The World Superbike season is a little over a month away and the grid is finally set. The FIM announced today that the World Superbike series will 24 riders on the grid. The World Supersport series will be slightly larger with 32 riders.
Max Biaggi will be returning with the Aprilia Racing Team in an attempt to take the title back from Carlos Checa. Biaggi will have Eugene Laverty in his corner this year as both riders will be racing the RSV4 1000 F.
Checa will be aiming to defend his title in 2012. The Althea Racing team will also see Davide Giugliano compte on the Ducati 1098R.
The Effenbert Liberty Racing team will put two more Ducatis on the grid. A total of 7 Ducatis will be racing in the 2012 World Superbike series.
BMW will also have a strong presence with 5 riders.
John Hopkins will be the sole American on the World Superbike grid, while PJ Jacobsen and Joshua Day will represent the USA in the World Supersport Championship.
Here's the provisional World Superbike 2012 grid.
- Max Biaggi - ITA - Aprilia RSV4 1000 F - Aprilia Racing Team
- Eugene Laverty - IRL - Aprilia RSV4 1000 F - Aprilia Racing Team
- Chaz Davies - GBR - Aprilia RSV4 1000 F - ParkinGO Aprilia Racing Team
- Carlos Checa - ESP - Ducati 1098R - Althea Racing
- Davide Giugliano - ITA - Ducati 1098R - Althea Racing
- Sylvain Guintoli - FRA - Ducati 1098R - Team Effenbert Liberty Racing
- Jakub Smrz - CZE - Ducati 1098R - Team Effenbert Liberty Racing
- Lorenzo Zanetti - ITA - Ducati 1098R - PATA Racing Team
- Maxime Berger - FRA - Ducati 1098R - Liberty Racing - Team Effenbert
- Niccolò Canepa - ITA - Ducati 1098R - Team Ducati Roma
- Mark Aitchison - AUS - BMW S1000 RR - Grillini Progea Superbike Team
- Marco Melandri - ITA - BMW S1000 RR - BMW Motorrad Motorsport
- Leon Haslam - GBR - BMW S1000 RR - BMW Motorrad Motorsport
- Michel Fabrizio - ITA - BMW S1000 RR - BMW Motorrad Italia GOLDBET SBK Team
- Ayrton Badovini - ITA - BMW S1000 RR - BMW Motorrad Italia GOLDBET SBK Team
- Hiroshi Aoyama - JPN - Honda CBR1000RR - Honda World Superbike Team
- Jonathan Rea - GBR - Honda CBR1000RR - Honda World Superbike Team
- Raffaele De Rosa - ITA - Honda CBR1000RR - Pro Ride Motorsports
- Joan Lascorz - ESP - Kawasaki ZX-10R - Kawasaki Racing Team
- Tom Sykes - GBR - Kawasaki ZX-10R - Kawasaki Racing Team
- Leandro Mercado - ARG - Kawasaki ZX-10R - Team Pedercini
- David Salom - ESP - Kawasaki ZX-10R - Team Pedercini
- John Hopkins - USA - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - Crescent Suzuki
- Leon Camier - GBR - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - Crescent Suzuki
Here's the provisional World Supersport grid.
- Broc Parkes - AUS - Honda CBR600RR - Ten Kate Honda
- Patrick Jacobsen - USA - Honda CBR600RR - PTR Honda
- Ronan Quarmby - RSA - Honda CBR600RR - PTR Honda
- Sheridan Morais - RSA - Kawasaki ZX-6R - Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini
- Kenan Sofuoglu - TUR - Kawasaki ZX-6R - Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini
- Sam Lowes - GBR - Honda CBR600RR - Bogdanka PTR Honda
- Mathew Scholtz - RSA - Honda CBR600RR - Bogdanka PTR Honda
- Massimo Roccoli - ITA - Yamaha YZF R6 - Bike Service by WTR TEN 10
- Romain Lanusse - FRA - Kawasaki ZX-6R - Kawasaki Intermoto Step
- Fabien Foret - FRA - Kawasaki ZX-6R - Kawasaki Intermoto Step
- Imre Toth - HUN - Honda CBR600RR - Racing Team Toth
- Balazs Nemeth - HUN - Honda CBR600RR - Racing Team Toth
- Vittorio Iannuzzo - ITA - Triumph Daytona 675 - Suriano Racing Team
- Ondrej Jezek - CZE - Honda CBR600RR - SMS Racing
- Thomas Caiani - SUI - Honda CBR600RR - KUJA Racing
- Eduard Blokhin - RUS - Yamaha YZF R6 - RivaMoto
- Oleg Pozdneev - RUS - Yamaha YZF R6 - RivaMoto
- Pawel Szkopek - POL - Honda CBR600RR - Bogdanka Racing
- Robert Muresan - ROU - Honda CBR600RR - East European Racing
- Janos Chrobak - HUN - Honda CBR600RR - East European Racing
- Lucas Pesek - CZE - Honda CBR600RR - PRORACE
- Martin Jessopp - GBR - Honda CBR600RR - Riders PTR Honda
- Thomas Berghammer - AUT - Honda CBR600RR - Team Berghammer
- Joshua Day - USA - Kawasaki ZX-6R - Team GOELEVEN
- Andrea Antonelli - ITA - Honda CBR600RR - Team Lorini
- Roberto Tamburini - ITA - Honda CBR600RR - Team Lorini
- Yves Polzer - AUT - Yamaha YZF R6 - Team MRC Austria
- Dino Lombardi - ITA - Yamaha YZF R6 - Team PATA by Martini
- Jed Metcher - AUS - Yamaha YZF R6 - Team RivaMoto
- Giacomo Micheli - ITA - Yamaha YZF R6 - VFT Racing
- Fabio Menghi - ITA - Yamaha YZF R6 - VFT Racing
- Vladimir Leonov - RUS - Yamaha YZF R6 - Yakhnich Motorsport
The World Superbike series starts on February 26th at Phillip Island.
