World Supersport team BE1 Racing is switching manufacturers from Triumph to Yamaha.
BE1 Racing has been entering the Triumph Daytona 675 in the World Supersport Championship since 2008. The team was negotiating with Triumph Motorcycles to continue their relationship but the two sides have agreed to split after being unable to come to terms.
“I am really very sorry that we haven’t been able to reach an agreement with Triumph for the 2011 season because we have put so much into the project and the team was ready to push for the championship. It has been three intense years and Triumph will definitely remain in my blood. I want to thank Triumph management and I wish all the best to everybody in the factory and those subsidiaries that have trusted in the racing project. Now it’s time for my team to start a new venture.”
That new venture will be based around the Yamaha YZF-R6 with BE1 racers Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa racing under the Yamaha ParkinGO banner. The new arrangement will mark the return of Yamaha to the Supersport class. The Yamaha R6 last raced in the class in 2009 with Cal Crutchlow winning the championship. Yamaha Europe will supply BE1 with race bikes and Yamaha genuine racing parts.
“This is a great opportunity for officially supported R6 machinery to return to the World Supersport Championship,” says Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Yamaha Motor Europe racing manager. “The R6 is a winning machine which, after taking the World Supersport Championship in 2009, has continued in 2010 with many national titles alongside the European Superstock 600 Championship title, despite not competing at world level. It is our belief and our vision that in today’s circumstances supporting a private team with the materials needed to compete is the appropriate involvement in World Supersport for a manufacturer.”
As for Triumph, the British manufacturer was hoping to showcase its new Daytona 675R with BE1 Racing. The provisional 2011 World Supersport entry list includes three Triumph Daytona 675 entries, but it is not yet clear whether Triumph will redirect its factory support to one of them.
“We had intended to continue our collaboration with BE1 Racing this season, to challenge for the title with the new Daytona 675R, but unfortunately when we came to the final contract negotiations it became clear that our respective business plans were not compatible,” says Paul Stroud, Triumph’s sales and marketing director. “We have spent the past few months trying to find a solution to allow us to work together, however with the new season just around the corner and the livelihood and careers of the BE1 Racing staff and riders at stake, we felt that the best option is to end our partnership and for BE1 Racing to enter the 2011 season with another manufacturer.”
