The World superbike paddock sets down in Portimao this week for the first of the European rounds of the 2010 season. This will be the third outing for Superbikes at the Portuguese circuit, and the first race there for the Yamaha team since they secured the 2009 World Superbike Championship title at the end of last season with rider Ben Spies. The track also has a special significance for Cal Crutchlow as it was here at the end of the season last year that he crossed the line to take the World Supersport Championship title for Yamaha on his R6. The team also enjoyed a very positive test here in January, wrapping up with Cal Crutchlow fourth fastest and James Toseland sixth, both delivering fast, consistent and competitive lap times. After solving unexpected chatter problems in the race weekend during the first round, the team then also found difficulties in the electronics area in combination with the increased power found during the winter and low grip levels at the Phillip Island circuit. The team have continued to work hard to further develop the 2010 R1 including a short test at the Misano circuit in San Marino last week. Riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow are now keen to get straight onto the track and close the points deficit to current championship leader Leon Haslam. Round one at Phillip Island saw both riders fall in the first race, regrouping for race two with Crutchlow scoring a ninth place finish and Toseland right behind in tenth. The month break following has given Toseland’s hand injury, sustained in Phillip Island, a chance to recover ahead of Friday’s first sessions on track. “I’m really keen to get to Portugal and get back on the bike,” said Cal Crutchlow. “Last time I raced here I won the world title in Supersport so I have good feelings for the track. I’m going to put 100% into my efforts this weekend as always and we’ll see what happens with the progress the guys have made over the last couple of weeks.” “I’m really looking forward to it,” said James Toseland. “We had a tough time in Australia but I believe the team has been working really hard in the meantime and the test went well in Misano. My hand is nearly back to normal although there’s still a bit of pain. I’m basically looking forward to getting out on track and seeing what progress we’ve made to catch up.” Portimao technically speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland’s Crew Chief “Portimao is a very challenging circuit to set-up for. It requires good handling in the middle section, but also a very good stable and braking bike in the first sector. From a chassis point of view, we are very close to where we need to be. The biggest area the team have been working on is the electronics and smoothening the power delivery to make it more user friendly for James. This will also help the tyre life for the latter part of the race. The team have worked hard since Philip Island to find solutions for the areas that needed improving. Hopefully we can be challenging for the podium positions.” Portimao technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow’s Crew Chief “Portimao is a track with three distinct characters, the long straight with hard braking, the mid-part with enormous altitude changes and the last part, especially the last corner with a long sweeping radius. So the key point for us with Cal is to find the right balance of setup to suit major areas of the circuit. We will start with one bike on the setup from the test that worked well and one with some new ideas to match it better with Cal’s needs. The main concentration is on the electronic side to improve ride ability and also endurance of the tyres. As with all races it depends on the weekend conditions how much we will be able to do. We will work hard to challenge the podium!” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager “It hasn’t been a perfect start to the season for us, but as always with new bike developments it can take some testing to get the best results. During the Portimao circuit test in January we did not have the problems that haunted us in Phlillip Island. The team has worked incredibly hard this month and we have achieved positive results in our Misano test. We go to Portimao confident that we can achieve good results with both riders. I’m happy that James’s hand is much better so he can concentrate on riding without pain.” More, from a press release issued by ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing: All set for the European debut of team ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing. The squad’s four riders will take to the track for the second WSS round at Portimao starting on Friday. The 4592 metres long track, with its many fast, blind and up-and-down corners, was the venue of Triumph’s second podium, scored after a great race by Garry McCoy last year. Chaz Davies raced at Portimao as well, making his debut at the Portuguese circuit where he finished seventh. The team’s goal is to replicate last season’s results, although it will be a hard-fought battle. Matthieu Lagrive will make his debut, after Charpentier resigned. The French rider rode a great race in Superbike taking ninth place last season. David Salom seems to enjoy the track as well(he finished 13th in Superbike last year) and will definitely be very confident after the great result of the first round. Jason DiSalvo will make his debut on the Portuguese track. He has however some experience after doing the Infront Motorsports test in January. His goal is to continue the work he started in Australia, where he took eighth place in his first ever WSS race. Giuliano Rovelli – team owner: “We have four world-class riders in our team and so our goal can only be to battle for the top spots. It will however be very hard to replicate last year’s podium result but we’re working hard to achieve that. We tried to use this one month break between the Australian and Portuguese rounds to resume work on the machines. I’m also anxious to see Lagrive race. If he finds a good feeling with the bike, I’m sure he can battle for the top places”. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Superb Circuit Awaits Joan And Katsuaki The Autodromo Internacional Algarve in Portugal is the venue for the second round of the Supersport World Championship and is another chance for Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara to go for the win. In the previous race, held last month in Australia, Joan was a strong second and could have been joined on the podium by his team-mate Katsuaki had he not fallen near the end of the race, remounting to finish 11th and take a handful of points. In the recent official tests at Portimao, in late January, Joan was second fastest, Katsuaki fifth fastest, despite working more on machine set-up than aiming for a top time. Joan Lascorz: “I have done some training on my Supermotard bike at home in Spain since Australia. I want to turn the pole position from Phillip Island into a race win in Portimao and to do that we will be looking at working for a good race set-up from the start. We have recent experience of Portimao from last year’s race and the winter tests and that should help us find a good set-up.” Katsuaki Fujiwara: “I was disappointed to lose the chance of a top result in Australia, but it has only made me more determined for the next race. I went back to Japan for a while after Australia but I have been in Europe for a few days, working to get ready for the Portimao race. It is a very exciting racetrack and we are only really thinking how to get a good result there.” More, from another press release issued by Kawasaki: Second Round Imminent For Highly Motivated Superbike Team The Kawasaki Racing Team heads to Portimao in Portugal determined to post strong results after experiencing mixed fortunes in the opening round in Australia. Tom Sykes scored points last time out but Chris Vermeulen fell at high speed in race two, injuring his right knee, and now approaches this weekend with characteristic determination to be fit to race on Sunday 28th March. Until misfortune struck, both Vermeulen and Sykes looked to heading towards good results in each Australian race, a factor which gives the whole team confidence that Portimao will be a good weekend, and more of a reward for everyone’s hard work in the winter. Part of those winter preparations was an official test at Portimao in January, although poor weather was a frequent visitor at that time. Those January track sessions were particularly valuable for Chris, however, who had not ridden at Portimao prior to then. Weather conditions are expected to be largely dry for all concerned on race weekend on the Algarve coast, which would allow Tom and Chris consistent track conditions to find an optimal raceday set-up. Tom Sykes: “I’m really looking forward to the race in Portugal. We’ve learnt a lot with the bike since Phillip Island and to be honest I’m really happy with the team set-up and how we are working together. I’m feeling positive about the bike as we have a completely different machine set-up and made valuable progress since we last tested in Portimao in January, which adds to my confidence for a decent result here. I have high expectations for myself and the team and I hope we can deliver a good result.” Chris Vermeulen: “The doctors at the Clinica Mobile have already said it is OK for me to race. On Sunday it is going to be four weeks since the accident and really I need two months for everything to heal properly. I sat on the bike today for the first time and it is a little difficult to get my knee into position, but we can lower the footpeg and raise the seat, do whatever we can to help that. The Clinica Mobile will tape up my knee and give me some injections for the pain. I am going out for practice on Friday morning to see what I can do. I am sure it is going to be possible to ride.” More, from a press release issued by Team Reitwagen BMW: Just before the Portimao round (March 26th-28th) of the Superbike World Championship, Team Reitwagen BMW took the opportunity to complete a two day test in nearby Jerez circuit. Conditions were mostly very good during the two days and the team were able to try many different things and improve their knowledge of the S 1000 RR bike. With Roland Resch sidelined through injury, the team called up Makoto Tamada to assist Andrew at the tests so that more information about the bike could be obtained. Private Team Reitwagen BMW was joined by BMW factory Team for this test session in Jerez. Andrew Pitt #88: “The tests have been valuable because, at this stage, every lap is important and the more laps we do helps us understand the bike better. Jerez is a good track for testing because it has a bit of everything and the surface is quite smooth, so that meant we could concentrate on trying different things without the bike being upset by bumps. It was our first test without any pressure and we were able to work at our own speed and that meant that we learnt a lot over the two days. I feel we’re getting more competitive and now we’ll have to see how much progress we have made when we come up against the other teams in first practice in Portimao.” Makoto Tamada #49: “I am very happy to have received this opportunity and my first impressions of the bike were that the engine power was very good and the power delivery was smooth. The bike felt heavy at first, but one I got used to it, it felt fine. I had not ridden a bike for almost six months, so there was a lot for me to do and at the end of each day I felt a bit tired. But, I really enjoyed the bike and when the team made changes to it, I could feel the changes straightaway and those are good feelings to have. I spent the first day getting comfortable with the bike and didn’t push hard at all and on the second day we did a lot of work on the suspension and finding a good set-up. We found a good balance to the bike and now that I understand it I am looking forward to racing it in Portimao.” Andreas Werth (Team Reitwagen BMW Sporting Director): “We are a new team, with a new bike, so the tests were very valuable to us all. We were happy that the BMW factory team joined us in Jerez and that gave them a chance to continue the development of their bike away from a race weekend. We asked Makoto to join us in Jerez and Portimao because he knows both tracks and is a very experienced rider and it was important that we had somebody else to help the team progress as quickly as possible. For us, the tests were successful and hopefully next time out we will see the fruits of all the hard work.”