NGM Forward Racing has named veteran MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen the substitute rider for the injured Colin Edwards at the May 20 French Grand Prix at Le Mans. Vermeulen will ride the team’s BMW-powered Suter Claiming Rule machine.

Vermeulen raced four full seasons in MotoGP from 2006-2009, all with the Rizla Suzuki team. He has a single victory to his credit, also at Le Mans. Vermeulen also has seven podium finishes in MotoGP with a career-best sixth-place finish in the 2007 championship. Vermeulen raced in the World Superbike series the last two years for Kawasaki though he struggled with a number of injuries. Continue Reading »

MotoGP racing may be the next logical step for BMW, says Hendrik von Kuenheim, general director of BMW Motorrad.

Von Kuenheim was speaking at a press launch for the BMW C600 Sport and C650GT scooters but took a moment to discuss racing with MotoGP.com. Such speculation about BMW entering Grand Prix racing may sometimes be dismissed as idle musings, but the fact the interview was with MotoGP’s official website holds some significance.

But before it can step up into the MotoGP World Championship, BMW must first demonstrate it can produce a winning race bike at the World Superbike level. BMW has been competing in the WSBK championship since 2009 when it introduced the S1000RR. In three full seasons of competition however, the BMW S1000RR has yet to win a race in the series. Continue Reading »

Colin Edwards will join the Forward Racing team to compete in the 2012 MotoGP season as a Claiming Rule Team entry.

Edwards, known as a good development rider and an even better quote machine, is the first rider to officially sign on with a CRT. Forward Racing may be more familiar to some race fans by its former name, Hayate Racing, the outfit that ran the Kawasaki ZX-RR with Marco Melandri in 2009 after Kawasaki pulled out of MotoGP racing.

“I’ve always been a good test rider and I’m happy that this will be my next challenge,” Edwards tells MotoGP.com.

Forward Racing hasn’t finalized plans on what its machine will use, but Edwards says he hopes it will use a Yamaha R1 engine with a chassis developed by Edwards’ current employers, Tech 3 Racing. Negotiations are currently underway between Forward Racing and Tech 3′s Herve Poncheral.

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