Two new and talented riders will join Suzuki Alstare for the 2010 season – the 25th anniversary of the Suzuki GSXR – Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli (27) and Briton Leon Haslam (26). The past few days have been very busy for us. We began our negotiations with Sylvain Guintoli late last Thursday evening and worked 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, we were quickly able to conclude a very satisfactory deal allowing Sylvain’s arrival at Alstare (for the World Superbike Championship, on an official factory bike) and Yukio Kagayama’s return to BSB with Team Crescent, who are looking forward to working with him again. Alstare would like to thank Yukio 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.” More, from another press release issued by Suzuki Alstare: After his terrible crash at Monza, Max Neukirchner underwent a number of operations which then prevented him from racing for several months. He was scheduled to return at Brno, but was forced to postpone his comeback after suffering a serious injury to his vertebrae in a fall during the official tests in Imola. Max then returned to Germany to begin a programme of rehabilitation and recovery but was also then required to undergo two major operations at a clinic in Chemnitz, not far from his home. In response to many questions about his health, we were informed that he would return at the Nurburgring, then at Imola, and finally at Magny-Cours. Max’s situation was causing concern within Alstare, so we asked him to produce his medical records (during the Imola race weekend) so that the specialists of the Clinica Mobile could confirm his fitness to race again. Max arrived at the track on Saturday but, as his clinical records were incomplete, new X-rays were required. These X-rays, taken by Dr. Costa’s medical staff, showed that excellent work had been carried out by the German surgeons, but also that Max’s recovery might take longer than predicted and that there was still a significant risk to his long-term health. Alstare then had a telephone conversation, in Max’s presence, with the neurologist of the Chemnitz clinic, who confirmed the diagnosis made by the Clinica Mobile. The neurologist stated that he would not take responsibility for allowing Max to start racing again. According to these two different medical sources, Max’s recovery could be expected to take between four and six months. On September 30th 2009, the contract between Max and Alstare should have been automatically extended for 2010. However, as a result of all these issues, we decided to have a meeting with Max on the Sunday after the race in Imola. During this meeting, we informed him that his contract could not be extended while his physical condition remained in doubt. We asked Max to come to Alleur, with one of his surgeons, the week after Magny-Cours, in order to carry out some tests which would have clarified the true state of his health. Unfortunately Max did not show up at our headquarters as had been agreed. Alstare Suzuki have had a close collaboration with Max for three years and, during this time, we have encouraged and developed his promise whilst supporting him in the best possible way to enhance his career. Max’s failure to come and talk to us means that, regretfully, this collaboration has now come to an end. However, we would like to wish him a full and speedy recovery and good luck in the future. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Suzuki GB and the Crescent British Superbike Team have today confirmed an agreement that will see Yukio Kagayama rejoin the team to race the 2010 British Superbike Championship and current Worx Suzuki rider Sylvain Guintoli move to the Alstare Suzuki World Superbike team. Guintoli, who recently signed a contract to remain with the team, was offered the alternative to move to the World series after Suzuki factory bosses and the Alstare team witnessed his impressive migration to the Superbike class in the UK during the 2009 season. Said Suzuki GB Managing Director, Yasuharu Osawa: “Sylvain has proven to be an incredible asset for Suzuki this year, despite his unfortunate injury early on. We want to support Sylvain’s career while also doing what is best for the Suzuki family, so following Alstare’s request, we have unanimously agreed for him to move to World Superbikes for the 2010 season. We would like to thank the BSB team sponsors, especially Worx, for their complete support in this decision.” Worx Crescent Suzuki team manager, Jack Valentine added: “To have Yukio back in the UK is great news. He is still a class act and was incredibly popular with UK fans during his two-year stint in the series last time. He is as determined as ever and will be back here with one goal in mind – to challenge for the title. Our decision to run two riders in 2010 is also good news for the BSB Championship, for Suzuki and for all of our partners.” While the Worx Crescent Suzuki team have confirmed their two rider 2010 championship assault, confirmation of the full rider line-up will be confirmed at a later date.