Paul Carruthers | September 23, 2008
The following is from Yamaha…
The Yamaha World Supersport team has signed British Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow to partner Frenchman Fabien Foret for the 2009 World Supersport Championship. The 22yr old British rider is highly competitive and is no stranger to championship success.
In the current British Superbike Championship Crutchlow has scored a respectable ten podiums including two wins and three pole position starts. He is fourth in the standings on 265 points, chasing third place fellow Brit Tom Sykes, who also steps up to Yamaha next year as he joins the World Superbike team.
Crutchlow’s career has been nurtured by Yamaha from the start, it was through The Virgin Mobile Yamaha R6 Cup that he first had the opportunity to showcase his talents, taking 2nd place in the 2003 competition, and getting the help up to premier British road racing, making it fitting that he now returns to the Yamaha family to continue developing his career. He moved on to race in the British Supersport Championship, finishing 10th in 2004, 3rd in 2005 and winning the championship in 2006. Championship wins have marked his career from the start, including 1st place in the 1999 UK Junior Challenge and 1st place in the 2001 Aprilia RS 125 Challenge.
Cal Crutchlow “I’m really looking forward to the experience. To go into what is in my eyes the top team in the World Supersport paddock and have the opportunity to challenge for a world title with Yamaha is very exciting. I’m really looking forward to next season, I can’t wait!”
Wilco Zeelenberg (Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager) “We’ve been talking to many strong riders over the last couple of months and have been following Cal’s progress this year in The British Superbike Championship, he’s really impressed us. We’re convinced that his riding style will suit our YZF R6 very well. He’s a very good Supersport rider, we know that coming from Superbikes to Supersport riders don’t have any issues with speed. The 2009 championship will be tough again and we have seen him prove on track that he is happy to get in the middle of the pack and fight for the win.”
Laurens Klein Koerkamp (Racing Division Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe) “With Cal we are confident that we have another title challenger next to Fabien Foret for the 2009 season. At only 22yrs old he has a wealth of experience on both Superbikes and Supersport machines already. It is also really pleasing for us to see a rider from the R6 Cup stepping up to a world level competition on a Yamaha.”
Paul Carruthers | Editor
Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.
