SUZUKI RACING:

Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli and Briton Leon Haslam will join Suzuki Alstare for the 2010 World Superbike Championship season – the 25th anniversary of the Suzuki GSXR.

Negotiations with Sylvain Guintoli began late last Thursday evening and continued throughout the weekend to finalise the agreement. Thanks to the quick response and excellent collaboration between Suzuki Japan, Suzuki GB and Team Crescent’s Paul Denning, the team was quickly able to conclude a very satisfactory deal allowing Guintoli’s arrival at Alstare and Yukio Kagayama’s return to BSB with Team Crescent, who are looking forward to working with him again.

Alstare would like to thank Kagayama for his skill and courage during the five years of working together and wish him all the best in his fight for the BSB crown next year.

Francis Batta:

“Sylvain already knows about the Suzuki GSX-R and Pirelli tyres and his professionalism and motivation for this new challenge are positive factors for us to start working together straight away.

“We at Team Suzuki Alstare are also very happy to welcome a British rider. The Suzuki UK distributor has always given great support to Team Suzuki Alstare and all of us are delighted to have signed Leon Haslam for the 2010 World Superbike Championship. Leon has a good family set-up and they advise, support and help him very well. He has a real fighting spirit and is one of the best riders in the WSBK series, for sure. We are certain he will fit in perfectly with the Team Suzuki Alstare structure, as we both share the same desire to work hard and to win.

“With a team of such quality and experience as Suzuki Alstare, we feel that Leon will have a very bright future.”

Leon Haslam:

“The opportunity to join Team Suzuki Alstare was something that my father and I took extremely seriously immediately. The team enjoys direct support from the manufacturer and a long history of success, so joining them offers me an exciting step forward in my career.

“Meeting Francis Batta and listening to his plans and desire to succeed confirmed the potential of the whole team and its infrastructure. Suzuki Alstare has a very experienced team of technicians and potential for development, both in-house and via the factory in Japan. This means that the team is 100 per cent geared up to win the 2010 World Superbike Championship.

“This is naturally opening a new chapter in my own career and one that I relish. The team has a promising winter test plan with the Suzuki factory, so I’m very much looking forward to these tests, the 2010 World Superbike Championship and challenging for the world title.”