Rizla Suzuki to race WSB

The Rizla Suzuki squad will race at the Assen round of the World Superbike championship with a wildcard entry for Jurgen Van Den Goorbergh.

The Dutch rider began the 2005 season riding in World Supersport, before replacing injured Makoto Tamada for two rounds of the MotoGP season, which saw him take sixth in Shanghai.

His World Superbike debut will use a GSX-R1000 normally used in the British Superbike championship by regular riders John Reynolds and James Haydon. In Britain the team uses Dunlop tyres, so Van Den Goorbergh hopes to test the machine on the Pirelli control tyres before the Dutch round on September 24. His aim would be to use the wildcard ride as a springboard for a full World Superbike ride in 2006.

And the team will be competing in the British Superbike round at Silverstone this weekend (August 20-21) with John Reynolds and James Haydon.

The entry is down to the efforts of Suzuki Netherlands and sponsors Rizla, who see Holland as a key market. There’s no indication whether this will see Rizla Suzuki compete full-time in the series.

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