The championship has come to EICMA with rider participation throughout the event. Do you like this idea?

"Yes, as I've often said in the past, the fact that the fans and the general public can meet and have close contact with the riders forms part of the true spirit of bike racing. All this makes our sport different from all the others."

You've just come back from Germany, where you paid a visit to BMW headquarters. What was the aim of the visit?

"We began with a first meeting just to get to know the team and the working environment. At the moment it's too early to put together a schedule because I've only done one day's testing. We've got a busy schedule ahead of us at the end of November, let's hope the weather will lend us a hand. It'll be important to understand the good points of the bike and where we have to work on. We've got to work quickly to at least change the bike's characteristics, in order to avoid the problems that emerged in the 2011 season."

You've got a new team-mate next year in Leon Haslam. You think things will change much from the rapport you had in 2011 with Laverty?

"Leon is a very strong rider, second place with Suzuki in 2010 didn't come about by chance. Both are very fast, I like their mentality and character. With Haslam it'll be important to work for the common good and for the company in general. Then if we're out on the track fighting for a good result, may the best man win. I'll go my own way just like last year. At the moment we know we're going to have to play catch-up, so we have to collaborate with a well-defined programme."

What do you think of the winter test ban introduced this season?

"I don't think it's such a bad thing. A month and a half's break passes by quickly, and you're forced to stop and begin to take a look at the data accumulated in the tests. Without this break we would have continued to test and look for new solutions, running the risk of not finding a clear development path. I'll be going on a ten-day cruise in the Caribbean to switch off from everything, then I'll start to train again in December. For the moment however I can't wait to test the bike again."

Crescent Suzuki to get Yoshimura power

Crescent Suzuki will be teaming up with the Japanese Yoshimura tuning company brand as it enters its first year of World Superbike action. Yoshimura will build, supply and develop the engines for the Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 that will participate in the 2012 championship, as well as supplying race performance exhausts. The Yoshimura engineers have already spent some time at the Crescent race headquarters in Verwood and evaluated the development that the team have already made with the 2011 engine. The Japanese company will work alongside Crescent to develop the motors further and make them as competitive as possible in time for the start of the 2012 season. Crescent Suzuki SBK - powered by Yoshimura - will begin testing later this month with Leon Camier who was recently named as the first racer to join the team. His team-mate will be announced soon, as will further sponsorship and partner agreements. The 2012 World Superbike championship kicks off at Phillip Island in Australia in February.

Fujio Yoshimura (Owner, Yoshimura Japan): "We at Yoshimura greatly appreciate this collaboration and it will be our highest priority. Thanks to Paul (Denning) and Crescent Suzuki for trusting our engine tuning capabilities and our passion towards competing at the front of the 2012 WSBK Championship Series. We believe Crescent Suzuki has a record of structuring the best racing team in the BSB championship series, with very dedicated technical and supportive team members presenting the most competitive machinery and riders at all races. We hope that the partnership between Yoshimura and Crescent Suzuki will be the most perfectly matched racing team on the WSBK circuits!"

Paul Denning (Crescent Suzuki Team Principal): "When Fujio and Yohei came to see me at the Japanese Grand Prix to discuss this partnership, it was clear that their passion and enthusiasm to work with Crescent Suzuki on the global stage was genuine and something they felt strongly about. For us as a team it is a significant level of assistance and a substantial boost to our performance potential. The Yoshimura company was built on engineering the best possible performance from engines and exhaust systems, and that principle has never changed. It is also very pleasing that the whole attitude to the project is of open communication and using the best combination of Yoshimura's own concepts and ideas and those which already exist in the Crescent developed engine. Yoshimura is a global household name in the motorcycle industry and we are very proud that they have shown such trust in the Crescent Suzuki World Superbike team to partner us so closely, and for us to uphold their honour on the world stage."

Rea aiming for the title in 2012

Jonathan Rea was one of the stars of the World Superbike show in the second half of the 2011 championship after spending much of the summer recovering from his nasty crash at Misano Adriatico. The 24 year-old from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, is now getting ready for the long winter months that separate him from the start of the 2012 season with the knowledge that he will have a competitive package for next year and anxious to test the new 2012-spec CBR1000RR. At the moment Rea is currently involved in three days of testing at the Losail circuit in Qatar, together with his Castrol Honda team and his new team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama. WorldSBK.com caught up with him at the recent EICMA show in Milan, where he was signing autographs for his numerous Italian fans.

The 2011 season ended not so long ago and now you're getting ready to test before the winter break. What are the team plans?

"We test in Qatar Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, mainly because last year we were a bit unlucky with the tests. In Miller it was raining, in Portugal the official test was wet and in Aragón, the new circuit of last year, we tested there but it was too cold to ride. Last year the pre-season test was very bad. So we go to Qatar and we get a three day test which is very good. The point we need to improve the most is when the bike is on the edge of the tyre and on the Qatari track it is perfect to do so."

Will you ride the 2012 bike?

"To be honest I'm not 100% sure, there will be a lot of 2012 parts but I think it's going to be still the 2011 bike. I am not sure, though."

What are your plans for the coming winter?

"In December I go back to Australia with my fiancé, we have an apartment in Melbourne so it's good to go there for training and also for her to get to see all the family. During the racing season we travel a lot so it's definitely nice to go there for December and January."

What's your opinion on the one bike rule for next season?

"I don't know, but my new crew chief is coming from BSB and he's used to the one-bike rule so for sure he has some experience. For me it would be a problem only in qualifying, I think it will be surely hard work for the mechanics."

What are your goals for next season then?

"I want to be in the top-3 but surely my aim is to win the Championship. We have made a lot of improvements so hopefully we can get there."

You always get a warm welcome here in Italy. Without a shadow of a doubt you're one of the most well-loved non-Italian riders here....

"I don't know if I'm one of the favourites but for sure Italians are one of my favourites. You can see the difference between the English fans, they are very loyal, I have a lot of British fans, but when you come to Italy the passion of the fans is fully on a different level. On my Twitter page I've got so many Italian followers and after every race they message me and that makes a lot of difference".

Sykes aboard Kawasaki's ZX-10R again for 2012

Tom Sykes has signed to ride for the official Kawasaki Racing Team in 2012, joining existing rider Joan Lascorz. Sykes, who has been an official Kawasaki rider for the past two seasons and a key figure in the development of the current Ninja ZX-10R racebike, has already won a world championship race for Kawasaki, at the German WSBK round in early September.

The team's European logistical base will be in Spain but with overall control coming direct from Japan, as the Superbike World Championship programme is a full Kawasaki Heavy Industries project.

Tom Sykes: "I'm very happy to be continuing with Kawasaki and the Ninja ZX-10R in 2012. I believe the bike has good potential and we saw some of that come through in 2011 with a race win in Germany and superpole at Misano. These are the kind of results I am looking to achieve in the coming season on a regular basis and I really believe we can do this. I have a lot of confidence in Kawasaki and the team around me, so if we can improve a couple of points with the set-up of the bike on the track which I feel are restricting performance this would be a big step forward for us in the final results. I am looking forward to re-starting our test programme again very soon."

Guim Roda, Team Manager: "We are very happy to run with Tom in 2012. Kawasaki always tries to keep the people it has in place and Tom has been making a good job in the last two years with Kawasaki. He has the potential to go fast, as he has shown in 2011, and now we have to repeat that for full race distance at each round. He is young and determined, which are good combinations for a fast rider. I'm sure working closer with Marcel, his new crew chief, and taking part in all the tests we have planned means he will take one step more and he will be able to fight for the podium places at every race. Let's see what he can show us all next year."