News

Many of the top riders were involved in a variety of PR activities Thursday as the 2009 Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship rolled into the city of Brno in the Czech Republic for this weekend's tenth round. In the early afternoon, a group of riders including Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) and Czech Republic's very own Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) were invited to the seat of the regional government for a meet & greet with the President of the Region of South Moravia, Mr. Michal Hašek, who gave a warm welcome from the second-largest city in the Czech Republic to SBK General Manager Paolo Ciabatti, representing Infront Motor Sports, and the WSB riders.

Later in the afternoon another larger group of riders - Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike), Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare), Shinya Nakano (Aprilia Racing), Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad), Broc Parkes (Kawasaki WSRT), the brothers Jakub and Matej Smrz (MS Racing Triumph) and Patrik Vostarek (Intermoto Czech Honda) - were all involved in an entertaining bowling tournament at the nearby Olympia shopping centre, the winner of which was Ruben Xaus, who took home a bottle of champagne for his efforts. After which the riders met up with hundreds of shoppers and fans to sign autographs in a specially-designated area.