Carlos Checa

With MotoGP due to head to Assen in just over a week, here's a taster from the World Superbike round back in April. Friend of MotoMatters.com Michel Hulshof of Sports Photography used his expert local knowledge to grab some beautiful shots from the two WSBK races. Michel grew up just a stone's throw away from the iconic Dutch circuit, and it shows. You can see more of his work on his website, or you can follow him on Twitter, under the user name @ProNikon.

The Roman Emperor, on the Noale Rocketship

The HANNSpree Ten Kate Honda team had a couple of days' testing at Assen before the race weekend. It paid off handsomely for Johnny Rea.

Stunning. Spectacular. Inspiring. The scenery at Miller is always great, even when the racing isn't.

She's done. Or how a Pirelli slick meets its end.

A race in a race: the World Superbike field rushes headlong towards Turn 1

Michel Fabrizio was beaten by his teammate for the first ime in a long time in Superpole at Miller

Rough and tumble: the story of Troy Corser's Superpole

A suitable boy: Leon Camier has done extremely well on the Aprilia RSV4, despite dwarfing the bike

After yesterday's instalment of Scott Jones' fantastic images from Qatar, today we have more, from the heart of Utah's stunning landscapes. The World Superbike paddock went to Miller Motorsports Park, and Scott Jones captured it all on film. With such a breathtaking backdrop, Scott is at his best. Savor round 7 of the World Superbike series all over again, and remember that you can help out by supporting MotoMatters.com in 2010.

Miller Motorsports Park - The Jewel Of Utah

Ben Spies: the Texas Terror unleashed his Blitzkrieg on World Superbikes in 2009

After many years stalwart service, Shinya Nakano went out with a whimper, not a bang

2009's Nearly Man: Nitro Nori, and Mr March in the MotoMatters.com 2010 Racing Calendar

Althea Ducati has announced that Shane "Shakey" Byrne will team with Carlos Checa on the squad in the World Superbike championship in 2010. Althea ended a relationship with Honda at the end of the 2009 season that had lasted the last two years in favor of the Bologna based manufacturer. Byrne brings extensive experience with the 1098 Superbike to Althea, having won the 2008 British superbike championship and placing eighth in the 2009 WSBK season  astride the Italian machine.  Byrne had been previously thought to be in contention for a factory ride with Kawasaki and Aprilia, but Kawasaki opted to sign Chris Vermeulen and Tom Sykes. Aprilia is thought to be considering Leon Camier and Alex De Angelis to team with Max Biaggi.

A variety of sources are reporting that Carlos Checa will ride a privateer Ducati for the Althea team in the World Superbike series in 2010. Checa, who was recently voted off the Ten Kate Island, is still capable of running intermittently at the front, especially around contract time. It had been rumored that Checa was in line for a testing gig for Ducati MotoGP, replacing long-time tester Vittoriano Guaresci, who will be allegedly be taking a rider liason position for the company, but apparently racing pays better, especially when your income comes mostly from personal sponsorships and contingency bonuses, as Checa's reportedly has for the last few years.  It has been previously reported that Althea would switch from Honda  to Ducati in 2010 and were pursuing Jakub Smrz and/or Niccolo Canepa.

UPDATE

Newly sacked German rider Max Neukirchner has quickly found gainful employment,  signing a deal that will see him partnering with Jonny Rea on a Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR in the World Superbike series in 2010. This year, Neukirchner has battled injuries incurred at Monza and Imola and his contract with Alstare Suzuki was terminated in late September by team owner Frankie Batta, allegedly over concerns about his level of fitness. Current Ten Kate rider Carlos Checa, despite a flurry of late season activity, will not return to the Ten Kate team, who are downsizing to two riders in 2010. Checa is thought to be in line for a testing gig with the Ducati MotoGp team. Checa has a history with Ducati, having ridden for the team in MotoGP in 2005, alongside Loris Capirossi.

A variety of sources are reporting that Max Neukirchner will make a shocking  jump to ride alongside Jonny Rea on the Ten Kate Honda team in 2010. Although the young German rider had a contract with Alstare Suzuki for 2010, it is believed that the pact was terminated as early as the first of October  by the team due to fitness concerns based on injuries incurred at the mid-summer Imola test.  Rumor has it that Alstare owner Frankie Batta used the fitness issue to clear the decks so that a  French ex-MotoGP rider (although who that could be is kind of hazy with Sylvain Guintoli already signed to the BSB Worx team for next year) could come aboard the sinking Alstare ship bearing a bucketload of Francs to rescue the cash-strapped team.

Ten Kate had been thought to be on the verge of re-signing current rider Carlos Checa after former riders James Toseland and Chris Vermeulen inked deals with different teams. The Neukirchner/Ten Kate agreement will reportedly be sealed sometime next week.

The brand new Superpole format adopted by World Superbikes for the 2009 season threw up a great many conundrums at Phillip Island on Saturday, as well as a few surprises. But perhaps most of all, it also threw up confirmation of what some had suspected, and many had hoped.

The format is relatively simple, and borrowed from Formula 1:

1. The 20 riders who set the fastest times during the two ordinary qualifying practice sessions go through to the new Superpole;
2. At the end of the afternoon, Superpole is run, consisting of three 12 minute sessions, with a 7 minute break between the sessions. The riders are given two qualifying tires, which they can use at any time during any of the three Superpole sessions. But only two super-soft qualifiers spread over three sessions means that they will have to use race tires only in at least one of the sessions;
3. At the end of the first Superpole session, the 4 slowest riders are excluded, and grid positions 17 through 20 assigned in order of time;
4. At the end of the second Superpole session, the 8 slowest riders are excluded, and grid positions 9 through 16 are awarded in order of the time set in the second session;
5. In the third and final Superpole session, the 8 remaining riders compete against each other in a straightforward fight for grid positions, with places awarded based on the times set in this third and final session.

Easily understandable, but the subtleties and difficulties arise in the interplay between the number of qualifying tires and Superpole sessions. And those subtleties claimed their first victims in the very first session: both BMWs failed to make it through to the second session, after gambling on a soft race tire, and saving their qualifiers for later on. As it happened, neither Ruben Xaus nor Troy Corser ended up using them, the race tires leaving them just short of making the cut. They were joined by Roberto Rolfo and Tommy Hill, Hill victim of an earlier blown engine, and not enough laps to set a fast time.