Vermeulen and Kawasaki will have to work hard in WSBK 2010.

WORLD SUPERBIKE
World Superbike testing got underway at Portimao in Portugal last weekend, the three-day test kick-starting the new year with a strong British flavour featuring at the top of the timesheets.

Top Aussie was Troy Corser in 13th, Queenslander Chris Vermeulen was 14th in his official return to the WSBK category with Kawasaki, while the rider he replaced at Team Green, Broc Parkes, was 17th on a Honda, making his debut on the privateer machine.

It was a difficult start to 2010 for the Aussies in a test that was rained out on day two, however Vermeulen says he’s got the pace to be in the top 10 and he’ll be looking to improve from there.

The Vermeulen and Kawasaki scenario is a difficult one to judge right now. Will he be on the pace, or will he be languishing toward the middle of the pack come the Island opener next month?

CV and Team Green have had loads of testing during this pre-season throughout various non-championship tracks, however after Kawasaki’s dismal year last year he’s really going to have to dig deep to make it work on the current ZX-10R… did I just hear “early debut for the 2011 model?”.

As we’ve read in Breaking News, Jonathan Rea topped the first test of the year, his best lap of 1:42.270 under Ben Spies’ pole position record from last year, edging out Alstare Suzuki’s new signing Leon Haslam during the test after he lapped fastest on day one.

These two are going to be ultra strong this year, while series favourites Nori Haga and Michel Fabrizio struggled on the Ducati Xerox machines in fifth and eighth respectively.

Behind Haslam came Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha), marking four British riders in the top four to open their accounts for the new season.

Former double world champion James Toseland (Yamaha) was sixth, the Brit making his WSBK comeback after two seasons in MotoGP, and I don’t doubt that he’ll be fast come race time.

Two riders the pressure is on is German Max Neukirchner (Ten Kate Honda) and Sylvain Guintoli (Alstare Suzuki), the pair rounding out the top 10 far behind leader teammates Rea and Haslam. To be fair, both are returning from injury-filled 2009 seasons.

It’s not lobe to the Island now, however some teams will be testing at Valencia in Spain this week before all come to test in the week leading up to the Phillip Island opener next month.

AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE
The 2010 Australian Superbike Championship has undergone more minor adjustments this week, continuing to appear on shaky grounds for the new year despite it starting next month.

We’ve had a date change of one week later for the season finale at Symmons Plains in Tasmania due to an oversight with the V8 Supercars and Channel Seven, while the grading structure for the Superstock 1000 class has been reworked.

We’ll now see A- and B-grade STK1000 riders in with the Superbikes as two separate championships, while C- and D-graders will run by themselves as usual, minus the B-graders this year.

The catch is that the A and B riders will run on slicks, while the C and D series will be contested on treaded tyres, with Dunlop being announced as the control tyre this week.

It is good to see the option for free tyres being used as contingency this year, however in the Superbike class that reward would probably be more worthwhile if it didn’t include the factory teams. It’s not that the factories don’t deserve the free tyres, it’s just that the free tyres would be much more appreciated by the private teams in my eyes, so it’ll be up to them to get up there on and win some.

The problem these days is distinguishing what team is factory and what team is privately-funded and run.

In saying that, the support classes will really enjoy the benefits of the free tyres for those who are fast enough to take a free set home during the season.

The possibility of a true privateer winning has been greatly raised by Glenn Allerton seemingly all but confirmed to be running under his own banner for 2010. The former champ has a Honda Fireblade ready to roll for this week’s test, so unless a team position pops up between now and round one then we’ll likely seem him form his own team in a bid to reclaim that number one plate.

The official two-day ASBK test will be run on Thursday and Friday, and I expect to have images from the test soon after to highlight the new look of this year’s series.

One thing to keep an eye out this week will be for the new tyres – now’s the time to tell just how fast, or slow, our premier Superbike stars will be on the new Dunlop control rubber for this season.

Jamie Stauffer will likely be the lone Motologic rider on track in the team’s debut with Ducati, while Jordy Burgess will wait a couple of extra weeks before making his debut.

Speaking of Motologic, I wonder if the team will debut a title sponsor at the test?

Here’s a rumour from out of left field: Team Joe Rocket Suzuki may go under the Rockstar Energy Drink banner this season. It’s only a rumour at this point, however the brand does already have naming rights of the Motocross/Supercross team here in Australia and also shares the title sponsorship of Suzuki’s AMA Superbike effort. Just so you know, we have no confirmation that this is actually happening and there isn’t much chance they’d confirm it to us before it’s officially announced if it is true. However, if they do, you heard it here first. We may find out this week at the test.

It was also revealed last week that Jeremy Crowe will be riding a BMW for Motohansa, the former Yamaha Racing Team Supersport rider returning after a season off and is set to concentrate on Formula Xtreme with the possibility of selected ASBK events.

MOTOGP
Defending MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi was in the news for testing a Ferrari Formula One car once again at Barcelona in Spain last week, setting a fastest lap of 1:21.9 after two days in the 2009-spec car.

“We kept the last three quarters of an hour to try a ‘time attack’ with little petrol and fresh tyres,” the Italian megastar said of the test. “I would have given anything for such a lap time.”

Rossi, driving on GP2 tyres in order not to break F1 testing regulations, impressed in the outing, close to record pace despite it being difficult to truly gauge where he was against the regulars due to his car’s specification.

Testing at Sepang kicks off just around the corner at the beginning of next month, however Yamaha boss Davide Brivio is concerned that Ferrari has what it takes to lure Rossi away from two wheels in 2011 – even more so than a Ducati deal in MotoGP.

For now though, 2010 is just around the corner!

BRITISH SUPERBIKE
South Australian Billy McConnell has revealed that he will contest two rounds of the Supersport World Championship this season, the British Supersport runner-up riding as a wildcard for the CAME Yamaha team.

McConnell will race in the British and Portuguese rounds, contesting his first world championship races since riding as a replacement rider in the place of Chris Walker in the GIL Kawasaki team at Brands Hatch in 2008.

On that occasion McConnell qualified in 22nd position before crashing out of the race early.

In other British news, 14-year-old Aussie Matt Davies has been confirmed to be riding for FireplaceWarehouse Racing in the ThundersportGB GP3 Championship (125GP class) this year.

The talented teen spent last year in the Aprilia Superteen Championship in the U.K, winning nine races and taking 17 podiums along the way to finishing second in the series.

AMERICAN SUPERCROSS
The fact that Australia’s double AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, series winner Chad Reed has been forced out of the 2010 title chase just two rounds in after suffering a broken hand in round two is a massive blow for the series.

Reed has had a plate and four screws inserted in his hand since coming together with Stewart in Phoenix, forced out of the title chase and revealing last week that he may not be back for the Supercross series at all this year.

Ryan Dungey has been left in charge to put it to Stewart, and he’s doing a mighty job of it so far, with fellow young guns like Josh Hill and Ryan Villopoto also on the gas this season.

Interestingly, last weekend’s Anaheim 2 round marked the first Supercross Reed had been forced to miss since debuting in America in 2002 – a true indication of the battler that he is in the quest to take titles.

It was also good to see Queenslander Michael Byrne announced by the Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX Team as a substitute for the injured Josh Grant in the upcoming rounds, rejoining a team after beginning the season as a privateer.

Byrne is expected to ride in place of Grant, who had shoulder surgery recently, for at least the next six weeks – his future from that point unknown at this point.

Is anybody excited for Matt Moss to debut with Rockstar Makita Suzuki? I for one can’t wait, nor can I wait to see Brett Metcalfe and Jake Moss in the East Coast Lites.

Speaking of Jake, he was back on a bike for the first time since his nasty wrist injury suffered at the opening Super X round in Tasmania last October, all set to make an impact in the East when it kicks off at Indianapolis next month.

AUSTRALIAN MOTOCROSS
Interestingly, Jake Moss’ first ride was with Aussie Pro Lites Motocross contender Cody Mackie, who has been in the U.S preparing for the upcoming MX Nationals season.

Daniel McCoy will also be heading Stateside for some training next week, the Coastal KTM rider looking to find some extra speed on the prepped American tracks so he’s ready to go once the gates drop at round one of the series in March.

That’s all for today, thanks for reading!