Sykes to WSB!

Shame to see Nori leave Yamaha, but what a great move for Tom Sykes! Great to see a British rider back with a factory ride in WSB since JT went to motoGP

"Britain's Tom Sykes will quit British Superbikes at the end of the season to race in the World Superbike Championship for the Yamaha Italia squad in the 2009.

The 23 year old will replace long time Yamaha man Noriyuki Haga in the factory backed squad following the Japanese rider's expected switch to Xerox Ducati.

Sykes became a target for the top teams in WSB following his strong results in BSB, his impressive performance at Brands Hatch WSB and his sensational second place finish at Donington Park WSB last weekend.

Sykes currently holds second in the BSB championship standings onboard the Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000. Sykes is believed to have been offered a deal to stay with his current Rizla team for 2009 with an option to take him to WSB but this wasn’t enough to tempt him away from the full factory Yamaha ride.

Sykes' 2009 Yamaha teammate is still unconfirmed. The Italian run team are keen to retain the services of on-form Australian Troy Corser, who currently sits second in the WSB championship standings, but Corser also remains in deep negotitions with BMW about a switch to their new WSB team next season."

Thing is apparently big bang is banned from WSB... Hows this going to work? or is it just not allowed to be modified to be a big bang so the yamaha will be fine?

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

Thing is apparently big bang is banned from WSB... Hows this going to work? or is it just not allowed to be modified to be a big bang so the yamaha will be fine?

Yep - I don't think big bang is banned if the production bike starts off that way. Does switching to a big bang firing order mean modifying the crank in some way?? That'll be enough to break the rules.

Originally Posted by lukemillar

Yep - I don't think big bang is banned if the production bike starts off that way. Does switching to a big bang firing order mean modifying the crank in some way?? That'll be enough to break the rules.

Well no and yes. There are many different ways of doing it... The way the virgin Yamaha's did it in BSB to get around cahnging the crank was to just make both the cylinders on the same side of the crank (the ones that go up and down together) fire at the same time by playing with spark order and inlet outlet timing with the crank. Basically making it into a twin with 4 cylinders... if that makes sense.

The new R1 seems to have a firing order the same as the tourer VFR750's so will sound very sweet!

IL4 is 180°/180°/180°/180° (hence the dull sound)

New R1 is (apparently) 270°/180°/90°/180°

VFR750 is 180°/270°/180°/90° So the same...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh707...eature=related Sound like this Muha ha ha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnk7M...eature=related IL4 vs Big bang/VFR V4, which sound better

New R1, you can hear it a bit... but there isnt a decent sound bite there http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj8pw...cyclenews.com/

Great news, although I thought that he may have gone there with the Suzuki team. Obviously theyre not prepared to make the step up. Any news on any other moves? Byrne to Ducati WSB?

Originally Posted by robchester

Great news, although I thought that he may have gone there with the Suzuki team. Obviously theyre not prepared to make the step up. Any news on any other moves? Byrne to Ducati WSB?

A few moved in WSB, Haga to Ducati.

Corser still in talks with BMW so that may come off?

Originally Posted by robchester

Great news, although I thought that he may have gone there with the Suzuki team. Obviously theyre not prepared to make the step up. Any news on any other moves? Byrne to Ducati WSB?

I think Suzuki were keen, but the Yamaha offer was better!

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

Thing is apparently big bang is banned from WSB.

If the engine in the road bike is big bang then the race bike engine can be big bang too. The rule is you cannot turn a conventional IL4 engine into a big bang engine.