The opening round of the World Superbike championship occurs this weekend in Qatar. The first day of qualifying concluded today, with Suzuki’s Troy Corser posting the fastest lap time on the slippery Losail circuit.
Yes, Corser is aboard a GSX-R1000, while Noriyuki Haga debuts his Yamaha R1-based superbike (he was 9th fastest today). Ducati returns with its two stars, Regis Laconi and reigning champ James Toseland. The talented young Chris Vermeulen is back with his Honda superbike, as well (Vermeulen was 7th quickest today).
American Ben Bostrom is aboard a Honda superbike in WSB for 2005, but has had very little time to develop the machine (he was 28th on the time charts today). All-in-all, the 2005 WSB series should have some close, interesting racing with factory-backed, four-cylinder 1000s debuting from more than one manufacturer.
