Nieto and Regis Laconi were both re-signed for the downsized line-up - despite Walker taking the team's only race win this year.
Well-funded former 250GP star Nieto and multiple WSBK race winner Laconi, a former title runner-up for Ducati, were confirmed as forming PSG-1's future line-up after Sunday's penultimate Imola round, after which Walker holds ninth in the 2006 championship - one point ahead of rising star Nieto, with the experienced Laconi back in fifteenth position.
Chris Walker has lost his PSG-1 Kawasaki seat for 2007 after team-mates Fonsi Nieto and Regis Laconi were both re-signed for the downsized line-up - despite Walker taking the team's only race win this year.
Well-funded former 250GP star Nieto and multiple WSBK race winner Laconi, a former title runner-up for Ducati, were confirmed as forming PSG-1's future line-up after Sunday's penultimate Imola round, after which Walker holds ninth in the 2006 championship - one point ahead of rising star Nieto, with the experienced Laconi back in fifteenth position.
As well as being the top Team Green rider, Walker scored his first ever WSBK victory - and Kawasaki's first since 2000 - when he took a remarkable last-to-first wet weather win at Assen race one. Nieto's best result so far is a third in Assen race two, while Laconi's highest finish is a fourth place in Brands Hatch race two.
Nevertheless, 'The Stalker' will now have to look elsewhere for a 2007 race seat - and may well consider a switch back to the British Superbike championship.
Meanwhile, Nieto's new deal excludes the possibility of the Spaniard riding for the Pramac d'Antin team in the 2007 MotoGP World Championship.
