Teams from France, Belgium”¦ and MV Agusta! France and Belgium are back on the FIM World Endurance Championship calendar, encouraging a number of interesting entries to the roster of 2006 teams. From France With France’s long and distinguished history of endurance racing, it should be no surprise that both the 2004 and 2005 FIM World Endurance Champions were French teams. Yamaha GMT94 will compete in World Supersport this year, but Suzuki Castrol are back to defend their crown. Taking them on will be their fellow countrymen Yamaha Endurance Moto 38, Kawasaki Team Raffin Motos, Team SRK Suzuki, Team Endurance Moto 45 Suzuki and Team ABG Performance Suzuki. All of these teams have extensive experience of 24 hour endurance racing, with Moto 38 being recent Oschersleben 24 Hour winners. From Belgium There’s a Belgian race on the FIM World Endurance Championship calendar for the first time since 2001. The Zolder 6 Hour will be held on June the 18th, and its inclusion in the series has encouraged a number of new Belgian team entries. XZ Kawasaki Racing Team, Primo Racing Suzuki and Suzuki Classic Motos Racing Team will all be looking forward to their home round of the championship, and Team Acropolis Zone Rouge Yamaha a name that will be familiar to all fans of long distance racing have two machines entered for the full championship. From MV Agusta Italian manufacturer MV Agusta will also be represented in the World Endurance Championship again this year, with a team run by Davide (brother of Alex) Capirossi’s Riding School. The Racing4Life squad will be run in conjunction with Ayrton Senna foundation. Their MV Agusta 1000F4 Senna (of course) will be ridden by Davide Capirossi, Andrea Artusi and 90’s Grand Prix star Fausto Ricci. The first round of the World Endurance Championship will be held at Assen, Netherlands, on Easter Monday, the 17th of April, with the Le Mans 24 Hour race held a week later on the 22nd and 23rd of April.