Superbike World Championship Riders
Riitta Palazzo
The 2023 Superbike World Championship was the 36th season of the Superbike World Championship. The championship was won by lvaro Bautista, who came into the season as the defending world champion. Axel Bassani won the Independent riders' championship
BMW in the pinnacle of production-based motorcycle racing: in 2019, BMW Motorrad Motorsport returned to the FIM Superbike World Championship with a factory involvement. The goal is clear: to reach the top in this closely fought world championship and to fight for the title. In the 2024 season, the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team are competing in WorldSBK with the BMW M 1000 RR.
The ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team is a collaboration between BMW Motorrad Motorsport and British Shaun Muir Racing and has been competing as BMW factory team in WorldSBK since 2019. As BMW Motorrad Motorsport, the squad around Team Principal Shaun Muir has a wealth of experience in racing and in the FIM Superbike World Championship. Michael van der Mark and new addition Toprak Razgatlioglu form the rider line-up in 2024.
Toprak Razgatlioglu is the new addition to the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK factory rider family for the 2024 season. The Turkish fan favourite has been one of the most successful WorldSBK riders in recent years. He entered the series in 2018 and clinched the World Championship title in 2021. In both 2022 and 2023, Razgatlioglu secured the second position in the overall World Championship standings.
Michael van der Mark joined BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team in the 2021 season. The Dutchman is extremely popular in his native Netherlands and beyond. Van der Mark has been racing in the Superbike World Championship since 2015. In the 2021 season, he claimed the first victory for the BMW M 1000 RR and added two more podium finishes to that. After missing several race weekends due to injury in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he is now ready to fight at the top again in 2024.
The Bonovo action BMW Racing Team is contesting its fourth WorldSBK season together with BMW Motorrad Motorsport in 2024. The German factory team is led by team owner Jrgen Rder and team manager Michael Galinski. Former BMW factory rider Eugene Laverty is also a part of the team management. In the 2024 season, Garrett Gerloff, who secured the team's first pole position in 2023, is once again competing with the squad. His new teammate is Scott Redding, who, after two years with the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, is now racing for the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team.
Scott Redding enters his third season as a BMW Motorrad factory rider in 2024 and is now racing for the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team. The British rider has been active in various world championship classes since 2008, including a five-year stint in MotoGP. In 2019, he competed in the British Superbike Championship (BSB) for a season and secured the title. Since 2020, he has been successfully participating in the FIM Superbike World Championship. As a BMW factory rider, he has already achieved several podium finishes for the BMW M 1000 RR.
Stagnation is regression, and so BMW Motorrad Motorsport continuously evolves the BMW M 1000 RR. For the 2024 WorldSBK season, there have once again been comprehensive updates in various areas, in accordance with the possibilities and requirements of the regulations. The new BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Test Team, which commenced its work last year, also contributes significantly to this development.
Through further development of the fairing, the aerodynamic efficiency has been further improved. The powerful WorldSBK engine has been enhanced for 2024 in terms of rideability and peak performance and adapted to the homologated fuel for the new 2024 season. The overall mass center and rider ergonomics have also been optimized, along with the weight of various performance components. A newly developed swingarm contributes to the improvement of grip and tyre durability. Additionally, the software and corresponding application have been further developed.
BMW Motorrad Motorsport collaborates with strong technical partners in the WorldSBK. Starting from the 2024 season, Outdo Battery is the new battery partner. The exhaust system, tailored to the extremely high demands of the Superbike World Championship, is developed in collaboration with the Slovenian experts from Akrapovič. The high-strength aluminium forged wheels of the bike are custom-made by partner Fuchsfelge PVM. All oils and lubricants for the BMW M 1000 RR come from the partner Ravenol. Starting from the 2024 season, 40% of the fuels in WorldSBK must consist of non-fossil components. In this area, BMW Motorrad Motorsport closely collaborates with Nordoel, a company with proven expertise in the use of alternative fuels in racing.
The big change at Ducati has come in the form of the second seat as Nicolo Bulega has been signed to replace Michael Ruben Rinaldi Rinaldi, who will go to Motorcorsa. Elsewhere, Andrea Iannone is officialy back in world championship racing after joining GoEleven.
With Toprak Razgatlioglu leaving the Japanese manufactuer to join BMW, signing a star rider in place of the Turk was their main objective, which they have since done. Andrea Locatelli was signed to a two-year deal shortly after the Razgatlioglu, but Yamaha have since found an even bigger name after completing the signing of Jonathan Rea from Kawasaki.
At its most basic, MotoGP is the premier motorcycle championship in the world. Though MotoGP hosts grand prix across the globe, Circuit of The Americas (COTA) hosts the only race in the United States, called the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas or the Americas GP.
Each team has two riders. Just last year, there were 12 teams on the grid; however, Suzuki decided to pull out of the series before this season. Teams are split between factory teams (the actual bike manufacturers) and independent teams, AKA satellite teams of the factories. For example, Repsol Honda is a factory team while LCR Honda is an independent team. This means LCR leases their bike from Repsol but are not managed nor funded by it.
Each race comes with the risk of crashing at the highest speeds in any motorsport on the most vulnerable vehicle. Airbags are actually built into the interior of the suits, set to deploy in case the rider goes sliding across the pavement or flying over their handles. The airbags inflate between 4 and 5 centimeters or 1.5 to 1.9 inches and offer the only cushioning riders will get against the track surface, gravel traps, or asphalt run-offs.
Beyond the quality of materials, the engines and transmissions are supercharged and specialized to be the most powerful, efficient machines on two wheels. On-board, riders and teams also make use of an intense internal computer built to catalogue the most minute changes instead of offering aids found in a street-legal bike like stability control, anti-lock braking systems, or electronic suspension. This just means riders truly must be masters of the machine to safely and successfully race.
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In 2019, Honda participated in a joint project with Moriwaki and Althea, entering the WorldSBK championship with an HRC-supported outfit, the Moriwaki Althea Honda Team, which fielded Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari on CBR1000RR SP2 machines. The season proved quite challenging but was at the same time fruitful with a view to 2020 activities.
HRC signed 2019 WorldSBK runner-up Alvaro Bautista, and Leon Haslam, two highly competitive and very experienced riders, to race its CBR1000RR-R SP FIREBLADE, a brand-new, very powerful machine, created with a clear focus on track performance.
With riders Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam both confirmed for the 2021 season and the team further strengthened with the arrival of former rider Leon Camier as Team Manager, Honda worked hard to putting the experience gained in 2020 to good use in the next season. Two podiums and a series of races fighting for the top positions have shown progress in terms of results and performance for Team HRC in 2021 but not yet at the level Honda expect and aim to achieve.
On October 26th 2021 Honda announced that it had reached an agreement with Spanish riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge to compete on its official World Superbike Team in 2022 aboard the factory Honda CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE.
Lecuona was born in Valencia (Spain) on 6 January 2000 and made his debut in the Moto2 World Championship in 2016. In 2021 completed his second year in MotoGP before switching to the WorldSBK Championship. Xavi Vierge was born in Barcelona (Spain) on 30 April 1997 and concluded his sixth season in the Moto 2 World Championship before switching as well to the WorldSBK Championship in 2022.
Having been the standard-bearers for Honda in the Superbike World Championship in 2022 and 2023, with both making an impression on and off the track for their talent, speed, and positive attitude, Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge have been reconfirmed by Team HRC for the next two years (2024-2025)
History repeats itself: Francesco Bagnaia is the 2023 MotoGP World Champion. Thanks to a win in the Valencia GP season finale, held this afternoon at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider secured his second world title in the premier class. Having made history for being the first Italian rider to win in MotoGP with an Italian motorcycle last year, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider has now written another important chapter in motorcycle racing history by reconfirming himself on the top of the world with his Desmosedici GP.
For the Bagnaia-Ducati duo it has been another emotional journey with 7 successes achieved in the 20 GPs and 4 victories in the Saturday Sprint races, introduced this year in the event program. From his first win in the inaugural Grand Prix at Portimo, to an unforgettable success in Jerez, to triumph in front of his home crowd at Mugello, up to his great wins in the Netherlands and Austria,
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