2020 WorldSBK Entry List

The provisional permanent entry lists for the 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World
Championship have been revealed with an expanded grid of 22 riders, as anticipation grows for the start of the new season at Australia’s Phillip Island on February 28.

Leading the charge will once again be the five-time and reigning WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea, who finds himself with a third teamate in as many seasons inside the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK: Alex Lowes, who finished a career best of third in the 2019 standings.

2019’s runner-up Álvaro Bautista will debut a new machine for the second season in a row, as he leads Team HRC’s return to WorldSBK. Sitting on the new CBR1000RR alongside him will be Leon Haslam, the most experienced pair of hands on the 2020 grid.

Leon Haslam with the new Fireblade on stage at EICMA

Chaz Davies will complete his seventh season with the ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati team in
2020. He will be partnered this time by reigning British Superbike champion and former
MotoGP star Scott Redding, a WorldSBK debutant.

Two of 2019’s five race winners will represent the Pata Yamaha in 2020: Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu. The pair will also enjoy a new model of the YZF R1 this season.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu joins Michael van der Mark in the Pata Yamaha squad

Closing off this quintet of factory teams is the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. Tom Sykes will lead the project once again after a promising first year together. His new partner will be the man he battled so fiercely against for the 2013 WorldSBK title: Eugene Laverty.

Moving over to the independent teams and riders, 2020 will see Leon Camier joining the Barni Racing Team on the Ducati V4 R. He replaces Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who switches teams (but not machinery) to Team GoEleven.

There will be another two Ducati V4 Rs on the 2020 grid, bringing the total up to six: Leandro Mercado, who joins the debuting Motocorsa Racing, and two-time STK1000 winner Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance).

2019 independent winners Kawasaki Puccetti Racing replace the departing Razgatlioglu with 2018 independent winner Xavi Fores, while Orelac Racing Verdnatura have brought in the current Spanish Superbike champion, Maximilian Scheib. Team Pedercini Racing,
meanwhile, will finally field one rider, still to be confirmed.

The GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team will feature two exciting rookies in 2020: World
Supersport runner-up Federico Caricasulo and American sensation Garrett Gerloff. The final YZF R1 on the grid is that of Ten Kate Racing, who have once again trusted Loris Baz after several promising results last year.

GRT Yamaha will field Garrett Gerloff and Italian Federico Caricasulo

Closing out the grid will be the two members of the MIE Racing team: 30-year-old Takumi Takahashi, a former WorldSBK and MotoGP point-scorer who will be participating in his first full season on the world stage, and a second rider to be announced at a later date.

2020 WorldSSP Entry List

The 29 riders that will compete in the FIM Supersport World Championship have
been confirmed today with the release of the provisional permanent entry list for the
2020 season.

Reigning Champion Randy Krummenacher remains in the series and will defend his crown throughout the 2020 season. He does however change manufacturers, from Yamaha to MV Agusta, in a bold attempt to become the first rider to take back- to-back titles on different bikes. His will be the third F3 675 on the grid, as Raffaele De Rosaand Federico
Fuligni remain with the MV Agusta Reparto Corse squad. The team will be the only
one with three full-time competitors in 2020.

Jules Cluzel will stay inside the GMT94 Yamaha structure for another year, after missing out on last year’s title by only 13 points. His teammate will once again be Corentin Perolari, forming an all-French challenge for the championship.

The rider who picked up the most points in the second half of last year also remains in place. Lucas Mahias will aim for his second WorldSSP crown alongside Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, with series newcomer Philip Oettl by his side.

Last season’s runaway Teams Champions, Bardahl Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team, have also brought in a former Moto2 competitor in Andrea Locatelli, who will be aiming to pick up where the departing Krummenacher and WorldSBK-bound Federico Caricasulo left off last year.

Randy Krummenacher

Kallio Racing will place two bikes on the grid this season, with Hannes Soomer joining Isaac Viñales at the Finnish-based squad. So too will Kiefer Racing, who have recruited Thomas Gradinger and Lukas Tulovic for their debut in the WorldSBK paddock. Completing this trio of Yamaha teams is OXXO Yamaha Team Toth, represented in 2020 by Loris Cresson and Peter Sebestyen.

There’s also a return to the series for multiple WorldSSP Champions Ten Kate Racing, who have partnered with EAB to bring Steven Odendaal into the series.

Another team who will be working alongside the Dutch team is the MPM Routz Racing Team, led on track by Jaimie van Sikkelerus.

Several former WorldSSP300 frontrunners have graduated to the middleweight class this year, starting with 2019 WorldSSP300 Champion Manuel González (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team). He is joined by Andy Verdoïa and Galang Hendra Pratama, who will both compete as part of the bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS team.

Kawasaki will feature one more rider on the grid: 16-year-old rookie and Moto3 race winner Can Öncu (Turkish Racing Team).

The rebranded Dynavolt Honda team, meanwhile, will feature Hikari Okubo (fifth in
last season’s standings) alongside series newcomer Patrick Hobelsberger.

2020 will also see the return of former WorldSSP competitors Danny Webb (WRP Wepol
Racing) and Christoffer Bergman(Wójcik Racing Team).

Four riders have also signed up for the European Supersport Cup, which will be up for grabs in the ten European races. These riders are: Xavier Navand (Altogoo Racing Team), Australian Tom Toparis (Benro Racing), Alejandro Ruiz Carranza (Emperador Racing Team) and Axel Bassani(Team Yamaha Motoxracing). A fifth contender, as team-mate for Toparis at Benro Racing, is yet to be announced.

Tom Toparis will race a Benro Yamaha in the European rounds of the World Supersport Championship

2020 WorldSSP 300 Entry List

Source: MCNews.com.au