WSBK News

Unfortunate 2004 World Superbike champion James Toseland crashed twice during the weekend of WSBK testing at Valencia in Spain. The young Brit left the circuit thoroughly battered and bruised from the two accidents, which were no fault of his own.

Winston Ten Kate riders S?bastien Charpentier and Katsuaki Fujiwara will head for round two of the 2005 World Supersport championship at Phillip Island, Australia, on 3 April in confident mood after completing the two-day official Valencia test at the top of the timesheets.

The full 30 rider line-up for the first ever 600 FIM Superstock Cup was announced recently. The Honda CBR600RR was the most popular machine 12 entries. Next was Suzuki with eight machines, and Kawasaki and Yamaha both have five bikes in the field.

The World Superbike championship recently announced the full rider line-up for its 2005 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup.

By Adam Arnold This week, Honda and Ducati MotoGP teams are testing at the Losail track in Qatar, just a few days after the first round of the World Superbike championship at the same circuit.

Renegade Koji Honda rider Ben Bostrom returned to the World Superbike series, after a short spell in his native American Superbike championship, last weekend at Qatar.

MV Agusta are hoping to make a racing return to the World Superbike paddock this season with their F4 1000cc four-cylinder motorcycle, not only in the Superstock championship but also in the premier WSBK class also.

The surprise occurrence in World Superbikes this weekend at Qatar was the 200bhp+ WSBK machines and their level of rear wheel sliding out of corners - or lack of it.

Ben Bostrom suffered a far from ideal return to World Superbikes at Qatar, after leaving the AMA championship last year. With only one race bike ready, the team struggled all week as the first official test acted as the Renegade Koji Honda team's shakedown session.

DFXtreme Yamaha rider Jose Luis Cardoso was tipped to be the sensation of the meeting at the first round of World Superbikes at Qatar, after consistently finishing in the top three of the time sheets for much of the practice and testing sessions before the races.

Alstare Suzuki's Troy Corser narrowly missed out on a double win today at Qatar due to problems with his machine and being caught out by oil on the circuit, in race two of the opening Qatar round of the 2005 World Superbikes championship.

Troy Corser won the first race of the 2005 World Superbike season at Qatar this morning, in an impressive one-two with his Alstare Suzuki team-mate Yukio Kagayama.

Renegade Koji Honda rider Ben Bostrom fell early in the first qualifying session of the first round of the 2005 World Superbike championship, as he tried to get to grips with a new bike, a new track and new tyres with the pressure mounting for him to make progress up the time sheets.

World Superbike champion James Toseland lost out on the final day of the first official WSBK test at Qatar, after suffering a major high-side.

World Superbike new boy Yukio Kagayama set the fastest time on the final day of the official pre-season WSBK test at Qatar.

At the first full official test for the World Supersport riders Sebastien Charpentier hit the ground running setting the fastest time of the first day over one second ahead of his nearest rival Michel Fabrizio.

During an exclusive recent interview with British Superbike GSE Ducati team manager Colin Wright, a hint was dropped as to how Ducati may be trying to get the most from their factory machines in World Superbikes this year.

The Ducati Xerox Team, like those rivals against which it was due to test, found its 2005 World Superbike campaign getting off to a damp start, as the weather interrupted the first day of two due to be spent testing in Valencia.

Ducati Corse announced today that it will take part in the 2005 World Superbike Championship with new title sponsor Xerox, during the international media launch of the team in the Ducati factory in Bologna, Italy.

At 3.30 pm, on Sunday 23rd January, Troy Corser and fianc? Sam tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony on the City Beach, Wollongong Australia, in front of their family and friends.

Following the unofficial release of pictures showing Ten Kate's new blue and white paint scheme (see separate story), the Dutch based racing team have confirmed Winston as its title sponsor for 2005, when it will contest two world championships with a four-rider line-up.

James Toseland is not only a dab hand with a motorcycle after winning the 2004 WSBK championship at only 22 years-of-age, he is also renowned for his musical talent within his band, who are aptly named Crash .

In the latest edition of his latest monthly column on Crash.net , newly signed Foggy Petronas rider Steve Martin takes a look at his main competition for the upcoming 2005 World Superbike championship - and updates us on his pre-season activities...

Foggy Petronas rider Garry McCoy is hoping to be fully fit in time for the official World Superbike Championship test at Qatar next month.