World Superbike rider Sylvain Guintoli has left the Effenbert Liberty ahead of the team’s home round in Brno, Czech Republic. Guintoli and members of his pit crew walked off the job, reportedly in a dispute over overdue pay cheques.

Liberty Racing initially released a statement calling the crew’s departure as a “defection” born from a “misunderstanding between the mechanics and the administrative management of the team”.

Guintoli meanwhile told his side of the story in a series of tweets on Twitter, saying Liberty Racing failed to fulfill its side of their contract. Continue Reading »

It was supposed to be a weekend of celebration. The World Superbike Championship was celebrating its 25th anniversary of racing at Italy’s Monza circuit. Promoters Infront Motorsports brought out 30 landmark Superbikes from the series’ history, while greats such as Fred Merkel, Doug Polen and Carl Fogarty were in attendance for what was supposed to be a weekend to remember. Spec tire supplier Pirelli was also in the celebratory mood  with special silver-striped tires for the Superpole qualifier.

Unfortunately, the 2012 Monza round will be remembered for heavy rains, a cancelled race, a near boycott of Pirelli tires and the series’ largest team issuing a scathing rebuke to race organizers. Continue Reading »

For the second time this season, Superstock 1000 Cup racer Federico Sandi has lost his ride on a new Ducati 1199 Panigale race bike.

Sandi was cut loose from Liberty Racing in March after the team decided to focus its resources on a four-rider World Superbike effort. The 22-year-old racer then landed with Althea Racing, the team that captured the 2011 Superstock 1000 Cup as well as the 2011 WSBK Championship with Carlos Checa.

That might sound like a solid opportunity but such was not the case. Althea had originally planned to race just the WSBK class with last year’s Superstock 1000 champion Davide Giugliano graduating to the premiere class. Althea offered Sandi a ride on the Panigale, in part as a favor to the rider and, perhaps, to Ducati as well. But after back-to-back DNF results at Imola and Assen, the team has pulled the plug on Sandi and its Superstock effort. Continue Reading »

Carlos Checa extended his lead in the 2011 World Superbike Championship, winning both races at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park.

The Althea Ducati racer recorded his second double of the season and now has six wins in ten races. Checa also scored the double in Utah in 2008 when Miller Motorsports Park made its debut on the WSBK calendar.

Check after the jump for the recap and video highlights.

Continue Reading »