The 2024 Superbike field: the hunt to catch Bautista is on

Twenty-three full time riders will compete in Superbike in 2024, five of whom are rookies and include Andrea Iannone, who returns to the track after a four-year suspension and will be keen to make an immediate impression. Alvaro Bautista and his Ducati remain the pairing to beat, but team changes for both Torpak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea shake up the playing field.

Many new line-ups in SBK

Following publication of the much discussed 2024 calendar, which features just twelve rounds and only one non-European event (Australia), Dorna now confirms the entry lists for next year’s WorldSBK championship. Starting with the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team, which of course retains world champion Alvaro Bautista who will be flanked by SSP world champion Nicolò Bulega. The Italian replaces Michael Ruben Rinaldi who moves to the Motocorsa Racing team. The Spark Barni Racing team keeps Danilo Petrucci, while team GoEleven hires Andrea Iannone to ride its Ducati. The Italian returns to racing after a four-year suspension and already showed promise during his first tests at Jerez, so will likely be a favourite for the title of rookie of the year.

The number of Ducatis on the grid rises from five to six, thanks to the arrival of the ELF Marc VDS Racing team with Sam Lowes, who switches to the production-derived series where he will compete against twin brother Alex, who will again ride the factory Ninja ZX-10RR. With Jonathan Rea having left Kawasaki, the team now looks to Axel Bassani who joins the experienced Alex Lowes as the Japanese manufacturer targets a return to the top. There will be just three ZX-10RR machines on the grid next season, with Tito Rabat competing with the Puccetti Racing Ninja.

Yamaha will field six bikes in WorldSBK in 2024. The Pata Prometeon Yamaha machines are entrusted to Andrea Locatelli and new arrival Jonathan Rea, who immediately stood out in testing and will undoubtedly be a title contender. The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK team confirms Dominique Aegerter and Remy Gardner aboard its YZF-R1 machines, while the GMT94 and Motoxracing teams will field, respectively, Philipp Oettl and Bradley Ray.

If there’s one team that needs a change of pace in 2024 it’s BMW, the German manufacturer having signed Toprak Razgatlioglu in an attempt to get the M1000RR competing at the sharp end of SBK. Toprak takes the place of Scott Redding, who moves to Bonovo Action BMW alongside the reconfirmed Garrett Gerloff, while the second factory BMW is entrusted to Michael Van der Mark. As for HRC, there is no change in terms of riders, with Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge set to ride the new Honda CBR1000RR-R, while the Petronas MIE Racing Honda team promotes Adam Norrodin and Tarran Mackenzie to its SBK ranks.

The complete entry list