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Leon Haslam insists it is "early days" in the 2009 FIM World Superbike Championship and is refusing to get carried away by his brilliant weekend at Phillip Island.The 25-year-old Stiggy Motorsport Honda rider stunned the paddock with finishes of sixth and third to end the opening round of the season in third place overall.Haslam heads to Qatar next week for round two and is hoping for a ...

Noriyuki Haga has admitted he must improve his consistency if he is to finally win the FIM World Superbike Championship this season.Haga qualified in just 13th place for the opening round at Phillip Island last weekend in his first race aboard the Xerox Ducati but still won and followed it up with a second place in race two to head the early standings.The 34-year-old has finished in the top four o...

Dani Pedrosa is likely to miss the final pre-season test ahead of the 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship after being told he will need four weeks to recover from surgery on his arm and knee following a testing accident this week.The Repsol Honda rider sustained the injuries in a fall on the second day of a three-day test at the Losail circuit in Qatar and underwent surgery on Wednesday to  fi...

Max Biaggi believes his new Aprilia demonstrated its potential at the opening round of the 2009 FIM Superbike World Championship despite taking just a handful of points from a weekend that promised so much more.The veteran Italian qualified the Aprilia in second place behind Yamaha's Ben Spies at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia but slipped down the order to 11th at the flag in race one bef...

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa requires surgery on arm and knee injuries picked up in a heavy fall at this week's three-day test session at the Losail circuit in Qatar.The Spaniard is facing a race against time to be fit for the opening round of the 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship in Qatar on April 12 after suffering a high-side on the second day of the multi-team test under floodlights.Accord...

Casey Stoner revealed his niggling wrist injury has been less of an issue at this week's three-day FIM MotoGP World Championship test than he feared, but admitted he does not believe he is over the worst just yet.The Ducati rider set the fastest time on the third and final day of the night test held under floodlights at the Losail circuit, outpacing Fiat Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Ross...

Yamaha team manager Massimo Meregalli has backed Tom Sykes to quickly get on the pace of team-mate Ben Spies, who stunned the FIM Superbike World Championship fraternity with a victory at the opening round of the season at Phillip Island last weekend.Sykes recovered from poor starts to take a pair of 10th-placed finishes at the Australian circuit while Superpole winner Spies took his maiden series...

Sylvain Guintoli has backed Casey Stoner to regain the FIM MotoGP World Championship title this season.The Marlboro Ducati rider was beaten into second place by Valentino Rossi last season after winning the crown in 2007 but Guintoli believes the Australian will be hungry to get back on top.Guintoli spent eight years in Grand Prix racing before moving to the British Superbike series for this seaso...

James Toseland has been backed to improve on his debut season in the FIM MotoGP World Championship by new British Superbike rider Sylvain Guintoli.Guintoli, 26, is making his debut on a superbike this season for Crescent Suzuki after eight years in Grand Prix racing and believes the Sheffield-born rider is in line for a good year.Guintoli previously rode for Toseland's Tech 3 Yamaha team in 2007 a...

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa is hopeful the knee injury he suffered in testing in Qatar on Monday is not serious.The 23-year-old Spaniard fell at the Losail International circuit on the second evening of FIM MotoGP World Championship testing and will fly home to undergo scans.Initial tests at the circuit showed no signs of a break to the left knee or his left wrist, but he needed three stitches...