Grids across three Championships within the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship are starting to take shape with several announcements for both WorldSSP and WorldSSP300. With the WorldSBK grid almost full – read the silly season details here – attention is turning to see who will race in the middleweight and lightweight classes.
WORLD SUPERSPORT: Oettl joins from WorldSBK, Manzi stays
Two big seats were filled with the announcements that former WorldSBK riders would join World Supersport. Philipp Oettl will link up with the Feel Racing WorldSSP Team, which ran Nicolo Bulega in 2022 and 2023 and Adrian Huertas in 2024 under the Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team banner. Lucas Mahias remains with GMT94 Yamaha as the Japanese brand introduces the R9 machine into competition. Stefano Manzi will continue with the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing Team for next year, aiming to go one better than he did this season.
Elsewhere in WorldSSP, Tom Booth-Amos was announced as staying with PTR Triumph after a stellar 2024 where he claimed his first podium. Federico Caricasulo remains with Motozoo ME AIR Racing for a second campaign on the MV Agusta, while teammate Luke Power signed for 2024 and 2025. Meanwhile, at MV Agusta Reparto Corse, Bo Bendsneyder came in for the final two rounds to help prepare for 2025. At the Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team, Valentin Debise announced on his social media that he wouldn’t continue with the team into 2025. Jorge Navarro will continue with the Orelac Racing VerdNatura team in 2025 after a successful part-campaign in 2024. Jeremy Alcoba will make the step across to WorldSSP on Kawasaki’s new machine for 2025 as he joins the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team. VFT Racing announced that Niccolo Antonelli would race for them in 2025 on the Yamaha R9.
WORLD SUPERSPORT 300: Buis and Tonn remain with KTM
Double Champion Jeffrey Buis will stick with the Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing team for a second season after a race-winning campaign in 2024. He’ll be joined again by Phillip Tonn on the KTM RC 390 R. After impressing during his wildcard appearances, Antonio Torres will remain on the grid in 2025 after inking a deal with the ProDina Kawasaki Racing squad, joining race winner David Salvador.
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Source: WorldSBK.com