Kawasaki Racing Team’s newly-signed athlete Leon Haslam has completed his first test aboard the 2019 Ninja ZX-10RR at Aragon, joining teammate and four-time world champion Jonathan Rea.

The British Superbike champion worked between two base settings on his WorldSBK-spec machines, making one clear choice of direction before losing some track time due to a minor technical issue just after lunch.

Setting a best-time of 1m51.479s, Haslam was almost two seconds adrift of Rea’s best-time in his first outing, with the test ultimately being cut short ahead of day two commencing with wet weather preventing any further riding.

“The test was positive and I am getting to know all the guys in the team,” said Haslam. “We missed some track time on the opening day, but even then it could have not gone any better. We got quicker each time we went out and the pace was quite competitive, considering we were not looking for that.

“We were just evaluating and understanding things. We are taking it step-by-step and we have another two days at Jerez to test again before the winter break. So far, so good.”

Haslam’s crew chief Marcel Duinker commented: “I was very happy and confident from the very beginning of the tests. We have a BSB champion in our house with a lot of experience on different bikes, different championships and different tyres. Day one went very well. We had two different bike set-ups to put us in the correct direction for chassis development.

“He clearly chose one of them and with some minor changes towards the end of day one, Leon was in the ballpark with our closest competition, who had won several races in the past few years. So from this point of view I am very happy, but unfortunately day two was wet. After this single day on track and with the positive results, we are confident we will continue doing well in Jerez.”

The Kawasaki Racing Team will continue testing next weekend at Jerez in Spain for the final outing of the year.

Day four of Chile’ FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) has concluded with no changes at the top of the World Trophy leaderboard, as Team Australia continues to control proceedings with a six-minute advantage.

Once again setting the benchmark, Australia secured yet another comfortable day win. Fastest from the outset, they continued to confidently build their lead over Team USA and Italy.

Team Italy is becoming the clear favourite in the Junior World Trophy claiming their fourth day win, while the USA sits second overall ahead of Chile. Australia is currently ranked fifth.

In the Women’s World Trophy division, defending champions Australia stretched their lead to eight minutes over the USA, withg Spain continuing to hold onto third.

In the individual category, Australia’s Daniel Milner (KTM Enduro Racing Team) was once again impressively fast in the dusty and rocky conditions, securing a comfortable 40s victory over teammate Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team), the duo being ranked first and second in the E3 standings.

Fellow Aussie Andrew Wilksch (Sherco) is currently 14th in E3, as Thomas Mason (KTM) shifted to 16th. Compatriot Josh Strang (Husqvarna) has moved to fifth in the overall E2 standings, as Fraser Higlett (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) holds onto seventh in E1. Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Racing Team) was ruled out of the competition on day two.

Tayla Jones (Husqvarna) maintains her lead in the individual Women’s class, followed by Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha) and Mackenzie Tricker (KTM) in fourth and eighth respectively.

Detailed results

Spaniard Dani Pedrosa is preparing for the final MotoGP race of his career this weekend at Valencia as the 2018 world championship comes to a close.

Pedrosa will step away from racing after 18 years, which has seen him earn three world championships in the 125cc and 250cc categories, while he’s finished runner-up in the premier MotoGP class on three occasions with 54 wins to his credit.

The 33-year-old acknowledges it will be an emotional weekend, although he’s still committed to putting on a stellar performance to conclude his career, and potentially add to the four MotoGP victories he’s earned at the venue.

“Clearly, the next race in Valencia will be a bit special, as it will be my final race, so the feeling will be different than usual,” Pedrosa commented. “It’s also going to be busy, because many of my people, friends and family will come there wishing to spend time together.

“Anyway, when I climb on my bike, my entire focus will be on riding. I like the track as it’s one of my favourites on the calendar, and of course I’ll try and get the best result possible on Sunday.”

The number 26 is set to take on a development role with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing next year, while his position at Repsol Honda will be fulfilled by multi-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo.

Following the conclusion of the Australian Supercross Championship at the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Sydney last weekend, Luke Clout admits he raced through a broken wrist at the final two rounds.

Scoring two podiums at the first two rounds, the factory KTM rider’s season took a turn at Geelong’s third stop when he viscously crashed out of the evening while leading the field.

It’s understood a suspected knee injury drew the most serious concern, allowing a broken bone in his wrist to go undetected until undergoing scans after Port Adelaide’s penultimate stop. Electing to finish out the year with seventh overall at Sydney, Clout will press on for the S-X Open Auckland next weekend, marking round two of the Monster Energy S-X Open Supercross FIM Oceania Championship.

“When I crashed at Geelong, we originally thought that my knee was the main issue,” Clout explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “It turns out the knee was the least thing to be worried about – I got it checked, but I didn’t get my wrists checked because we thought it was nothing.

“I struggled with grip racing in Adelaide, so I got an x-ray the Monday after and found out I have a broken bone in my wrist. I pretty much didn’t ride up until Sydney, so I’ve just been nursing it – it’s nothing too major, but I do have a bit of pain.

“I got through Sydney and Adelaide with a broken wrist, and it’s not ideal not being able ride much during the week, but I’m getting more riding and preparation in now before New Zealand.”

The popular number four finished sixth in the championship rankings, completing just his second campaign in the premier SX1 ranks.

Just under three weeks since the conclusion of the 2018 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Chaz Davies has experienced his first taste of the all-new and race-prepared Panigale V4 R.

Davies completed one of two days of private testing at Aragon in Spain, where he focused acquainting himself with the new bike, along with fine-tuning the ergonomics according to his needs and gathering plenty of useful data for the development process.

Undertaking 61 laps, the British ace declared he felt immediately comfortable aboard the all-new machine, while making a number of steps forward in just the early stages of development.

“It was really exciting to take the Panigale V4 R out on track for the first time,” Davies explained. “It felt like christmas, when you get a wonderful new toy to play with. Usually it takes me a bit of time to learn and understand a new bike, but honestly it felt the opposite today.

“I was really comfortable straight away, after the first out lap I felt like I wanted to push immediately, which is pretty cool. Overall, it was a really positive day, we’ve made a lot of steps forward and finished most of the work on the ergonomics. We have plenty of new things to evaluate and lots of data to process.

“The main goal today was to get progressively more comfortable with the bike and start tailoring it to our needs. Tomorrow, we’ll keep the same approach, working on the basics and refining little things before we start to push harder and understand the full potential of the bike a little bit better.”

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will resume action tomorrow with Davies for another day of testing ahead of its first collective outing, with Alvaro Bautista joining the WorldSBK regular at Jerez in Spain on 26-27 November.

Team Australia has extended its World Trophy lead at the close of day three in the 2018 FIM International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) as the race in Chile reaches the midway point.

Although losing more ground to Australia, Team USA hold station in second, while Italy remains third. Defending champions France, in fourth place, picked up their pace on day three to move to within one-minute of Italy.

The Junior World Trophy class was once again an Italian show as the trio of riders secured their third consecutive day win. Italy now leads by over minute ahead of the USA and France, with Australia currently positioned in fifth.

Claiming their third day win in Chile, Australia continues its relentless pace in this year’s Women’s World Trophy division. Comfortably faster than their rivals, they enter the second half of the race looking favourite to collect their sixth consecutive victory.

Unable to answer the pace of the leaders, the United States are six minutes behind the Australians, but enjoy a six-minute cushion over Spain in third.

Aussie contender Daniel Milner (KTM Enduro Racing Team) captured his second-consecutive individual standings victory, while also continuing to lead the E3 rankings ahead of countryman Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team). Thomas Mason (KTM) and Andrew Wilksch (Sherco) are 12th and 14th in E3, while Josh Strang (Husqvarna) holds down sixth in E2.

Fraser Higlett (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) is ranked seventh in E1, with fellow contender Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Racing Team) ruled out of competition from day two. In the Australian-dominated Women’s class, Tayla Jones (Husqvarna) maintains her position in the lead, followed by Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha) and Mackenzie Tricker (KTM) in fourth and sixth respectively.

Detailed results

Network 10 has extended its contract to continue broadcasting each and every round of the MotoGP World Championship live on free-to-air television in Australia for the next three years.

Fans watching on Network 10 will continue to enjoy action via the media company’s newly-branded channel 10 Boss, with live streaming also available at Ten Play.

Multi-time grand prix winner and former premier class championship runner-up Daryl Beattie will chair proceedings for the network, presenting from 10 studios and adding pre-race and post-race expert analysis.

Phillip Island’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix weekend feature special and extended coverage, with qualifying sessions and races for every category shown live.

Network 10’s CEO Paul Anderson commented: “The MotoGP World Championship is part of our DNA and has proudly been on our Network for the past 21 years. MotoGP provides some of the most dramatic motor racing vision in the world and is a key plank in our motorsport strategy. We have an incredible partnership with Dorna Sports and are very excited to be partnering once again and remaining the free to air home of motorsport in Australia.”

Dorna Sports managing director Manel Arroyo added: “It’s great news that MotoGP will remain on Network 10 in Australia, continuing our long and successful partnership that is now in its third decade. Network 10 provide excellent coverage of the World Championship and are valuable collaborators with whom we are delighted to continue working, so three more years is great news for Aussie fans and great news for MotoGP.”

Promoter of the Paris Supercross has confirmed headlining rider Marvin Musquin won’t be in attendance at this weekend’s event after suffering a knee injury during his pre-season preparations.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider was set to face-off against reigning AMA and world supercross champion Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing), who just earned back-to-back Monster Energy AUS-X Open Sydney wins last weekend.

It’s not yet clear if the injury will have any implications on the Frenchman’s 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross campaign, as neither KTM or Musquin have addressed his condition.

It’s understood the Paris Supercross has drafted in Autotrader Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing duo Justin Hill and Weston Peick to make up for Musquin’s absence.

Following months of speculation, Ducati has confirmed its partnership with two-time MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner has come to an end following a three-year period as a test rider and brand ambassador.

Ducati released a statement declaring Stoner’s contribution was important to the manufacturer, assisting it in constantly improving the performance of the Desmosedici GP, while also playing a role the final development of the Panigale V4.

“I want to thank Ducati for the great memories and especially the support and enthusiasm of the Ducati fans for our shared passion for racing and motorcycling, I’ll always remember this,“ said Stoner.

“Over the past three years I have really enjoyed doing my job with the test team, the engineers and technicians, as we worked towards improving the Desmosedici GP package and I sincerely want to wish the team all the very best for their future endeavours.”

Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali commented: “Casey is and will always remain in the hearts of Ducatisti and it is also on their behalf that we wish to thank him for the important collaboration he has offered us over the last three years. His technical indications and suggestions, together with the work and the feedback of the factory riders and Michele Pirro, have helped to make the Desmosedici GP one of the most competitive bikes on the grid.

“His advice for the development of our production bikes has been just as precious and useful. Ducati and its many fans wish to offer their sincere thanks and their best wishes to Casey and his family for a serene and happy future.”

The Australian captured his maiden premier class crown with Ducati in 2007, which marks the company’s sole MotoGP championship to date.