James Haydon aproaches final decision

James Haydon was in Geneva at the weekend – looking at a race-spec R1 similar to the one Yamaha boss Rob McElnea wants him to ride in next season’s British Superbike championship.

He visited Yamaha’s factory with Virgin team boss Rob McElnea, who is hoping that his number one rider saw enough to make him stay at Yamaha.

McElnea said: ” The prototype we saw was nothing like a finished bike but the whole point of the trip was to give James confidence in our plans for next year and things are looking positive. ”

The 26-year-old isn’t short of offers for next season. He has been approached by Suzuki and the new Renegade Ducati team, and has also been in discussion with Kenny Roberts about riding a Proton in GP1, but his desire to be on a potential championship-winning machine is likely to mean that he stays in the UK. He said: ” I want to prove myself in Britain before I move to the next level. ”

His final decision is set to spark a flurry of activity on the transfer front. If he goes, Yamaha has Michael Rutter or Steve Plater lined up. If he stays, Suzuki will look to John Crawford and Shane Byrne.

Haydon should know where he is going by Thursday, when he’ll be joining us for a live webchat at 1pm. He’ll be in the VIP Lounge in theTalk Bikes section of the site, but if you can’t join him, then email your questions to daniel.thornton@emap.com by 11am on Thursday.