Yoshimura Suzuki will not compete in the 2010 MFJ National Series and will instead race in selected World Superbike events in Europe. In a meeting at Roadracingworld.com headquarters in Lake Elsinore, California today, Fujio Yoshimura said that the team will run three or four World Superbike rounds in Europe, plus the Suzuka 300 and the Suzuka 8-Hours in Japan. The team will not compete in MFJ sprint races. Fujio Yoshimura said that he made the decision to abandon the MFJ Series because he is dissatisfied with an MFJ plan to move toward AMA Pro Racing American Superbike rules (versus World Superbike rules) and because of problems with officiating. Yoshimura favors World Superbike rules “so the rider and the entrant have a future” and can progress into the Superbike World Championship. MFJ officials, meanwhile, want to move toward American Superbike rules to reduce the cost of building and maintaining racebikes. Yoshimura gave as an example of poor MFJ officiating an interpretation that a rule requiring that camshafts be made of the same material as OEM parts can be met by any material related to the OEM material. In other words, steel alloy can be used to replace cast iron in camshafts. Yoshimura said that steel alloy camshafts resist twisting under spring pressure as the center of the lobe rotates past maximum lift, thus making cam timing more precise to the point where riders can feel the difference under hard braking and when accelerating off corners. The issue first came up when Honda used steel alloy camshafts and passed MFJ tech anyway. In response, Yoshimura built steel alloy cams and used them in winning the 2009 Suzuka 8-Hours; the cams are now sold to customers, but are more expensive than conventional cast iron camshafts. Yoshimura also said that MFJ officials disqualified the fifth-place machine (a Honda) out of a race at Motegi (won by a Yoshimura Suzuki) for allegedly making 118 decibels, a number Yoshimura described as being impossible and proving that MFJ officials did not even know how to properly conduct a sound test. According to Yoshimura, the team will select World Superbike weekends to avoid conflicts with the British Superbike series and accommodate rider Yukio Kagayama, who is running the complete British Superbike series. Fujio Yoshimura said that Yoshimura Japan’s decision to abandon the MFJ Series will have no impact on subsidiary Yoshimura R&D of America’s operations in the U.S.; Yoshimura R&D of America will continue to run American Suzuki’s official Superbike program in 2010, competing in AMA Pro Racing American Superbike with riders Tommy Hayden and Blake Young.