Hislop sacked as Yamaha attempt to reduce costs

Steve Hislop, the British Superbike champion, has been sacked for the second time since he won the title.

The Scotsman was not offered a new contract at MonsterMob-Ducati after winning the championship last season and now he has been dismissed by Virgin-Yamaha, who are attempting to cut costs. Hislop has had a difficult season and matters came to a head last weekend when he finished 10th and 11th in the two races as he slipped to eighth in the riders' championship, 203 points behind Shane Byrne.

Hislop has suffered set-up problems on the Yamaha, which has been consistently outpaced by rival Suzuki and Ducati machines. "I've been struggling to get the bike set up all year and the results I wanted were not coming."

Hislop could be replaced by Sean Emmett, who recently left Renegade Ducati, while the current World Superbike rider James Haydon is also believed to be in the frame.