After the encouraging times recorded at Jerez, the Yakhnich Motorsport team then moved to Almeria to complete its testing programme before leaving for Australia. Rider Vladimir Leonov was able to lap constantly for three days at the Spanish track, and the team did a lot of work, only failing to complete the long-run scheduled for the morning of day 3 due to 5°C temperatures. The Russian team mainly focused on suspension, engine and electronic management work on the Yamaha R6 Supersport Leonov will ride in this year's series. Right from the start of day 1 he found a good feeling with the bike,...continua»

With just a couple of weeks to go before the opening round in Australia, the Red Devils Roma team has been at Vallelunga for two days of testing. Andrea Petricca's squad brought along their Ducati 1198 Superbike rider Niccolò Canepa, as well as Polish rider Andrzej Chmielewski who will race a Ducati Superstock 1000 machine in the FIM Cup. Despite low temperatures and rain on Saturday night, Canepa completed almost 100 laps in the two days, verifying the potential of his 1198 equipped with Bitubo suspension. The Italian's best time was 1'36"5, an encouraging performance given the difficult cli...continua»

With just a couple of weeks to go before the opening round in Australia, the Red Devils Roma team has been at Vallelunga for two days of testing. Andrea Petricca's squad brought along their Ducati 1198 Superbike rider Niccolò Canepa, as well as Polish rider Andrzej Chmielewski who will race a Ducati Superstock 1000 machine in the FIM Cup. Despite low temperatures and rain on Saturday night, Canepa completed almost 100 laps in the two days, verifying the potential of his 1198 equipped with Bitubo suspension. The Italian's best time was 1'36"5, an encouraging performance given the difficult cli...continua»

Team Italia has communicated the names of its federation-supported riders for the 2012 season, youngsters who will take part in the FIM Superstock Cup and the UEM Superstock 600 Championship. The first name on the list is Lorenzo Savadori (photo), 18 years of age from Cesena, who for the second successive year will take part in Superstock 1000, this time on a brand-new Ducati 1199 Panigale machine prepared by the Barni Racing team. The Italian had a tough debut season in Superstock 1000, the former 125cc rider having to learn everything from scratch, but the 2008 Italian and European 125 GP c...continua»

BMW Motorrad riders Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam have been continuing their preparation for the season ahead with two days of testing at Valencia in Spain. Melandri and Haslam completed a total of 950 kilometres of testing on the 2012 race version of the RR in good conditions. The team focused on verifying the latest developments it has made in recent weeks. The bikes were equipped with the latest version of the engine, as well as updated software for the BMW electronics and the riders tried new parts on several areas of the bike. "It was good to be back on the bike after the winter," said...continua»

The DeltaFin Lorenzini Kawasaki Team is currently taking part in two days of testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain, with riders Kenan Sofuoglu and Sheridan Morais both putting in as many laps as possible to get an idea of the set-up and electronics package of their official ZX-6R machines. MoTec electronics represent the main change for the Italian team this year, after they had formerly used EFI systems. Sofuoglu and Morais did 60 laps of the track each yesterday, mainly in the warmer part of the day as temperatures overall were pretty cold. Poor track conditions following recent Formula ...continua»

Last year's European Superstock 600 Champion Jed Metcher has officially put pen to paper in signing a one-year contract with the Russian RivaMoto team. The deal will see the 21 year-old Australian from Eltham, Victoria go head-to-head with some of the best riders in the upcoming World Supersport Championship. Metcher will join forces with two 38 year-old Russian riders, Oleg Pozdneev and Eduard Blokhin. Team RivaMoto, who are currently based in Cartagena in Spain, but who will move to Bologna in Italy after round 1 at Phillip Island will have former 250/500cc racing star Jeremy McWilliams as ...continua»

Last year's European Superstock 600 Champion Jed Metcher has officially put pen to paper in signing a one-year contract with the Russian Rivamoto team. The deal will see the 21 year-old Australian from Eltham, Victoria go head-to-head with some of the best riders in the upcoming World Supersport Championship. Metcher will join forces with two 38 year-old Russian riders, Oleg Pozdneev and Eduard Blokhin. Team Rivamoto, who are currently based in Cartagena in Spain, but who will move to Bologna in Italy after round 1 at Phillip Island will have former 250/500cc racing star Jeremy McWilliams as ...continua»

The new World Superbike team run by Andrea Petricca is set to line up in the 2012 championship with a new name as Ducati Roma has now changed to the Red Devils Roma Team. The change was made because of the Rome manager's fondness for a name that was important at the start of his career and his debut on the bike racing scene. "Red Devils is a name that is familiar from the start of my career," declared Petricca, "and it brings to mind riders like Aldeo Presciutti who raced and won under this name. We decided to change so as also to be able to carry the name of our city around the world in an i...continua»

South Australian David Johnson will make a one-off wildcard appearance in the opening round of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, this February 24-26. The 28-year-old will compete on a BMW S 1000 RR under the Rossair AEP Racing Team banner. The S 1000 RR is a full blown ex-British Superbike machine, which Johnson (photo 2Snap) will ride for the first time at a Phillip Island test session on January 30. "My primary goal at the world supers is to try and get into the points in both races," said Johnson, "and I'd love to be the first Aussie home, too. I'm familiar with ...continua»