News

The Yoshimura Suzuki team have decided to abandon plans to take part in any more World Superbike races this season, as a result cutting short their exploratory mission into the production-based series.

With a view to preparing for a full-time entry in 2011, the legendary Japanese tuning firm had initially planned to race at Assen, Imola and Magny-Cours with riders Yukio Kagayama and Daisaku Sakai sharing the duties. But their WSB debut was rescheduled to Monza, where an unconvincing performance by newcomer Sakai, who crashed three times at the high-speed Italian track, has now been followed by a rethink in Yoshimura's plans.

Citing the general economic climate and the need for more testing and preparation before launching any full attack on the championship, team principal Fujio Yoshimura said that it was still their intention to compete in 2011 but for the moment they were keeping their options open for the future.