HASLAM TO BMW TEAM

BRITISH rider Leon Haslam, who laid claim to this year's HANNspree Superbike World Championship for half the season, will ride the S1000RR BMW alongside Aussie Troy Corser in 2011.

Haslam has struggled with lack of good technical support from Suzuki in the second half of this year's Superbike Championship and when Alstare Suzuki team manager Francis Batta told him he still had no assurances from the Japanese factory, the Brit asked to be released from the second year of his contract.

There have been doubts over the future of the team for some time - Suzuki apparently unwilling to continue to back the team at their current level.

After a recent meeting in Japan, Alstare team boss Francis Batta came away with more questions than answers.

"Even though I didn't receive any concrete guarantees, I am still encouraged that Suzuki showed some attachment to the team," he told Italian reporter Claudio Porrozzi from the website GPone.com.

Suzuki is likely to have the budget to run just a single rider next season, though the level of support available from Hamamatsu is uncertain.

An announcement on teh team structure, and who the rider will be, is expected soon.