Provisional 2012 World Superbike Championship Entry List Released

Wed, 18 Jan 2012

The International Motorcycling Federation has released a preliminary entry list for the 2012 World Superbike Championship.

The preliminary list includes 24 entries representing six manufacturers: Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Noticeably absent is Yamaha which announced last summer it would pull out of WSBK racing.

Also noticeably absent is Noriyuki Haga, a veteran of the series bearing the unenviable title of winningest WSBK rider without a championship title. Haga was one of the most dominant WSBK racers of the last decade, finishing no worse than fourth from 2000-2009. His results since then have been less impressive, finishing sixth in 2010 with the Ducati factory team and eighth last season for the PATA Racing team. PATA will field Lorenzo Zanetti this season while switching from the Aprilia RSV4 to the Ducati 1098R.

Reigning WSBK Champion Carlos Checa is listed as wearing #7 for this season instead of the customary #1 plate. He will defend his title with the Althea Racing team on the Ducati 1098R.

John Hopkins is the lone American racer on the preliminary entry list. He will race his customary #21 with the blessing of another famous #21, Troy Bayliss.

Provisional 2012 WSBK Entry List Rider Motorcycle Team 3 – Max Biaggi Aprilia RSV4 1000 Factory Aprilia Racing Team 58 – Eugene Laverty Aprilia RSV4 1000 Factory Aprilia Racing Team 7 – Carlos Checa Ducati 1098R Althea Racing 34 – Davide Giugliano Ducati 1098R Althea Racing 50 – Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 1098R Team Effenbert Liberty Racing 96 – Jakub Smrz Ducati 1098R Team Effenbert Liberty Racing 33 – Marco Melandri BMW S1000RR BMW Motorrad Motorsport 91 – Leon Haslam BMW S1000RR BMW Motorrad Motorsport 4 – Hiroshi Aoyama Honda CBR1000RR Honda World Superbike Team 65 – Jonathan Rea Honda CBR1000RR Honda World Superbike Team 84 – Michel Fabrizio BMW S1000RR BMW Motorrad Italia GOLDBET SBK Team 86 – Ayrton Badovini BMW S1000RR BMW Motorrad Italia GOLDBET SBK Team 78 – Lorenzo Zanetti Ducati 1098R PATA Racing Team 17 – Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ZX-10R Kawasaki Racing Team 66 – Tom Sykes Kawasaki ZX-10R Kawasaki Racing Team 36 – Leandro Mercado Kawasaki ZX-10R Team Pedercini 44 – David Salom Kawasaki ZX-10R Team Pedercini 21 – John Hopkins Suzuki GSX-R1000 Crescent Suzuki TBA – Leon Camier Suzuki GSX-R1000 Crescent Suzuki TBA – Mark Aitchison BMW S1000RR Grillini Progea Superbike Team 121 – Maxime Berger Ducati 1098R Liberty Racing – Team Effenbert 19 – Chaz Davies Aprilia RSV4 1000 Factory ParkinGO Aprilia Racing Team 35 – Raffaele De Rosa Honda CBR1000RR Pro Ride Motorsports 59 – Niccolò Canepa Ducati 1098R Team Ducati Roma

[Source: FIM]

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By Dennis Chung