World Supersport

There was much disappointment around the world when it was announced, shortly before the first round at Phillip Island, that the 2010 World Superbike season would not be shown live online on the World Superbike website, as it has been done in previous years. The reason was simple: TV companies - who had paid sizable sums to Infront Motor Sports to screen the races live - were fed up of losing their audiences (and therefore their advertising income) to the website of the company they had handed their money over to.

Fortunately, the World Superbike series can lend at least some succour to racing fans. For Infront has placed highlight reels of both World Superbike and the World Supersport race up on the World Superbike series' Youtube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/sbk. So fans who have missed the races can at least get a taster of the action from Down Under before their local TV stations show the races - if they are being shown in those territories.

In the runup to the first World Supersport race of the 2010 season, MotoMatters.com - like every other motorcycle racing news outlet - is swamped with press releases. Unlike most other news outlets, however, we do not bother our readers with them, for they are, for the most part, bland and uninteresting fare, and completely interchangeable.

Not all of them are so insipid, however. In the press releases of some teams, the character of the riders, press officer or team manager shines through, spicing them up and making them a much more palatable affair. And they don't come much spicier than the missives from the pen of Parkalgar Honda World Supersport boss Simon Buckmaster. Buckmaster is not shy of expressing his opinion, and likes to do so forcefully and frequently. This makes him a breath of fresh air, and always informative and entertaining to talk to, whether you agree with him or not.

Just prior to the first race of the season getting underway, Buckmaster fired off a press release with his view of how the season will unfold, and who he thinks will be champion this season. It will come as no surprise to find out that the Parkalgar team boss believes that his very own Eugene Laverty will be the man holding the trophy at Magny-Cours in seven months' time, but his reasoning provides a fascinating insight into the politics of the World Supersport class, and is a very entertaining read to boot. Here's what Buckmaster has to say:

Simon Buckmaster says...

In case you still needed a little help in getting warmed up for the World Superbike season opener at Phillip Island next weekend, here's a video from the Italian channel SuperbikeTV. Yes, it's in Italian, and therefore contains commentary which non-Italian speakers will find incomprehensible. But it also features footage of the bikes on track, and that should get your juices running ready for Sunday. Just a few more days to go ...

Joan Lascorz topped the timecharts at the end of two days of testing at Phillip Island, getting within spitting distance of Kenan Sofuoglu's pole record from last year. The Spaniard had been strong all weekend, finishing as fastest in three of the four sessions the World Supersport class had at the Australian track, the final test in the run up to the opening round of the 2010 season.

A cluster of Hondas sit from 2nd to 4th, with Eugene Laverty's Parkalgar bike sandwiched between the Ten Kates of Kenan Sofuoglu and Michele Pirro. These four look the most likely title candidates, but the old guard of Katsuaki Fujiwara and Fabien Foret will give them a run for their money from time to time. 

With three Kawasakis and three Hondas in the top six, the prospect of a Kawasaki winning a world championship is looking increasingly realistic. Team Green have generally had a miserable time in all of the World Championship series they have entered, their last title coming in 2001 in this very class, with Andrew Pitt aboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R. But the World Supersport series is the only class where Kawasaki have shone, and with Joan Lascorz growing in maturity year on year, the Spaniard could be one to watch in 2010.

Results of the second and final session of testing for World Supersport at Phillip Island: 

Results of the first session of practice for the World Supersport class on Monday: 

If Moto2 testing has been dogged by bad weather and poor conditions, the sun has smiled on the World Superbike and World Supersport classes. The men - and woman - of the WSBK paddock enjoyed the warm sunshine of the Antipodean late summer, but then again they did have to fly halfway round the world to enjoy it. Kenan Sofuoglu immediately made himself at home at Phillip Island, setting the fastest lap of the first day of testing during the morning session, and showing a similar turn of pace in the afternoon. Motocard Kawasaki's Joan Lascorz was quickest in the afternoon session, but his time was well off the time set by the Ten Kate Honda rider in the morning session.

The Ten Kate Hondas and Motocard Kawasakis dominated the timesheets, taking the top four spots with Sofuoglu and his new teammate Michele Pirro sandwiching Katsuaki Fujiwara and Lascorz between them. Another Kawasaki was 5th, the Lorenzini by Leoni bike of former WSS World Champion Fabien Foret. The Frenchman finished just ahead of last year's championship runner up, Eugene Laverty on the Parkalgar Honda.

Sebastien Charpentier was the fastest of the Triumphs, ahead of his BE1 teammate David Salom. Chaz Davies was the second fastest of the British riders in 10th place, 3 places ahead of newcomer Gino Rea, and two places ahead of his Factory Triumph teammate, American rider Jason DiSalvo.