BSB News

Michael Rutter will pilot the 1098 Superbike in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship as well as at the team's own event, the North West 200 held on the 17th May on the north coast of Ireland.

The bikes are among four of only eight, of this type, built by the Italian factory in 2006 and the only ones with full official Airwaves livery. The Superbikes are being sold individually by GSE Racing on eBay, for bids in excess of ?40,000 for each bike.

This is the first time double Japanese Champion, Watanabe will have the opportunity to meet his team-mate and visit the show. He said: "First time to meet Tom is very special. I hope we can work well for Rizla Suzuki and I am look forward to meeting British fans.

Former GP125 rider Kev Coghlan, who finished third in the championship, will be staying with the team but moving into the newly formed Superstock 600 squad alongside James Webb who competed in the Virgin Mobile Cup last season.

But the 34-year-old British racer had a massive stroke of luck on the 15th and final lap of the event when he and rival John McGuinness, on the Stobart Vent Axia Honda, encountered two lapped riders at the Melco Hairpin.

The 27-year-old Liverpudlian completed this year's British Superstock Championship in second place on his Tengo Honda and also impressed when he replaced Ian Hutchinson on the Bikeanimal Supersport machine.

Double BSB winning team owner Paul Bird made the decision after securing his sponsors for a further season. He has also been offered some help from the HRC factory which will give the team an even more competitive edge.

The 31-year-old won the Japanese title with Yoshimura Suzuki, having first taken the crown in 2002, and is acknowledged as one of the best riders in Japan. He has been placed in BSB by Suzuki with a clear aim of winning the championship.

The historic event attracted 60,000 visitors, and impressively 23 per cent of those were first time visitors to the TT races.

The Doha Eight Hour Race, which is the final race in the 2007 QMMF Endurance FIM World Championship, will roar into action on Saturday, November 10th at the Losail circuit in Qatar.

With Kiyonari moving to WSBK and team-mate Jonathan Rea to WSS, both with Ten Kate Honda, HM Plant had two seats to fill for next season - and has secured one proven title contender and one star rookie to campaign the all-new CBR1000RR Fireblade.

Embassy Racing was able to celebrate a successful first season of two-wheeled competition after Glen Richards successfully wrapped up the 2007 British National Superstock Championship title.

With the BSB teams believed to be looking to reduce the number of races for budgetary reasons, and the fact that it costs Mondello considerably more to host a round than any of the British circuits, the County Kildare venue has decided not to take up its place on the 2008 calendar.

'Mission Racing' will contest the 2008 BSS series with riders Sam Warren and Nick Medd onboard 2008 YZF-R6 Rob McElnea specification Yamahas.

By Mike Nicks Dunlop and Pirelli will slug it out in a two-manufacturer contest to win the valuable contract to supply the entire British Superbike and British Supersport grids in 2008, it emerged at Brands Hatch this weekend.

Hobbs sped around the Indy circuit in just 46.980secs, making him the only rider to dip below the 47second lap mark.

22-24 March Snetterton - OFFICIAL TEST 4-6 April Brands Hatch (GP) 18-20 April Thruxton 3-5 May Oulton Park * 24-26 May Silverstone (International) * 13-15 June Snetterton 27-29 June Mallory Park **

This is the big event at Brands Hatch, not only will the Bennetts British Superbike Championship be decided after a three-way scrap for the title but is the only chance to see Toseland's machine carrry the number one plate on track before he moves to MotoGP with the Tech 3 Yamaha team.

With improved weather conditions the lap times picked up with Lowry taking the lead from Joe Dickinson mid way through the session. The Trucklinks Honda rider took the lead from the outset but had to surrender it to Lowry with 16mins to go.

A lot of the usual suspects didn't take to the Indy track as conditions were far from ideal. Leading the early session when the chequered flag came out was Sam Lowes of Double Vision Racing despite a tumble at Druids with only 6mins of free practice left to run.

Hobbs will continue in the Supersport class with the team which has picked up the Supersport Cup title for two consecutive seasons now. He will be team-mate to James 'Westy' Westmoreland the current British Supersport Cup Winner, and Dan 'Ferret' Cooper the 2006 British 125 Champion.

An announcement from the MCRCB has confirmed that the single tyre make proposal has now been sanctioned for the 2008 and 2009 BSB and BSS championships.

While Laverty moves on his team-mate Ian Lowry will stay in Supersport to contest the hotly fought championship for another season.

Two months out of action and a 130mph crash at the infamous Craner Curves couldn't stop the NB Suzuki who was lucky to walk away uninjured.