Jules Cluzel has signed to race with the FIXI Crescent Suzuki squad in World Superbikes for 2013. The deal, announced two days' ago, sees the young Frenchman move up from the World Supersport class in which he made an impressive debut in 2012. Cluzel had switched to the WSBK paddock after losing his ride in Moto2, despite a similarly impressive year with the NGM Forward team in 2011.
Cluzel takes the place of another Frenchman, Sylvain Guintoli having backed out of a deal he had already agreed to to ride with the team. Guintoli now looks likely to race for a semi-factory Ducati team to be run by Francis Batta. After Althea announced they were breaking their ties with Ducati earlier this week, Ducati has been in talks to put a structure in place to allow them to contest the 2013 World Superbike season. According to GPOne.com, those talks could be concluded as early as Thursday, with former Alstare Suzuki - and before that, Alstare Ducati - boss Francis Batta once again taking over the reins and running the team. Batta has been in talks with Guintoli about joining a team, and is very positive about the Frenchman, praising his talent, his experience with the Ducati and his language skills.
Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh Lucien Bianchi Gino Bianco
