The video below shows Marco Melandri putting the Yamaha R1 through its paces, and also includes an interview with Melandri who gives his thoughts on his switch to WSBK after his first day of testing.

Cal Crutchlow reflects on the expectation that came with trying to follow Ben Spies in the WSBK series, and looks back on his races throughout the season.

Highlights from both Imola WSBK races below:

WSBK Race 1 Highlights:

WSBK Race 2 Highlights:

Marco Melandri has confirmed that he will join the WSBK series and race for Yamaha, taking the seat that Cal Crutchlow will vacate when he moves up to the Tech 3 MotoGP team next year.

On his decision to leave Gresini Honda and move to Yamaha, Melandri said:
“It was a difficult decision because this is the best team I have worked with in my career. But I felt that I needed a new challenge and the genuine opportunity to be back fighting for wins and podiums led me to make this choice.”

Fausto Gresini – Team Owner
“I would like to thank Marco for this season on behalf of myself, our sponsors and everybody who works with the team. I’m glad that we were able to spend another season together because we are great friends and I hope that we can achieve the results that have eluded us so far in what remains of the Championship. I encourage him to take on his next challenge with great determination and I am sure he can be as successful there as he was with us in 2005, 2006 and 2007.”

Marco Melandri
“It was a difficult decision because this is the best team I have worked with in my career. But I felt that I needed a new challenge and the genuine opportunity to be back fighting for wins and podiums led me to make this choice. It will be a big change for me but I would like to thank Fausto and everybody else at Team San Carlo Honda Gresini for the opportunity they gave me this season. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked out as we hoped but there are still plenty of races left this season and we will be doing our best. I want to give my heartfelt thanks to the team because they have given 100% to the job and always believed in me – the guys at the track, back at home, in the hospitality and obviously the sponsors who always back us up. They have all helped me grow and taught me a lot of things. I have learnt a lot about the important values of this sport and above all of life. I am sure we will stay close friends and maybe one day with my new business venture I can come back to sponsor them!”

This video gives you the low-down on all the riders (including recent additions from the MotoGP paddock Chris Vermeulen and James Toseland), all the teams and all the circuits that will feature in 2010.

As an extra bonus, this video also features a race by race review of the 2009 season that saw Ben Spies victorious in the series.

It’s well worth keeping an eye on the World Superbike youtube channel – all throughout 2009 they produced excellent 30 minute ‘magazine’ style video reviews of each race.

James Toseland speake to MCN about his return to World Superbikes at the 2 day test at Portimao.

Toseland said:
“It’s been a busy old day. I was jet-lagging a bit before lunchtime but had a good meal, and a bit of a rest at lunchtime and got to grips with the track a bit. It’s probably one of the worst tracks you could try and learn on a brand new bike! In the first ten laps I could have done with a motocross bike. It’s really enjoyable to ride once you get to know where you are on the track, with the blind corners that’s all. Once you know where you are it’s not too bad. The places where you need to know where you are going it’s fast, so to be safe around here and fast you need to know which position you need to be in on the track.”

Video Interview with James Toseland:

Spies will be moving to MotoGP in 2010, joining Colin Edwards at Tech 3 Yamaha. Spies will also be racing as a wildcard rider at the final round of the 2009 MotoGP season at Valencia. The video interview below captures Ben Spies after his victory and he talks about how it feels to be World Champion.

Ben Spies on winning WSBK 2009 Championship:
“ I’ve got to thank Yamaha for giving me the bike I need to win. We had a really good first race, in the second we did what we had to do to win. It was quite difficult to keep it in check as the pace was pretty fast, I saw I had a couple of people behind me and I knew that if Nori won I had to be in sixth and that’s where I was so I tried to get a bit of a gap on them and stay out of trouble. Max came through the inside of me and ran off a couple of times which really freaked me out so I went to get past him and then settled in for some nice fast laps to the end. It’s been a spectacular day and I can’t thank those people enough that have been behind me. It’s been incredible to do it for Yamaha, and especially in my first year here. I don’t think I really realize what’s happening right now but I’m sure it’s going to hit me in a couple of days!”

Chris Vermeulen said:
“This WSB program is where all their engineers and budget will be focused. They haven’t won in WSB for a long time and they really want to win races. The financial backing and resources is very good for this project.”

Video of World Superbikes crash at Nurburgring: