World Superbikes Championship 2008 Preview
February 20, 2008
The 2008 HANNspree Superbike World Championship kicks off this weekend at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, the first of a scheduled 14 races in the 2008 season. This will be the 21st season in the Championships history which began at Donington, UK back in 1988.
All the usual suspects are back - Max Biaggi, Troy Corser, Troy Bayliss, Noriyuki Haga, Ruben Xaus - and they will be joined by a healthy influx of riders from various other series, making the total turnout on this year’s starting grid an impressive 28 permanent riders.
In unofficial pre-season testing at the Qatar circuit last week there were few major surprises with the top teams demonstrating times which will prove them difficult to beat through the coming season. 2001 and 2006 champion Troy Bayliss took his brand new factory Ducati Xerox 1098 F08 to the fastest lap of the week with a time of 1′58.8.
Not far behind was 1996 and 2005 World Champion Troy Corser who posted a time of 1′59.0 on his Yamaha Motor Italia. This was matched by Italian Lorenzo Lanzi (RG Ducati), while Noriyuki Haga stopped the clock on 1′59.3.
Ruben Xaus (Ducati Sterilgarda Go Eleven) was joined on a respectable time of 1′59.5 by the returning Gregorio Lavilla (Paul Bird Racing Honda), while Michele Fabrizio was hot on their heels with a 1′59.6. Max Biaggi (Ducati Sterilgarda Go Eleven) trailed slightly and couldn’t quite get below the 2 minute mark.
Luck was certainly not on the side of teammates Makoto Tamada and Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse), arriving for testing to find that most of their full spec engines were damaged in transit, putting them worryingly behind in the pre-season preparations.
Not all teams have been at the Losail International circuit however. The Championship winning team of HANNspree Honda Ten Kate chose to do their early testing at Almeria with their new Honda CBR1000 bike, giving their riders Carlos Checa, Ryuichi Kiyonari and Kenan Sofuoglu surprisingly little time for preparation.
The Belgian Alstare Suzuki team have spent most of their preparation time at Phillip Island, and have followed the Ten Kate team’s example of having 3 riders on their roster - their team this season being Fonsi Nieto, Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama.
All in all the 2008 season looks like an exciting prospect, and if it’s anywhere near as exciting as the previous year’s Championship we’re on for 14 races on the edge of our seats!
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