Tamada Stays in WSBK, Signs with Pro Ride Honda

After being replaced by Tom Sykes and Chris Vermeulen in the Paul Bird Motorsport Kawasaki team, Makoto Tamada confirmed he will remain in the World Superbike Championship after signing a deal with Pro Ride Honda, newcomers to the series. The switch comes after two difficult seasons for the 33-year-old Japanese rider, who was unable to report any notable performances.

On the other hand, the Italian team, run by Marco Nicotari tried to take part in last year’s championship with Gregorio Lavilla, but didn’t make the season opener as it lost two main sponsors due to the economic crisis.

This year Pro Ride managed to sign an important agreement with Tokyo-based marketing company Speed of Japan, who has years of experience in racing and manages riders.

Besides managing Tamada, the company also manages Ryuichi Kiyonari and Yukio Kagayama (both who will be in British Superbikes this year) and under Achromatic Incorporated will help upgrade the team structure, image and logistics.

“We are very pleased that we have reached this agreement with Speed of Japan and Achromatic. We have been looking for a professional company that could care about our marketing and image and to get the cooperation with Speed of Japan and Achromatic gives us exactly what we need: “professionality and security”. Mr. Chen have been close to us during our bad moments and it is good for us to know that companies like these still believe in our work,” Marco Nicotari said in a release.