Here are a few updates from the world of racing.
First off – the 2014 World Superbike schedule hasn’t been released yet, but you can already cross the Silverstone round off the list. Track management says attendance has taken a tremendous drop since WSB added a second UK round (Donington Park). There’s no word yet as to whether WSB will attempt to add another UK round, or simply find another country looking to host a race.
In Moto3 news, there’s a new team coming next year from Husqvarna. However, they won’t be debuting an exciting new ground-up bike. Because of their tight ties to KTM (Husky is owned by KTM CEO Stefan Pierer), the Husqvarna team will run a rebadged KTM race bike. Danny Kent will race the bike, with Niklas Ajo holding down the second team member’s slot. Former racer Aki Ajo is team manager.
And, in real road-racing news – Michael Dunlop says he won’t be racing in 2014. Dunlop handily dominated the Isle of Man TT this spring, and also appeared in the FIM Endurance World Championship. However, he says “I have worked extremely hard to get to this level in road racing and unless I feel I have the right equipment and structure under me I won’t race at all.” Apparently, he couldn’t get the support he wanted to race next year – although whether that’s financial support, or simply an issue over available machinery, is a tad unclear, as Dunlop left the Honda TT Legends team a few weeks ago, presumably for greener pastures … word on the street originally had him going to Milwaukee Yamaha, but now they’re said to be sticking with their current two-rider lineup.
