Marco Borciani confirms his will to take his team at the top of the World Superbike ranking during the 2009 season too. The italian team manager has closed an agreement with Shane Byrne who has just won the British Championship in advance of one round. “Shakey”, as he is nicknamed by his numerous fans, has born 32 years ago at Lambeth and he is the first of a couple of riders which will run for the team in the next season. He is now riding a Ducati of the team Airwaves by which he rabbed eight wins. The British rider, who won the BSB title in 2003, is one of the only two wild cards who won a Superbike race (it happened in 2003) and he competed in the MotoGP championship in 2004 and 2005. MARCO BORCIANI: “For the 2009 season we will line up two new riders. I would like to thank Ruben Xaus who helped the team to grow up in the last three years and Max Biaggi who have brought prestige to our team. I wish the best to both the riders for their new adventures respectively on BMW and Aprilia. In order to replace two great riders as Ruben and Max I searched for a sure talented rider who can be able to assure high-level performances. After many meetings with several riders, our choice has been defined on Shane, who has impressed me for his results and above all for his human skills. He will have the opportunity to test the new bike in Portimao, after the end of the last round”. SHANE BYRNE “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining the Sterilgada Go eleven team to participate in the 2009 WSB championship, it’s the perfect progression for me having secured the 2008 BSB championship last weekend at Silverstone on very similar Ducati machinery, any team that can run riders of Max Biaggi and Ruben Xaus’s standard can only be at the top of their game, I look forward to benefiting from the team and Ducati’s experience to make the transition as straightforward as possible for me and can’t wait for my first opportunity to start working with my new team”