James Toseland #52

Personal opinion: Had a pretty good year last year, considering he didn’t know most of the tracks, the winter training didn’t go as well, since his fight with his team mate Collins Edwards he had a lot of bad luck, a very bad crash in the test in Sapang, that left him a bite shaken, and now had another bad crash in Jerez, I hope he will sort the problems he has with Edwards and his luck changes. Or maybe if he strips less (not that I mind so much if he does…) and plays the piano less he will win more.

James Toseland Vs Tiff Needell

James Toseland on BBC Sports Personality Of The Year 2007

In Short - from: http://www.jamestoseland.com

James Toseland is Britain’s only MotoGP contender in the 2008 series and is already being hailed as the next Barry Sheene. The 27-year-old became the youngest-ever World Superbike Champion at just 23 years old and claimed the title again in 2007 before making the step into motorcycle racing’s premier class.

James Toseland Biography

James Toseland, World Superbike Champion at just 23 years old, has rocketed into a league of biking legends, following in the footsteps of Carl Fogarty, Troy Bayliss and Neil Hodgson.

Despite his relative youth, the Doncaster-born rider has more racing experience under his leathers than some of the series' other veterans. Early competition in trials and motocross awarded him an impressive haul of trophies and ultimately laid the foundations of a promising career in road racing.

James quickly worked his way up through the ranks of 125cc racing and into British Supersport and shone in the European Championship. However, it was in 1998, at the tender age of 17, when he was given his big break and was chosen by Castrol Honda to ride the CBR600 in the World Supersport series.

Never one to turn down a challenge, over the next two seasons, James finished 18th and 11th overall before returning to Britain to ride in the 2000 British Superbike Championship.

Despite missing almost half the season through injury, the Yorkshireman finished 12th and was quickly snapped-up by GSE Racing for its World Superbike campaign. An impressive 13th place in the 2001 series, including sixth at Brands Hatch, was enough to confirm the rider as a clear World Superbike contender.

Since then, James has emerged as a world-class rider. In only his second year in the World Superbike series in 2002, he made his name as a regular top-six finisher and scored his first-ever podium finish at Assen. In 2003, he ended fellow Brit Hodgson's winning streak with an impressive win at Oschersleben and earned his first pole position in the final round at Magny-Cours.

An extraordinary 2004 season with Ducati followed, with James making the history books as the youngest-ever World Superbike Champion. Despite a relatively tough 2005 season with the Ducati team - when he finished fourth overall - James bounced back in 2006 to take second position overall with Winston Ten Kate Honda.

2007 heralded his seventh consecutive, and final year as a permanent fixture on the Superbike grid - this time with HANNspree Ten Kate Honda. After a thrilling season of racing, James once again lifted the World Superbike crown, with a winning margin of just two points over Noriyuki Haga. The win ensured James left the World Superbike stage in the best possible manner.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2008

Toseland was again linked with the Pramac d'Antin MotoGP team, although rumours had also abounded of a ride with a Honda outfit, and even of Ten Kate Racing making the step up to the premier class and taking Toseland with them. But eventually Toseland confirmed a move to MotoGP for 2008 on 1 August 2007 when he announced that he had signed a one-year contract with factory supported Yamaha team Tech 3. For 2008 Tech 3 switched from Dunlop to Michelin tyres it was also confirmed that Toseland's teammate would be Colin Edwards. Toseland has signed a deal with British leather company BKS to supply him with suits whilst competing in the 2008 MotoGP world championship.

Facing eight unknown tracks, Toseland had reason to expect a tough season, but he was immediately more competitive than expected. He qualified in second place and finished sixth in the opening race in Qatar on the 9th March 2008.

He then qualified in 8th place and finished sixth in Jerez on the 30th March despite suffering from bronchitis.

Toseland has shrugged off criticism from fellow MotoGP riders about his aggressive riding style. Chris Vermeulen,Andrea Dovizioso and world champion Casey Stoner have both been vocal in their displeasure of Toseland's aggressive overtaking moves. James has downplayed the talk and stated that his moves are "hard but fair", and that it is his job to overtake his rivals when he has the chance to do so.

Before the British MotoGP round at Donington Park, Toseland said that if he was to be the first Briton to win in 27 years at the top level that he would strip naked on the ride back to the pits. However, he crashed in the first corner of the race, but picked his bike up to finish in 17th place, his worst finish of the season to that point, over a lap behind the winner Casey Stoner.

Toseland struggled through the middle part of the season for top 10 finishes, achieving two 9th places (Holland and the United States). One of James's better showings was at Brno where he finished 13th, ahead of his team mate Colin Edwards. Amidst Bridgestone dominance he was the third-highest finisher on Michelin tires, the first being Andrea Dovizioso placed in 9th. At Phillip Island he ran 3rd for a while but ultimately faded to 6th after frantic battles with the works Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, plus Dovizioso and Shinya Nakano.

Overall Toseland had a very mixed first year in the Moto GP class, finishing 11th overall in the championship with 105 points. Inconsistency was one of the main problems, with Toseland unable to record regular top 10 results despite having only 2 DNF's.

2009

It was confirmed that Toseland would stay on for 2009 with the Tech 3 Yamaha team, racing alongside Colin Edwards as he did in 2008, after the team extended Toseland's current deal 2 races into the 2008 season. Yamaha have also decided to continue their relationship with the Tech 3 brand through to 2010.

In pre-season testing Toseland suffered a major accident and was diagnosed with concussion.

Get to know the grid: WSBK- John Hopkins #121

John Hopkins #121

Personal opinion: not a bad rider, but not as good as his ego, was a protégée racer when he was young, many thought he has amazing potanciel, but so far we haven’t really seen it on the track, maybe the move down to WSBK will be good for him, but he will find it hard to be a real contender for the championship, because of the races he missed already and also I am not sure he will be able to be faster the Ben “elbows” spies and Haga. But for some reason he does seam to have a lot of fans in the stats- any way- I hope he has a better year then the last few…

Trading Places:

John Hopkins

vs. Vitantonio Liuzzi

john hopkins highside

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Hopkins
Nationality	American
Date of birth	May 22, 1983 (1983-05-22) (age 25)
Place of birth	Ramona, California
Website	hopperracing.com
SBK Record
Current team	Stiggy Racing Honda
Bike number	21
World Championships	0
Race starts
Race Wins	0
Podium finishes
Pole positions
Fastest laps

John "Hopper" Hopkins(pronounced /ˈdʒɒn ˈhɒpkɪnz/) (born May 22, 1983) is an American motorcycle racer in Superbike World Championship as well as previously in motoGP. He first raced in MotoGP in 2002 for the Red Bull Yamaha WCM team on a two-stroke 500 cc bike, and joined the factory Suzuki squad a year later, for a five-year spell. He raced for the Kawasaki MotoGP team in 2008, but they dropped him for 2009 due to the global economic crisis and the company's uncompetitive showings.

He was born in Ramona, California to English parents. His race number is 21.

Biography

MotoGP career

2002

The 2002 season saw Hopkins join the WCM RedBull Yamaha team alongside multiple race winner Garry McCoy. The team was using Yamaha YZR500 motorcycles on lease from Yamaha. Overall the YZR500 was considered to be uncompetitive that year, due to a change in the regulations allowing 990 cc four-stroke motorcycles to race against 500 cc two-stroke motorcycles. Although the two-strokes held (on average) a 10 kg weight advantage over the four-strokes, they had between 30 and 50 less hp depending on the engine configuration used for the racetrack. Hopkins finished the season ranked 15th, with 58 points, which put him 25 points clear of his teammate McCoy.

2003

In 2003 Hopkins joined the Suzuki factory racing team. This year he would ride a 990 cc V4 four-stroke. In 2003 John was teamed with 2000 500cc world champion Kenny Roberts, Jr.. Although he was racing a four-stroke this year, the results didn't seem to come as one would have expected. There are many theories for this, including the Suzuki's lack of power and its tendency to wear out tires faster than other bikes. This year also saw Hopkins involved in a turn 1 crash at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, he was accused of causing this crash, and was suspended for one race. This suspension resulted in a DNS (did not start) at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Also noteworthy for the 2003 season was the crash in Italy where Kenny Roberts, Jr.'s GSV-R Suzuki suffered an engine management failure and the bike launched into Hopkins, putting both GSV-R's out of the race. At the end of the season, Hopkins finished in 17th place with 29 points. This finish put him 2 places and 7 points ahead of his teammate Kenny Roberts, Jr.

2004

The technology and technical advancement of the GSV-R was further developed in 2004. Most of the refinements took place in the engine management package, making the bike easier to ride. Towards the end of the year, the GSV-R was showing clear improvements, allowing Hopkins to move up the standings. Unfortunately it also saw several mechanical failures, which effectively undid the hard work to develop the motorcycle. Having qualified on the front row at Motegi, he was eliminated in a first-corner crash. Of note is that John was crashed into by Loris Capirossi, one of the same riders he himself had hit at the very same turn 1 at Motegi in 2003. Overall he finished 16th.

2005

John continued with Suzuki in 2005, as the team showed promising signs after the arrival of Paul Denning as team boss following Denning's success with Suzuki's British Superbike team. John briefly lead at Donington, but his best result was a 5th place at Motegi, and he was 14th overall. Qualifying results were often better than race results, largely due to Bridgestone tyres being better suited to short runs.

2006

Remains at Suzuki, now backed by Rizla, where he is joined by new team-mate Chris Vermeulen. Enjoys his best season yet. Hopkins finished the 2006 season in 10th place overall with 116 points. Hopkins has had one pole position this season, at Assen. His best finishes were in China and in Catalunya, where he finished fourth.

2007

Continuing with Rizla Suzuki, Hopkins set near-lap-record times aboard the new 800 cc motorcycle, and was labeled the dark horse by Colin Edwards. On 15 February 2007 he fractured his wrist after falling while testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain, but returned for the start of the season.

Hopkins completed his long-overdue first MotoGP podium finish at the Shanghai circuit in China, finishing in 3rd place - 3.6 seconds behind Valentino Rossi but 7.6 seconds ahead of 2006 event winner Dani Pedrosa. He finished as 4th overall in the 2007 season, two places ahead of Vermeulen and one behind Rossi.

2008

For 2008 he joins Kawasaki Racing Team. Explaining the decision, Rizla Suzuki boss Paul Denning suggested that "There are reasons for that other than performance". He crashed heavily at Assen, fracturing his ankle.

Prior to 2009 season, Kawasaki made the decision to halt Motogp racing activities because of the global economic crisis, meaning that John Hopkins will not have a ride for the 2009 season.

2009

After the Kawasaki pulling out of motoGP, Hopkins secured a ride on SBK's team Stiggy Racing Honda.

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Max Neukirchner #76

Max Neukirchner #76
Personal pinion: was 5th last year, and is already 3rd this year, he has improved his positions almost every year of his career, I hope this year he will be able to improve last years, I am not sure he will be bale to bet Haga and Spies but he will defiantly be able to be in the top 5 if not top 3.

World Superbikes from Valencia

Born: 20/04/1983 Stollberg
Team 2009: Suzuki Alstare BRUX
Bike 2009: Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9

Note:
2007: 9' World SBK
2006: 18' World SBK
2005: 12' World SBK

Max

from: http://www.max-neukirchner.de

• PROFILE

• Name: Max Neukirchner
• Date of Birth: 20th of April 1983
• Place of Birth: Stollberg
• Residence: Stollberg
• Height / Weight: 1.79 m / 72 kg
• Eyecolor: Blue
• Haircolor: Brown

LIKES & DISLIKES

Hobbies:

Go-Kart, Snowboarding, Swimming

Favorite Food:

Filetsteak, Mussels, Fish, Seafood, Pizza ,Chinese Food

Favorite Drinks:

Wine, Cocktails

Favorite Music:

Rock, Alternative, Metal, Hip Hop, Blues, Jazz

Max' Dislikes:

Drugs, to be lied

Own Bike:

Suzuki Burgman 650

Own Car:

Suzuki Vitara

Favorite Circuits:

Phillip Island, Brünn

First Race:

at the age of 14 at the ADAC Juniorcup on Aprillia 125ccm

Best Moments:

2008 1. & 2. Place Monza, 1. Place Misano

Previous Career:

• 1997:
  Begin of his racing career in ADAC Juniorcup on Aprilia 125ccm
• 1999:
  4th place Deutsche Straßenmeisterschaft Brno
• 2000:
  10th place German Championship 250ccm
• 2001:
  5th place German Championship 250ccm
• 2002:
  2nd place German Championship 250ccm
  10th place European Championship 250ccm
• 2003:
  3rd place European Championship 250ccm
• 2004:
  9th place World championship Supersport 600 Team Klaffi Honda
• 2005:
  12th place World Superbike Team Klaffi
• 2006:
  18th place World Superbike Team Pedercini Ducati
• 2007:
  9th place 1000 ccm Superbike World Championship
• 2008:
  5th Place 1000ccm Superbike World Championship

World Supersport and Superbike

In 2004 he competed in the Supersport World Championship riding for Klaffi Honda, finishing the season ranked 9th with 63 points.

For 2005, Neukirchner, along with the Klaffi Honda team, moved to the Superbike World Championship. He got a 3rd place podium finish at Phillip Island (but broke his hand at the next round in Valencia ) and finished the season 12th with 123 points.

He looked set to remain with Klaffi Honda in 2006 but the ride eventually went to Alex Barros. Klaffi wasn't able to find the money to run a second bike for Neukirchner and he was left without a ride. He joined Pedercini Ducati but after a poor first half of the season Neukirchner and Pedercini announced their spilt. Neukirchner went on to replace Fabien Foret at Alstare Eng. Corona Extra. He finished the season 18th with 28 points.

For 2007 Neukirchner rode for Suzuki Germany and finished the season ranked ninth overall. The team used the 2006-spec works Suzuki GSX-R1000 K6.

For 2008 he rides a 2007-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 motorcycle for Team Alstare Suzuki. At Valencia he took his first career pole, and lead until the final corner, where he was hit by Carlos Checa, Neukirchner breaking his collarbone. On 27 April 2008 at Assen he achieved his second world superbike podium finish, finishing behind Troy Bayliss and Checa in the first race .

Neukirchner took his maiden victory (and the first for a German rider) in the first race at Monza, his 70th race in SBK. He won by just 0.058 seconds from Noriyuki Haga. In race 2, he achieved another podium, finishing 2nd to Haga, missing out on victory by 0.009 seconds in a three-way blanket finish. At Miller Motorsport Park he was helped to learn the fastest line through the early part of the track by video of Suzuki's AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies .

He will remain with the team for 2009 and 2010.

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Xaus Ruben #111

Rubén Xaus #111

Personal opinion: rids on a new bike in the series, it is obvious there is still a lot of work still needed to be done on it for it to be fully competitive, a specially with Spies in Haga in the front, but he did improve his results from round 1 in Australia in the race in Qatar, so I wish him luck in the rest of the season and hope he will be able to improve even more in the races to come.

Rubén Xaus Vs Norino Brignola Monza 2006

from: http://www.ducati.com/xaus/story1.jhtml

Ruben was born in Barcelona on the 18th February 1978.
His father, who had competed in amateur motorcycle “mountain” races, was probably Ruben’s biggest influence and had Ruben on a 25cc Montesa by the time he was 5 years old! From that day he taught Ruben how to ride and encouraged him to perfect his riding by practicing endlessly on dirt bikes. At the age of 8 he progressed to a KX60 and then by 11 a KX80.

At the age of 14 he was ready for a bigger dirt bike but his father had a different idea: “Let's go road racing.” With his father’s mechanical knowledge and the help of friends, Ruben started his road racing career at 14 years old in the 125 Championship of Catalonia. Hungry for racing experience, he continued into 1993, taking part in the Solo Moto 125 Criterium and winning the 80cc Supermotard Championship of Catalonia. Ruben was ready for big bike action.

In 1994, his first year competing on a large-capacity 4-stroke bike and at high-level competition, he entered the intensely competitive Spanish Open Ducados Supersport Championship and finished a very creditable 17th. Suddenly, he was making a name for himself in Spanish motorcycle sport and in 1995 he finished 3rd in the Ducados Supersport Championship, 12th in the FIM Thunderbike Trophy and had 4 races in the 250 Grand Prix with the Fortuna Pons Team aboard an NSR 250.

Ruben improved on his Thunderbike Trophy result by finishing 6th in the series in ’96 before underlining his talent in the 600cc class with a final placing of 12th in the ’97 World Supersport series. It was also in this year that he had his first major win whilst competing in the 35th Montjuic 24 Hour Race at his home circuit of Catalunya.

Keen to progress into Superbike, Ruben decided to compete in the German Pro-Superbike Championship in 1998 on the Team Alpha Technik Suzuki GSXR 750. The experience he gained by finishing 6th in this highly competitive championship convinced him that he was going in the right direction. Superbike was definitely what he wanted but he wanted it at world level with a Factory Team. The only way to get to there was to be by proving himself in World Supersport first.

In '99 he moved into the World Supersport Championship with the Dee Cee Jeans Team and certainly proved his potential with a fine 5th in the series enjoying, also, his first win at world level at the Misano circuit. His efforts were recognized and rewarded with a place in the Factory Ducati Infostrada Team for the 2000 World Supersport Championship. Ruben would now have new pressures to deal with: the enviable pressure of being a "Factory Rider" with a major manufacturer. If he was under pressure, he didn't let it show! He soon adapted to the Ducati 748 and finished 7th in the world as well as chalking up his 2nd win at this level in a fantastic race at the Assen circuit in Holland. Once again recognised for his "Foggy"-like focus, determination, and a race maturity beyond his years, his initial goal was about to be achieved: to compete in the World Superbike Championship as a "Factory Rider".

In 2001, Ruben lined up against the world's best aboard the Team Ducati Infostrada 996R and picked up where he left off in World Supersport in 2000 - building on his experiences and gradually improving his standings. Through the middle of the year, Ruben had mostly top 10 finishes...and a handful of crashes. The signs were there, however: Ruben was testing his limits and when he didn't end up on the ground, he was being rewarded with solid results.

The turnaround came in race 1 at Oschersleben. Ruben achieved his first finish on the podium as a World Superbike rider by finishing second to world champion, Colin Edwards. In race 2 of the same day, he reversed that result to become the first-ever Spanish rider to score a victory in World Superbike. From that race forward, he finished every race of the remaining season on the podium. Everything had come together: the crew, the bike, the tyres, and most importantly: Ruben's confidence and skill.
Nobody in World Superbike wanted the 2002 season to start more than Ruben did... with the exception, maybe, of all his fans!

In 2002, Ruben continued with Team Ducati Infostrada aboard the 998F02. In the second race of the season at Phillip Island, Ruben podiumed twice; it was a great start in which he'd find himself stepping up to the podium an incredible 10 times during the season. Not even the race retirements scattered throughout the season could reduce his confidence in himself or his machine. Except for the retirements, Ruben always finished inside the top 10.

One of the most memorable races in SBK history was also the finale for 2002, a race in which Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards battled for the number 1 plate. Ruben ran with the two champions and did his best to help his teammate, but was ultimately unable to affect the outcome. Still, his fighting spirit shone through as he finished third in both hotly contested races.

2003 was to be Ruben's third full year as a World Superbike rider but this time it would be on a brand new model, the Ducati 999. The beautiful new Team Ducati Fila machine was to serve him well as he continued to be an official factory rider.

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Troy Corser #11

Troy Corser #11

Personal opinion: Had a very impressive career so far, took a risk in moving to BMW’s on the first year they are racing in BMWS, had a respectable start to the year, lets hope he will improve.

Troy Corser vs Noriyuki Haga on board!

20 Years of SBK - Troy Corser

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Troy Corser
Nationality	Australian
Date of birth	November 27, 1971 (1971-11-27) (age 37)
Place of birth	Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Website	troycorser.com
SBK Record
Current team	Team Alpha BMW
Bike number	11
World Championships	2. 1996, 2005
Race starts	283
Race Wins	33
Podium finishes	118
Pole positions	41
Fastest laps	42
2008 Championship position	3rd (72pts)

Troy Gordon Corser (born 27 November 1971 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional motorcycle road racer, the 1996 and 2005 Superbike world champion.

Having previously won the Australian and AMA Superbike Championship titles, and shone in a handful of wildcard rides in the Superbike World Championship (taking five podiums), he went to the series fulltime in 1995. He was classified 11th in WSBK for 1994, hence his riding #11, which he used for many years. Pole for the first round showed his potential, although he only took one podium until his win at round 5 at the Salzburgring (partly due to collisions with Anthony Gobert and Piergorgio Bontempi at Monza). A strong remainder of the season (including a win at Laguna Seca, one of the few tracks on the schedule that he knew) saw him beat Aaron Slight to 2nd overall.

He won this title in 1996, but 1997 was an unsuccessful and fragmented year in the 500cc World Championship. Back in WSBK for 1998, he came close to retaking the title, helped by a double win at Laguna, the second race by a mere 0.005sec. He lead the standings before the final round, took pole, but crashing and breaking ribs in a warm-up crash. For 1999 he was teamed with Carl Fogarty on Davide Tardozzi's team, the title going to Foggy with Corser again third. In 2000 and 2001 he was on a factory Aprilia. He took their first WSBK wins in 2001, and opened 2001 with a double victory in South Africa, but a double DNF at Monza scuppered his hopes of a championship challenge.

In 2002 he joined Carl Fogarty's Foggy Petronas team, and spent the year developing the bike before racing it in 2003 and 2004. He finished 9th in the 2004 championship, with a best result of 3rd, but chose to leave the team after this.

In 2005 he raced for the Alstare Suzuki Team on the GSX-R1000 which enabled him to regain his position as Superbike World Champion, winning the championship after a run of early-season victories - later in the season Chris Vermeulen and Noriyuki Haga were usually the men to beat.

Troy won two races early in 2006, however a crash at Phillip Island, and a DNF at Silverstone enabled compatriot Troy Bayliss to gain the upper hand in the early stages of the title chase. A double non-finish at Assen with 4 rounds to go left him 5th in the championship, behind Bayliss, James Toseland, Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt. He ultimately overhauled Pitt to finish 4th, through a double podium at the final round. For 2007 he left Suzuki to join Yamaha, however he was outpaced by team-mate Noriyuki Haga and finished 5th overall, with eight podiums but no wins. He remains with the team for 2008.

Troy has been on pole at Philip Island and Valencia four times, equalling a championship record for a single track. Of the eight cases of a rider having 10 or more podium finishes at a particular circuit, Troy has four - 13 at Misano, 11 each at Laguna Seca and Philip Island, and 10 at Donington Park.
For the 2009 WSBK season Corser is to ride for BMW alongside Ruben Xaus on BMW's new superbik

This is BMW's first year in WSBK, had a respactble start to the season,
In Australia finished 8th on the first race and 17th on the second race.
in Qatar finished 9th twice,

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Carlos Checa #7

Carlos Checa #7

Personal opinion: a very experienced rider, been racing for a long time, still hasn’t wan a championship, and I doubt he will this year, he may get a few podiums, may even finish the year in the top 10 or if very lucky top 5- but no more then that

World Superbikes from Valencia

Carlos Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) and Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) crash on the last lap of the 1st race at Valencia 6th April 2008

(a controversial crash- check went on to win the second race Max Neukirchner went to the hospital with a fractured left collarbone, At the end the winner was Lanzi, followed by Bayliss and Corser. Checa rejoined for 5th., in race 2 Checa came in 3rd)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carlos Checa
Carlos Checa after winning Race 1 WSBK USA Round
Nationality	Spanish
Date of birth	October 15, 1972 (1972-10-15) (age 36)
Place of birth	Barcelona, Spain
Website	carloscheca.com
SBK Record
Current team	Hannspree Ten Kate Honda
Bike number	7
World Championships	0
Race starts	12
Race Wins	2
Podium finishes	6
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	3
2008 Championship position	2nd (166pts)

Carlos Checa
Nationality	Spanish
Grand Prix motorcycle racing career
Active years	1993 - 2007
Teams	Honda, Yamaha, Ducati
Grands Prix	220
Championships	0
Wins	2
Podium finishes	24
Career points	1601
Pole positions	3
Fastest laps	5
First Grand Prix	1993 125cc European Grand Prix
First win	1996 500cc Catalan Grand Prix
Last win	1998 500cc Madrid Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	2007 MotoGP Valencian Grand Prix

Carlos Checa (born October 15, 1972 in Barcelona, Spain) is a professional motorcycle road racer. After racing in 500cc and MotoGP for over a decade, mostly on Honda and Yamaha machinery with and without full manufacturer support, he moves to the Superbike World Championship on a Honda for 2008. He has two Grand Prix victories. He has a younger brother, David Checa, who is also a motorcycle racer and also competes in the Superbike World Championship for 2008.

Grand Prix

Checa made his debut in 125cc and 250cc motorcycle racing in 1993 for Honda. In 1995 he moved up to the Blue Riband 500cc class as a replacement for Alberto Puig, a fellow Spaniard who broke both his legs in a horrifying crash in France. Carlos shocked the paddock by being on the pace and nearly winning the Barcelona race.

He continued with the team until 1998, the year he suffered near fatal injuries with a crash at Donington Park. He crashed at Craner Curves and was initially thought to have suffered only scrapes and bruises before complaining of pain. Hours later he had lost his vision and was listed in critical condition. He fought back to ride that year before racing for Yamaha as Max Biaggi's team mate on two and four-strokes. He nearly won many races but unfortunately crashed after taking the lead. One such race was at Rio de Janeiro in 2002 when he stalled on the starting line then, came through to lead before crashing a corner later.

When Valentino Rossi joined Yamaha he was Carlos' team-mate for one year, before Carlos moved to Ducati in 2005. In 2006 he switched to ride for the Tech-3 Yamaha team, proving much steadier than in previous years and comfortably beating team-mate James Ellison but wasn't much a threat to the rest of the field, as they were on Dunlop tyres. He struggled as the sole LCR Honda rider in 2007, with the 800cc Honda proving uncompetitive for many riders. At the Sachsenring Checa got an updated frame, which other non-works Honda riders had found uncompetitive - this is believed to be due to Checa using the same Michelin tyres as the works team, the other Hondas being on Bridgestones.

Superbike World Championship

For the 2008, Checa left MotoGP to join the Ten Kate Honda team in the Superbike World Championship as a replacement for 2007 champion James Toseland. At Valencia he challenged Max Neukirchner for the win at the final corner, resulting in a collision which broke Neukirchner's collarbone. Checa's first two wins (following four podium finishes) both came in the meeting at the Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City on June 1 2008. He did not reach the podium again, but consistent results elsewhere allowed him to finish 5th overall in the series.

2009 so far:

In Australia Phillip Island, 27-28 February 1 March 2009- had a bad start to the season and finished 12th on race one and 13th in race 2.

In Qatar - Losail, 12-13-14 March 2009- Checa took fifth after starting from seventh on the grid, but could do no better than 13th in the second outing after suffering chatter problems in both races.

Suzuka 8 Hours

Riyuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa won the 2008 Suzuka 8 Hours. Kiyonari and Checa rode for Dream Honda Racing 11.

Career statistics

By season

Season	Class	Moto	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
1993	125 cc	Honda RS125	1	0	0	0	0	9	27th	-
	250 cc	Honda RS250	6	0	0	0	0	9	23rd	-
1994	250 cc	Honda RS250	14	0	0	0	0	54	12th	-
1995	250 cc	Honda RS250	7	0	0	0	0	45	13th	-
	500 cc	Honda NSR500	5	0	0	0	1	26	16th	-
1996	500 cc	Honda NSR500	14	1	3	0	1	124	8th	-
1997	500 cc	Honda NSR500	15	0	3	0	1	119	8th	-
1998	500 cc	Honda NSR500	11	1	3	1	1	139	4th	-
1999	500 cc	Yamaha YZR500	16	0	1	0	0	125	7th	-
2000	500 cc	Yamaha YZR500	16	0	4	0	0	155	6th	-
2001	500 cc	Yamaha YZR500	15	0	3	0	0	137	6th	-
2002	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	16	0	4	1	1	141	5th	-
2003	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	16	0	0	0	0	123	7th	-
2004	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	16	0	1	1	0	117	7th	-
2005	MotoGP	Ducati GP5	17	0	2	0	0	138	9th	-
2006	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	17	0	0	0	0	75	15th	-
2007	MotoGP	Honda RC212V	18	0	0	0	0	65	14th	-
Total			220	2	24	3	5	1601		0

[edit] By class

Class	Season	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125 cc	1993	1993 Europe	N/A	N/A	1	0	0	0	0	9	0
250 cc	1993-1995	1993 S. Africa	N/A	N/A	27	0	0	0	0	108	0
500 cc	1995-2001	1995 Britain	1996 Malaysia	1996 Catalunya	92	2	17	1	4	825	0
MotoGP	2002-2007	2002 Japan	2002 Japan	N/A	100	0	7	2	1	659	0
Total	1993-2007				220	2	24	3	5	1601	0

MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso #4

Andrea Dovizioso #4


Personal opinion: Had a pretty good season on 2008 in a satellite Honda team, with very memorable moments, such as the first race in Qatar where he managed to Pass Rossi on the last race and in the last race of 2008 in Valencia where he want head to head with 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden. And now that Dani is injured, Dovi will need to develop the bike and I personally hope he will do well this year

Dovi and Rossi

From: http://www.andreadovizioso.com

I clearly remember when my father gave me my first bike as a present. It was the Malaguti machine that you can see in the photo. I found it outside the front door when I was four year old after betting with him. If I could ride my bicycle without the stabilisers, he would buy me a bike. I won the bet but I never expected such a beautiful surprise.

I still remember that moment as one of the biggest emotions in my life! My passion for the two wheels started then and when I was young I went and watched my Dad racing motocross every Sunday. I normally kept the timing for him and when he wasn’t riding, I was racing bicycles or mini-bikes challenging other children of my age.

At six years old, I had my first mini-bike and one year later I started racing both on circuits and dirt tracks. You can see on the photo below a mini-bikes race at Forlimpopoli, Italy - of course the little rider with the number 34 in the front of the GRC machine is me!

I have to say that it is also thanks to Antonio Gambarri, the owner of GRC, if I am a rider now. He is an extraordinary person and he helped me a lot when I was 11 and became an official rider. I want to thank him for all that he has done for me. I have ridden mini-cross bikes and mini-bikes until I was 14th years old. I also played football but I chose the track.

In 2000, I raced the Challenge Aprilia, my first championship on a 125cc machine. This was a major success for me as I got to ride a real bike. In 2001, I raced in the Italian Championship (and finished 4th) and I won the European Championship on a GP125. This success opened the door to the MotoGP World Championship, in which I have been racing since 2002 with a Honda bike for the team lead by Cirano Mularoni. 2004 has been a season full of incredible emotions. I clinched 5 victories and 11 podiums in total and at the end I conquered the 125cc World Title.

The following year, I moved up category and over three years I achieved 4 victories, ending up second in the championship twice and third once. These are fantastic results but I am not fully satisfied because my goal was to conquer the 250cc world title before moving to the MotoGP. However, in 2007 I have been very fast considering the lap times done on every single circuit and I am really pleased with that!

Now I am in MotoGP, the top class, where the fastest bikes of the world and the strongest riders ever compete. It is such an exciting challenge, I am so proud to be there... and I think its all started very well in Qatar.

wsbk: Jonathan Rea #65

Jonathan Rea #65

In 2008 Wan races in World Supersport, finishing second in the overall championship and taking a late season wildcard ride in WSB at Portimao as well. He makes the full-time switch to WSB this year, and has been impressively fast in testing. didn't have the best start of the year, but... lets hope that things can only improve for the young scot.

you can read more about him at his blog: http://www.gspdesigns.com/jr65/index.php?categoryid=12
(nice friendly writing style)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathan Rea. August 2008.

Jonathan 'Jonny' Rea (born February 2, 1987 in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland) is a motorcycle racer, currently competing in the Superbike World Championship for Ten Kate Honda. He was runner-up in the Supersport World Championship for them in 2008, and runner-up in the British Superbike Championship in 2007 for the HM Plant Honda team.

Early years

For much of his career he has been backed by Red Bull. Rea was British 60cc motocross runner up in 1997, before moving up through the motocross classes. He was not originally keen to switch to circuit racing as he considered it to be boring, but considerably less boring than him. but he was persuaded to by friends Michael and Eugene Laverty, contesting the 2003 British 125cc Championship. His 2004 season was interrupted by a crash at Knockhill.

In 2005 Red Bull set up a British Superbike ride for him on a factory-spec Honda Fireblade. He showed his potential by snatching a pole position from the established names, and finished 16th in the series despite missing 2 races, at Snetterton after a heavy testing crash, and at Oulton Park after the death of a junior team-mate in the previous event.

BSB Success

He started the 2006 season strongly, lying 6th in the championship after 5 meetings. At Oulton Park he finished 3rd in race 2, before being demoted to 4th as he was deemed to have gained a place form Shane Byrne on the last lap illegally, although he claimed that he crossed the infield grass as he was squeezed out of road. He qualified 5th at Mondello Park before heavy rain forced the cancellation of the races, and claimed that he had been on race tyres, rather than special soft qualifying compounds. He impressed at Mallory Park too, qualifying on the front row and running 2nd until high-siding in race 1, despite having no race engineer for the weekend. At Knockhill he took pole position, and followed a 4th in race 1 with his first career podium in race 2, passing Leon Haslam for 2nd with 2 laps to go. He ultimately took 4th in the championship, ahead of the factory Honda of Karl Harris.

He took Harris' factory ride for 2007, alongside reigning champion Ryuichi Kiyonari of Japan. After four second places, he finally took his first win in the second race at Mondello Park, after dominating wet practice but struggling in the dry first race. A double victory at Knockhill followed, taking him to within 9 points of Kiyonari at the top of the standings - retaining this position after Oulton Park in which each HM Plant Honda rider won once and crashed once. He ultimately finished as the series runner-up, 26 points behind Kiyonari and 20 ahead of Leon Haslam.

Also in 2007, he raced with Kiyonari and won a three-hour endurance race, and were then entered for the Suzuka 8-Hour race on a factory Honda machine. Plans for him to contest the British MotoGP round on a Team Roberts bike were scrapped in favour of extra Suzuka preparation.

2008 –finished 2^nd World Supersport Championship - HAANspree Ten Kate Honda

World Supersport

In September 2007 he signed a three year deal with Ten kate Honda to ride in the World Supersport championship for 2008, and World Superbikes for 2009/10. He turned down the option of staying in British Superbikes with either HM Plant Honda or move to Rizla Suzuki, and turned down a World Superbike ride with the factory Xerox Ducati team. In his first race at Losail he crashed, badly injuring a finger At Assen he challenged for a first WSS win, losing by inches to team-mate Andrew Pitt. He did win for Ten Kate at the Donington Park British Supersport race, which the team entered as practice for the later WSS race there. His first World Supersport win came at Brno, and he immediately followed this with a second win at Brands Hatch, after the race was stopped early after Craig Jones crashed fatally. A third win followed at Vallelunga, pushing him back up to 2nd in the standings behind Pitt. His chances of winning the title were ended by a wild move from Robbin Harms in the penultimate round at Magny Cours.

World Superbikes

For the last round of 2008, Jonathan will ride the superbike at Portimao.

For 2009, Jonathan will ride for the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team in World Superbikes.

2008 – 2^nd World Supersport Championship - HAANspree Ten Kate Honda.

WSBK Magnificent 7 take to the water in offshore powerboats+ resolts from day 1

Update: March 11, 2009, 17.15 PM ET

from http://www.worldsbk.com

The second round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship, due to take place in Qatar this weekend, had a watery prologue today as seven top riders took to offshore boats of the Qatar Powerboat Team around the Corniche bay area of the capital, Doha.

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), Ben Spies (Yamaha), Max Biaggi (Aprilia), Max Neukirchner (Suzuki), Troy Corser (BMW), Jonathan Rea (Honda) and Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) were all invited by Sheikh Hassan Al Thani, Qatar Marine Sports Federation President and Class 1 offshore champion on board two Nor-Tech Mercury 36' catamarans for a different kind of speed trip, this time on water, in the build-up to this Saturday's WSBK round.

"It wasn't my first time onboard this kind of boat but it was quite exciting", declared Phillip Island race 1 winner Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). "I'm thinking I want to buy this kind of boat but it's just to throw away for the money and I need to check with my wife first!. As for this weekend's race, Ducati have good experience and settings for here, now I have started the season well from the first round so we will see from here in the next races."

"We knew we had the pace to battle at Phillip Island, not necessarily to win, but it was important to get the first win out of the way" commented Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike). "I've kind of been like trying to prove myself on Superbikes for quite a long time, so my win in Australia felt like it had been a long time coming. Qatar is a track where I've never turned a wheel on, it seems OK, I'll just have to go out and learn it. 110 mph on water is a different feeling totally, but luckily we survived that and now I can go to work tomorrow!"

"Phillip Island was high performance on qualifying, nobody expected to see us on the front row and fighting for pole position until the end" said Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing). "But something at the moment is still a bit ‘raw' and we need to find the right conditions to make it ‘well done' and explore different ways to go for development. At the moment we're in early stages. This morning was a completely new way to go for me, we went fast on the speedboats. It was interesting to see the steering round the buoy, they go very quick and this type of boat is very stable, almost double the speed on the tarmac!"

On TV: Eurosport (pan-European): Sunday 15 March, 08.30 race 1 (delayed), 09.15 race 2 (delayed).

The Qatar Round of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship takes place from Thursday 12 thru Saturday 14 March. World Supersport and World Superbike free practice and qualifying takes place on both days, with WSBK Superpole scheduled for Friday at 15.00. The two 18-lap Superbike races are scheduled to run on Saturday at 12.00 and 15.30, with the 18-lap Supersport race at 13.25 local time.

First strike for Spies (Yamaha) in Qatar

Ben Spies (Yamaha) set the quickest time on the opening day of qualifying action at the Losail circuit in Qatar. The three-times AMA Superbike champion - and race 2 winner at Phillip Island - dominated qualifying, ending the one-hour session with a time of 1 minute 58.886 seconds, eight-tenths of a second off the best time set by Troy Corser (Yamaha) last year.

"Today went pretty good, the result will be more important Saturday but every time I come to the track with Yamaha the bike is getting better and it's already such a fun bike to ride" declared Spies. "The team's working really good, but there are so many people that are fast out there that if you have just an OK session you end up behind. It's going to be a tough year, but we're clicking off session by session and we'll see where we're going to end up."

Spies, the only rider to lap below the 1'59" mark, was close to a second quicker than almost all his rivals, with the exception of Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), three-tenths behind. The young rider from Northern Ireland was the spearhead in the competitive three-rider Ten Kate Honda attack, with Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari placing third and fifth respectively. The latter two were separated by Max Biaggi,who took his Aprilia RSV4 to a provisional front-row grid slot thanks to a quick lap at the end of the session.

In sixth place was the first Ducati, the Sterilgarda machine of Shane Byrne, while the factory 1098R machines are so far down in eighth (Michel Fabrizio) and eleventh (Noriyuki Haga) respectively. Last year's winner Suzuki are so far struggling, with Max Neukirchner only down in thirteenth place, and Yukio Kagayama fifteenth, approximately 1.5 seconds off the pace. The two BMWs of Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus were right behind the Japanese rider in sixteenth and seventeenth.

FIM Supersport World Championship

The first day of Supersport action at Losail bore the mark of Yamaha as the two factory riders powered to the top two positions in qualifying. Cal Crutchlow from the UK set the provisional pole in a time of 2 minutes 02.634 seconds, with his French team-mate Fabien Foret just over a tenth behind. Crutchlow's performance was even more impressive seeing as it was the first time he had raced on this track. The rest of the top 15 runners were all within 1 second, and they were headed by Phillip Island winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), in front of Hannspree Honda Althea's Matthieu Lagrive, three-tenths off the pace. The provisional second row is led by the young Australian Mark Aitchison (Hannspree Honda Althea) ahead of Spain's Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com), who is proving to be extremely rapid around this track. Triumph also had a positive qualifying hour, with Garry McCoy and Gianluca Nannelli eight and eleventh on the ParkinGo BE1 675 machines.

Superbike - Free Practice 1st Session

Update: March 12, 2009, 09.45 PM ET

1 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.486
2 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 2'00.514
3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.676
4 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.744
5 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2'00.770
6 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.945
7 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 2'01.162
8 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 2'01.234
9 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 2'01.261
10 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 2'01.280
11 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 2'01.457
12 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.464
13 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.658
14 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.698
15 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.755
16 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 2'01.783
17 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'02.204
18 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'02.317
19 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'02.529
20 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 2'02.587
21 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2'02.642
22 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'03.075
23 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'03.363
24 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'03.580
25 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 2'03.757
26 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'03.773
27 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'03.941
28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'06.136

Superbike - Qualifying 1st Session

Update: March 12, 2009, 13:33 PM ET

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'58.886
2 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.177
3 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.731
4 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1'59.826
5 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.937
6 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'59.980
7 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2'00.024
8 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'00.101
9 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2'00.232
10 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 2'00.238
11 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 2'00.254
12 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 2'00.283
13 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.345
14 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.374
15 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.398
16 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 2'00.455
17 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 2'00.610
18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'00.769
19 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.799
20 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.222
21 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'01.224
22 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.336
23 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.464
24 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.560
25 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.607
26 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 2'01.779
27 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'02.272
28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'02.917

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Broc Parkes #23

Personal opinion: a strong rider, that’s for sure, but is he strong enough to be a contender for the #1 position? I am not sure; I predict that he will defiantly be in the top 10 maybe even close to the top 5- if not in it.


Name: Broc Parkes
Date of Birth: 24/12/81
Nationality: Australian
Home: The Hunter Valley region of NSW
Height: 170 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Current Occupation: International Motorcycle Racer!!!
Previous Occupation: 2 years as an apprentice bricklayer
Interests: Motorcycling, Bodyboarding, Surfing.
Ambition: "To be successfull at whatever I do"
Tattoo's: Black Panther, a star and number 23.
Favourite Band: Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Favourite Sports Person: Anna Kournikova !!
Favourite Movie Mission Impossible 2


Without a doubt Broc has got to be one of the coolest customers when it comes to racing a bike..or at least that's what it seems. You will not see Broc get flustered, vocal or nervous. However if you look closely you may see him check his watch a little more often when it comes to race time. Otherwise he is quiet, polite and unaffected by his rise to the ranks of World Championship Rider. At the age of 4 he watched Wayne Gardner win a race. He turned around and asked his dad "Who is this guy". He was told that was the World Champion, to which Broc replied that that was what he wanted to be. In 2009 Broc returns to the Superbikes with the Paul Bird Motorsports Kawasaki team. Broc sees this as a 2 year project to get the ZX10 up the front and hopes to build on that with this great UK based team.
Broc comes from a Dirt Track background with a swag of titles to his name from his first at the tender age of 5. His first foray into the world of road racing came at the age of 16 in 1998 on a Honda RS125 Grand Prix bike. In this first year Broc won every Championship he entered and quickly got an enviable reputation around the pits as the one to beat. In 1999 Broc again swept all comers aside in the Australian National series and had his first taste of World Championship racing in the Australian Round of the 125 Grand Prix World Championships. In 2000 Broc accepted an offer from Moriwaki Engineering to pilot a Honda VTR 1000 in the All Japan X Formula series, with the added bonus of a ride in the prestigious Suzuka 8hour endurance race. 2001 was Broc's rookie year in the World Superbike Championship. With Wayne Gardner as his new Manager, Broc rode for the Ducati Scuderia NCR team. Broc demonstrated that in the rain he can run with the best, robbed of a podium finish by nothing more than a bolt holding on the gearshift and finishing the season 16th. For 2002 Broc continued with the Ducati Scuderia NCR team with the addition of sponsorship from Parmalat and tyres from Pirelli. Unfortunately even with the Parmalat support resources were tight and Broc had to ride conservatively, but still finished 11th. For 2003 Broc joined the Honda family and moved to Supersport with the Belguim based BKM team with full factory support from Dunlop. Lack of funds saw the team fold before the end of the year. 2004 saw Broc again with Honda. This time he was with Ten Kate where he ended the year in 2nd spot. 2005 through to 2008 saw Broc aboard a Yamaha R6 with the Yamaha Germany squad alongside fellow Aussie Kevin Curtain and tehn Frenchman Fabien Foret. 2005 was a difficult year although Broc ended the season on a high with a win. 2006 saw Broc right in there with a shot at the title until a nasty crash at Assen which effectively ended his title hopes. 2007 agian saw Broc get a rough start with a series of DNF's. But 4 podiums from the last 6 races including 2 wins saw him climb back to a very creditable overall 2nd. A new bike in 2008 which saw some grmlins during mid season again dashed Broc's title hopes. For 2009, Broc returns to the Superbikes, this time aboard a Kawasaki ZX10R. A big challenge, but Broc's ready for it.

--------------------------------------------------
2008 World Supersport Championship

Circuit Result
Round 1 Losail 1st
Round 2 Philip Island DNF
Round 3 Valencia 4th
Round 4 Assen 5th
Round 5 Monza 3rd
Round 6 Nurburgring 3rd
Round 7 Misano 10th
Round 8 Brno 4th
Round 9 Brands Hatch 4th
Round 10 Donnington 10th
Round 11 Vallelunga 2nd
Round 12 Magny-Cours DNF
Round 13 Portimao 5th

Final overall placing 4th

2007 World Supersport Championship

Circuit Result
Round 1 Losail DNF
Round 2 Philip Island 3rd
Round 3 Donnington DNS
Round 4 Valencia 5th
Round 5 Assen DNF
Round 6 Monza DNF
Round 7 Silverstone DNF
Round 8 Misano 2ND
Round 9 Brno 13TH
Round 10 Brands Hatch 1ST
Round 11 Lausitz 1ST
Round 12 Vallelunga 4TH
Round 13 Magny-Cours 2nd

Final overall placing 2nd


2006 World Supersport Championship

Circuit Result
Round 1 Losail DNF
Round 2 Philip Island 3rd
Round 3 Valencia 4th
Round 4 Monza 7th
Round 5 Silverstone 2nd
Round 6 Misano 3rd
Round 7 Brno 2nd
Round 8 Brands Hatch 1st
Round 9 Assen DNF
Round 10 Lausitz DNS
Round 11 Imola 6th
Round 12 Magny-Cours 3rd


Final overall placing 4th


2005 World Supersport Championship

Circuit Result
Round 1 Losail 6th
Round 2 Philip Island 7th
Round 3 Valencia 6th
Round 4 Monza 7th
Round 5 Silverstone 5th
Round 6 Misano 5th
Round 7 Brno DNF
Round 8 Brands Hatch DNF
Round 9 Assen 7th
Round 10 Lausitz 2nd
Round 11 Imola 5th
Round 12 Magny-Cours 1st


Final overall placing 6th


2004 World Supersport Championship

Circuit Result
Round 1 Valencia DNF
Round 2 Philip Island 4th
Round 3 Misano DNF
Round 4 Monza 2nd
Round 5 Oscheleben 2nd
Round 6 Silverstone 3rd
Round 7 Brands Hatch 4th
Round 8 Assen 4th
Round 9 Imola 2nd
Round 10 Magny-Cours 2nd


Final overall placing 2nd


2003 World Supersport Championship

Circuit Result
Round 1 Valencia 7th
Round 2 Philip Island DNF
Round 3 Sugo 7th
Round 4 Monza 15th
Round 5 Oscheleben 5th
Round 6 Silverstone DNF
Round 7 Misano 3rd
Round 8 Brands Hatch 15th
Round 9 Assen -
Round 10 Imola -
Round 11 Magny cours DNF


Final overall placing 13th


2002
2002 was a year of limited resources. With only the one bike and no data logger for the bulk of the season, Broc could not afford to give it his all as a crash would leave him without a bike. Broc also struggled with the under developed Pirelli tyres for the first part of the seaon. However Pirelli were able to give him tyres that more suited his style for the latter part of the season which shows in the results that Broc was able to attain.


2002 World Superbike Championship

Circuit 1st Race 2nd Race
Round 1 Valencia 15th DNF
Round 2 Philip Island DNF 13th
Round 3 Kayalami 11th 14th
Round 4 Sugo DNF DNF
Round 5 Monza DNF 8th
Round 6 Silverstone DNF 12th
Round 7 Lausitz 11th DNF
Round 8 Misano DNF 14th
Round 9 Laguna Seca 15th 12th
Round 10 Brands Hatch DNF 18th
Round 11 Oscheleben 10th 10th
Round 12 Assen 9th 8th
Round 13 Imola 9th 8th



Final overall placing 11th


2001
2001 was Broc's rookie year in the World Superbike Championship. With Wayne Gardner as his new Manager, Broc rode for the Ducati Scuderia NCR team. Unfortunately the year was dogged by Mechanical failures at points where Broc was well placed. A bad crash testing tyres for Michelin at Sugo kept Broc out of the Monza race and a bad crash at Brands Hatch meant that Broc missed 2 complete rounds with injuries and struggling with the same injuries for a couple more. These all combined to give him an end result of 16th in the Championship which does not reflect his true potential. They say rain is a great leveler as skill and talent take over from horsepower. In 2001 Broc demonstrated that in the rain he can run with the best, robbed of a podium finish by nothing more than a bolt holding on the gearshift.


2001 World Superbike Championship

Circuit 1st Race 2nd Race
Round 1 Valencia DNF 13th
Round 2 Kayalami 16th 17th
Round 3 Philip Island 5th Abandoned
Round 4 Sugo 19th 16th
Round 5 Monza DNS DNS
Round 6 Donnington 20th 14th
Round 7 Lausitz 15th DNF
Round 8 Misano DNF 7th
Round 9 Laguna Seca 13th 14th
Round 10 Brands Hatch DNS DNS
Round 11 Oscheleben DNF 18th
Round 12 Assen 22nd DNF
Round 13 Imola DNF 8th



Final overall placing 16th


2000
For 2000 Broc rode for Moriwaki Engineering on a Honda VTR 1000 in the All Japan series. Despite 3 DNF’s, Broc still managed to finish a very creditable 3rd in the series. Broc’s result in the Suzuka 8hour does not reflect on his personal performance, due to his teammate crashing the bike.


2000 All Japan X Formula Championship

Round 1 Suzuka 4th
Round 2 CP Mine DNF
Round 3 Tsukuba 2nd
Round 4 Suzuka DNF Crash due to oil lap 9
Round 5 Twin Ring Motegi 3rd
Round 6 Sugo 1st
Round 7 Suzuka 2nd
Round 8 Tsukuba 1st
Round 9 Sugo DNF Crash
Round 10 TI DNS
Round 11 Twin Ring Motegi 3rd


Final overall placing 3rd


Suzuka 8 hour Endurance Race

Honda VTR 1000 17th



Suzuka Endurance Summer 2000

SSS 600 1st



1999
In 1999, there is no question that Broc was the one to beat in every national race he entered. Despite being significantly underpowered due to budgetary restrictions, Broc managed to put up a good fight in the Australian round of the 125GP World Championship. It seemed what ever he lost down the main straight he made up in the corners in his dice for 15th, until he eventually had to push the bike too hard and ended up out braking himself which led to him losing touch with the pack and ending up in 23rd.


1999 Australian National Shell Road Race Series

250 Produciton Series Aprillia RS250 1st
125 GP Series Honda RS125 1st



1999 Australian Grand Prix


250 Production Series Aprillia RS250 1st
125 GP Series Honda RS125 23rd (Highest Placed Australian)



1998
1998, at the age of 16, was Broc’s first year as a senior rider and his first year on the road race circuit. Although completely unknown to road racing, Broc quickly became the talk of the pits and secured all the road racing titles he entered in his first year! Meanwhile he still continued with his Dirt Track, this time as a senior, picking up another title.



NSW Championship (road race)

125 GP Honda RS125 1st
Formula 3 Honda RS 125 1st
RB Import Series Honda RS 125 1st



Australian National Dirt Track Championship

500cc dirt track 1st
250cc dirt track 2nd



Pre - 1998
1997 Broc rode some Road Racing Demonstration races on a moriwaki 80cc. Otherwise, the titles for Broc, pre-1998 are too numerous to mention. However it is worth pointing out that in addition to the ones listed above, he has 46 Australian National titles and 90 state titles in dirt track together with 3 junior speedway championships to his name!