The first-ever FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Champion, Ana Carrasco, will move to World Supersport for 2025 in a brand-new Honda effort. Honda France are the team that will move into WorldSSP, with Carrasco and ex-WorldSSP full-timer Corentin Perolari, who returns to the class. Double World Champion Carrasco will be part of the Supersport Challenge category, which takes places at the European rounds only.

Carrasco enjoyed a magnificent year of racing in WorldWCR, taking four wins and finishing every race, becomint World Champion in a dramatic final round showdown with arch-rival Maria Herrera. This latest accolade for one of the pioneers for women in modern motorcycle racing and indeed the wider motorsport and sporting industry, coupled with her 2018 WorldSSP300 title, makes her a big name to keep an eye for 2025’s WorldSSP grid. As well as this, all of her prior experience in Moto3™ will serve her in good stead to adapt to the CBR600RR.

Ready for a first season of WorldSSP action, Carrasco is excited for the challenge: “I am very happy to join Honda in this new project. Honda is the biggest motorcycle factory in the world and is an honour for me to race with these colours. I want to learn as fast as possible during the season and fight for good results. I looking forward to work with the team and to ride the bike for the first time. I want to thank HRC, Honda Europe and Honda France for trusting on me and give me this opportunity. I will give my best to achieve our goals during this season.”

Alongside her will be Corentin Perolari, who has had a career ranging from Red Bull Rookies to the Endurance World championship. The 26-year-old impressed many in 2019 and was a constant top six finisher in the second half of his maiden WorldSSP campaign, taking a best of fourth from pole position in Argentina. 2020 saw him bag a podium however in the first race of the season in Australia, before a solid top ten season concluded with him P10 in the standings. His most recent endeavour in the class came at Magny-Cours in 2024 for Honda France with a fine P7 in Race 2.

Speaking about his WorldSSP return, Corentin Perolari said: “I’m delighted to be in the World Supersport Championship, especially representing the Honda brand, which I’m very fond of. The whole team can count on me to give my best in every race. The initial tests will allow us to take our marks with the team. After that, the aim is to perform as we did during the wildcard at Magny-Cours last September, but over a full season. Consistently being in the Top 10 would be fantastic.”

Bruno Skotnicki, in charge of competition for Honda France, said: “Honda is setting up a programme over several years. As we announced last September, the aim of this wildcard was to score points and make an impression. Run by Honda’s racing department, HRC, the aim is to represent Honda at the highest level in this category. Honda wants to improve the bike, the riders and the staff. As for the Magny-Cours round, our aim will be to provide the best possible equipment so that the riders can regularly finish in the Top 10.”

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An outstandings 37th season of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, one of the greatest sporting stories ever seen on many front. Whether it was Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) crazy achievements and title with BMW, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) being a title contender in his rookie year, Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) winning after four years away and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) back to the top step after a life-threatening accident off-track. There were some negatives for some riders and teams too but we’ll take a look at all of the topics.

TOPRAK IRREPRESSIBLE: 18 wins, 13 in a row and BMW’s first title – but he is human

Few could have imagined that when Toprak signed for BMW – the ailing German manufacturer, without a dry race win in WorldSBK since 2013 and no podium at all in 2023 – that he’d go on to dominate the Championship. On the podium in just his second race and winning in dramatic fashion in his fourth, Toprak went on to win everything from Assen’s Race 2 in April until Portimao’s Race 2 in August. He was hurtling towards success before a huge crash at Magny-Cours in FP2 ruled him out of two rounds, the highs of the previous rounds now a distant memory. He may have been an alien in the first seven rounds but even Toprak – who crashed twice all season – makes mistakes. In the end, it didn’t matter too much as he was able to wrap the title up at Jerez on Saturday but it was proof that the #54 can’t always walk on water. Looking to next year, he has to be the favourite and in a second season with BMW, who’d bet against him starting strong in Australia? Yet to turn a wheel with the new BMW in testing, we’ll have to wait until 2025 to get our first look at the #1 on the front of a BMW for the first time in World Superbike.

ROOKIES CAN RULE THE ROOST: Bulega and Iannone impress in 2024

Nicolo Bulega became the first rider to win back-to-back races in WorldSSP and WorldSBK, bursting onto the top step of the podium in Phillip Island’s curtain-raiser. On the podium some 24 times in the whole season, Bulega was absolutely remarkable and to win the closest race finish of all-time is another feather for the hat. He took the title race to the last round and only crashed out of one race. The future is incredibly – and perhaps for the rest of the paddock, scarily – bright for the #11. At the other end of the spectrum and returning to World Championship racing, Andrea Iannone gave us all a smile and perhaps even a tear as, in his comeback ride in Australia, he grabbed the first holeshot of the season and podiumed with P3. Close to winning in Barcelona’s Superpole Race and on the podium at all-new tracks to him such as Most and Cremona, it was Aragon where he became the eighth different winner of the year. ‘The Maniac’ will make sure his second season is another one to remember.

STRUGGSVILLE: Bautista’s weight drama, Rea’s blue 2024 and more

With the combined minimum weight coming into force for the year as well as a nagging pre-season injury, Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) two previous titles were always going to be more of a challenge to replicate. He won in Barcelona and Assen but then, a 161-day wait until Aragon’s Sunday double. All of those, his only wins of 2024 and finishing P3 overall in the standings – behind rookie teammate Bulega – mean it was a rather sour year. Superpole was his big problem, with just one front row all year. However, from Most onwards, the feeling did seem to comeback for Bautista – although he crashed more than anyone else at the final round at Jerez and in the season overall with 17. 

Elsewhere, a second member of the now defunct ‘titanic trio’ struggled in new colours: Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha). Nobody could have imagined that after Yamaha’s past success, he’d have just a single podium in the Superpole Race at Donington Park. 13th in the standings and third Yamaha, there’ll be one big change for 2025 and that is that Uri Paralles – long-time mechanic from KRT, who moved with Rea to Yamaha in 2024 – will replace Andrew Pitt as crew chief. Elsewhere, it wasn’t the season Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had hoped for, rookie Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) struggled to adapt to the Pirelli tyre characteristics and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Motocorsa Racing Team), quite frankly, had a horror show in comparison to his race-winning 2023 campaign. 

COMEBACK STORIES: 2024 jerked the tears and saw some of most emotional tales

Besides Andrea Iannone’s return to winning and Rea’s highlight of a podium amid choppy waters, there were plenty of other returns to form. Danilo Petrucci started strong but a life-threatening motocross crash left his year – and racing future – in doubt. A phenomenal return at Misano saw him come home in P6 before a first podium back since injury at Most. But it’d be Cremona where ‘Petrux’ didn’t just take his first WorldSBK win, adding to MotoGP™, MotoAmerica, Stock 600, Stock 1000 and even the Dakar Rally, but in fact wiped the floor with the opposition with a triple, just the fourth rider to do it. WorldSBK’s festival-like atmosphere was insane in our first visit to Cremona. 

Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) doubted his own abilities at times before knocking on the door of a podium in the second half of 2024 and was finally rewarded with P3 at Estoril – making it five manufacturers on the box in 2024. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) took a first win in three years at Magny-Cours and saved BMW’s weekend and then, achieved his target of standing on the podium with teammate Toprak at Jerez. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) hadn’t won since 2020 but doubled up at Phillip Island with new crew chief Pere Riba and Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) achieved his first WorldSBK podium – Australia’s first in over 13 years.

EARLY LEARNING CENTRE: what can we take into 2025 after testing?

The big change is that KRT become Bimota and the Italian chassis designers have come up with a split-chassis design – the only brand on the grid with that. BMW have a new homologation with different aero and Yamaha’s new homologation for next year has already undergone extensive track time and testing. Honda and Ducati have no new bike but in the case of the Japanese, we’ve already seen Xavi Vierge’s new crew chief working with him – his previous one, Gorka Segura, moves to work with Sam Lowes. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) has been fast already and we’re yet to see how Scott Redding goes aboard the Bonovo Action MGM Ducati.Keep an eye on Tito Rabat (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and rookie teammate Bahattin Sofuoglu as well as Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing Team).

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While racing in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock is on a hiatus after a thrilling campaign, some riders from the several Championships inside the paddock have found time for one more racing weekend: the inaugural FIM Intercontinental Games. The event takes place this weekend at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, a venue familiar to the riders competing as it hosted the 2024 season finale.

WHAT IS THE INTERCONTINENTAL GAMES? A new event for the FIM’s Continental Unions

Announced earlier this year, the ICG will feature six continental unions (FIM Africa, FIM Asia, FIM Europe, FIM Latin America, FIM North America and FIM Oceania) going up against each other to be crowned the winners across two categories – Supersport, using the Yamaha R7 machine, and Supersport 300, using the Yamaha R3 bike. In total, 48 riders from all around the world will compete with 24 riders in each class, including some high-profile names from within the WorldSBK paddock. Each team is required to have two female riders, while most riders must also be considered a ‘rising talent’ and not competing at World Championship level in 2024; there’s an exception for riders who are considered ‘specialised riders’.

TAKING PART FROM WorldWCR: six riders from the first season

Roberta Ponziani takes on the Supersport category from WorldWCR for FIM Europe on the Yamaha R7 machine, a bike she’s very familiar with after a stellar campaign. She’s joined by Nicole Van Aswegen, who didn’t race at the season finale at Jerez due to an injury sustained at Portimao, with Van Aswegen representing FIM Africa. For FIM North America, Mallory Dobbs will compete while Isis Carreno and Astrid Madrigal will fight for FIM Latin America and Tayla Relph will race for FIM Oceania.

MAHENDRA LEADS WorldSSP300 CONTINGENT: 2024 Champion competing in WorldSSP300

Aldi Mahendra, fresh from his 2024 WorldSSP300 title success, will line up on the R3 machine for Team Asia and takes the role of Team Captain for the federation. In the FIM Europe team, there are several riders from WorldSSP300 taking part. Gonzalo Sanchez and occasional wildcard Tomas Alonso will also be on the Yamaha R3, while Elia Bartolini will race in the Supersport category. Humberto Maier, like Bartolini, competed in WorldSSP300 this season but will race on the Yamaha R7 at Jerez; as will Kevin Fontainha.

FROM WORLD SUPERSPORT: a handful of riders to race

From the WorldSSP field in 2024, Soichiro Minamimoto did four races this year and he’ll race in the ICG for FIM Asia, racing alongside Apiwath Wongthananon who raced in the Championship in 2023. For FIM Europe, Enzo De La Vega took part in a wildcard this season and he’ll race on the Yamaha R7 bike. Some-time WorldSSP racer Tom Toparis will also race, competing for FIM Oceania in the Supersport category.

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There was some thrilling racing in both the FIM Supersport World Championship and FIM Supersport 300 World Championship throughout 2024 and they also produced some interesting stats and facts from both campaigns. We’ve gathered some of the best in one place to review the WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 season after an unforgettable year of action.

WorldSSP: a new record for race leaders, Yamaha and Ducati reach podium milestones

400/100 – Manzi’s second place in Race 1 at Aragon was Yamaha’s 400^th podium, while Huertas’ third place in Race 1 at Jerez was Ducati’s 100^th podium. They ended the season on 408 and 101 rostrums respectively

160/151 ­– De Rosa became the rider with the most WorldSSP races in 2024. He equalled Fabien Foret’s 151 in Race 1 at Magny-Cours, surpassing him in Race 2. He has 160 races under his belt in total

19/18 – Despite finishing second in the Championship, Manzi recorded more podiums (19) than title winner Huertas (18). Only Bulega in 2023 recorded more podiums (21) than Manzi. However, Huertas claimed 10 wins to Manzi’s five

15 – There were 15 different race leaders in 2024: Montella, Huertas, Manzi, Debise, Tuuli, Edwards, Power, Baldassarri, van Straalen, Schroetter, Navarro, Sofuoglu, Mahias, Toba and Oncu. This is an all-time record for the Championship

10/10 – Huertas and Manzi both have 10 wins in WorldSSP, putting them joint tenth on the all-time winners list

3 – Three riders scored 10 or more podiums in 2024 (Manzi – 19, Huertas – 18, Montella – 14), the first time this has happened

2/1 – 2024 was the first season where two Dutch riders recorded podiums. Van Straalen took two this season, while Bendsneyder claimed one rostrum despite only competing in four races

WorldSSP300: a century of rostrums for Yamaha, Kawasaki’s 60^th victory and more

100/183 – Salvador’s Race 1 victory at Jerez put Yamaha on 100 WorldSSP300 podiums. Kawasaki lead the way with 183

100 – Spain’s 100^th WorldSSP300 podium came courtesy of Julio Garcia with third at Portimao in Race 2, Spain totals 109 podiums in total

60 – Iglesias’ victory in Race 1 at Misano was Kawasaki’s 60^th in the Championship, more than double of the next-closest manufacturer: Yamaha (28)

13 – Buis extended his margin at the top of the all-time winners list with two more victories, taking him to 13

13 – 13 riders finished within a second of the winner at Aragon (0.985s), the most in WorldSSP300 history. It beat the previous record of 12 held by Barcelona, also set this year

1 – Mahendra became Indonesia’s first World Champion by claiming the 2024 title

1 – Julio Garcia claimed Kove’s first WorldSSP300 victory, meaning all five manufacturers that have competed in WorldSSP300 have won a race

0.003 – Just 0.003s separated Salvador and Julio Garcia at the end of Race 1 at Jerez, the second-closest victory margin in WorldSSP300 history. Four of the top ten closest finishes occurred in 2024. Jerez Race 1 (0.003s), Aragon Race 2 (0.006s), Misano Race 1 (0.007s) and Most Race 2 (0.009s).

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2024’s racing season may be officially done but there were still a couple of tests to participate in; closing out testing for the year was Jerez and we got our first glance at American rider Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in green. He tested at Jerez in the post-season test but was in the usual black livery. However, the #31 was slapped onto last year’s official Kawasaki livery. 

Setting a time of 1’38.839, it was just a tenth off what he was able to manage in the round weekend – on a bike that he spent two years on prior – and faster than what Axel Bassani had managed too. He set 72 laps on the first day and 78 laps on the second, making for a total of 150 across the two days. With four days of testing banked, the Texan is building up a good knowledge base aboard the ZX-10RR, with positivity in abundance although Q tyre pace still needs work.

GERLOFF GOES GREEN: “I’m trying to work on my Superpole pace”

“The test was good and I think it was positive,” began Gerloff, speaking for the first time since switching to Kawasaki. “I think we made one step compared to the last time we were here, so that feels good. We are still looking for more but I am pretty happy with how it went here. I used Q tyres because I am trying to work on my Superpole pace – but that is what I am still a little frustrated about. 

“I feel like I get to a wall and I cannot go any faster. But it has been like that on each bike I have ridden in WorldSBK, so it is not this bike. It is really nice to be running in the official colours at this test and to have everything like we can see it now. It is a really big programme and a very big effort from these guys. I know it is going to be good so we just need to keep focusing on ourselves.”

PUCCETTI ASSESSES: “It was a very positive test, especially considering that Garrett was only in his second outing”

Adding his thoughts, team boss Manuel Puccetti spoke of the 29-year-old’s fast adaptation: “It was a very positive test, especially considering that Garrett was only on his second outing with Kawasaki. He was always very fast and helped us gain a complete vision of the potential of our bike and what are the areas we need to focus on in the next tests. We used the 2025 livery for the first time, which I really liked. It is the one that Kawasaki customers will find on the production bike, to which we have obviously added our sponsors.”

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The bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team squad secured a 1-2 finish during testing at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto on Wednesday with Alex Lowes just pipping teammate Axel Bassani by 0.003s. Both riders used the SCQ tyre during their only day of testing – with development rider Florian Marino on the KB998 on Tuesday – as they led the times ahead of Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha). The team have now finished both their tests with Lowes and Bassani on top, after taking P1 on Day 2 at the first Jerez test.

ALEX LOWES’ TEST: small crash but the fastest time

In that first test, Bassani was the quickest rider, but the roles reversed in this test with the #22 claiming top spot after setting a 1’38.355s using the SCQ tyre as he matched the Tissot Superpole time he set on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR at Jerez this year (he posted a 1’38.302s for third on the grid). After five seasons on the ZX-10RR, the Brit is adapting to the new machine as he looks to adapt his riding style to get the best out of the bike. He completed 83 laps on Wednesday, with his best time coming on the 77^th lap, although his day was compromised by a small crash at the Turn 6 hairpin.

Reflecting on his day, Lowes said: “It was a good day of testing, and a busy day. I spent a lot of years on the Kawasaki so there were two main targets for me: to be on the bike a bit more and understand how to ride the bike in the best way. This is something I need to think about during the winter break. It was important to see if I have to change my style a bit. We did a long run and tried to work on used tyres to get a feeling with the bike. I started to work a bit on my confidence with the front. I had a little crash in T6, pushing the front to understand a bit more. We used one SCQ tyre only and we made a good step with that. Even if that was not our main target, it was nice to be fast. With all the information we have, I am sure we can improve quite a lot. We have an understanding of the bike, but I know also where I need to work to just refine my style to get the most out of it.”

BASSANI’S DAY: matching his teammate’s SCQ time

Teammate Bassani matched Lowes’ time as he got the best out of the SCQ tyre, something he was often admitted is a weakness for him over his time in WorldSBK. He posted a 1’38.358s to finish in second place as he racked up 86 laps. The Italian’s best time came on his 42^nd tour, although, like Lowes, spent a lot of time focusing on race pace despite using one SCQ tyre during the test.

‘El Bocia’ discussed his test by saying: “We worked a lot on race pace, and I am quite happy. It was really good, and I am also quite happy about doing a fast lap. I am not the best of all, but we ran the same pace as Alex and he is one of the best riders in the world over one lap. We did more or less the same lap time, so that is really good. I think we understand which way we have to take during the winter break. Now, I think everyone needs to relax a little bit, to enjoy home and family. For sure we will think about the bike but it is also important to stop and relax and we will see everyone again next year. Thank you to everybody.”

CREW CHIEFS REVIEW THE TEST: small setup changes, “impressive” race pace

Both crew chiefs also gave their thoughts on the test, with Pere Riba – Lowes’ right-hand man – saying: “This is the second test we have done with Alex, after we were here in Jerez one month ago. The bike is similar, but we have some different items to let the rider be more comfortable on the bike, with the riding position and these kinds of things. You can imagine how early in the project we are. This bike has a different character from the Kawasaki we raced in the past, in terms of riding. So, the approach from the rider has to be a little bit different. We are working to understand how to create a base bike for Alex to be comfortable, to understand it and get the feeling. We have been testing quite linear changes in terms of set-up, not big up and down changes, as I want to give time for the rider to really understand the new bike. We made some changes in terms of balance to understand the direction we want to go in. We are still at the beginning, but even like this the lap times are quite promising. Alex used only one Q tyre to set a good lap time. It was a very positive test.”

Bassani’s crew chief, Marcel Duinker, added: “First of all I would like to thank everybody for the big effort that they have all put into the project. Everybody has done an incredible job from the start until now. I think everybody can be happy and satisfied now that we are going into the holiday period. Axel feels very comfortable on the bike and is riding with a lot of confidence. He put on a good show and on both race tyres and Q tyres he was one of the fastest guys. His pace on a race tyre was honestly very impressive. We also did a long run and tested some small items. This was only our second day of testing with this machine. We made some small changes to the bike where we knew we needed to improve, and we got some positive results.”

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