Even before riders took to the track for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian round of the 2024 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship, a raft of team changes, new rider arrivals and new rules made for one of the most anticipated season openers ever. It was much the same for the Supersport World Championship, with new rules for Race 2 and the departure of last year’s champion opening the field to new contenders.
Last year, Phillip Island turned red, with Ducati riders taking victory in every race across both classes. Would the same thing happen again in 2024? In World Superbike (WorldSBK), there were plenty of riders lining up to knock Alvaro Bautista (Aruba. it Racing Ducati) off the #1 position, while in World Supersport (WorldSSP), Nicolo Bulega’s progression to WorldSBK with the factory Ducati team guaranteed there’d be a new champion this year.
OFF SEASON CHANGES – WORLD SUPERBIKE
A number of riders switched teams in the off-season, including Toprak Razgatlioglu, who’d departed Pata Prometeon Yamaha for ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK. His seat was taken by six-time world champion, Jonathan Rea. One of the best Independent Team riders last year, Axel Bassani, was signed by Kawasaki Racing Team after Rea’s departure. Michael Ruben Rinaldi lost his seat with Aruba.it Racing Ducati to last year’s WorldSSP Champion, Nicolo Bulega, with many other changes up and down pitlane.
In fact, only four teams were fielding the same riders as last year – Team HRC, GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK, Barni Spark Racing and Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK – with 12 of the 23 riders on this year’s grid either with new teams or new to the category.
Of the newcomers, the highest profile pair were Andrea Iannone and Sam Lowes. Both came to WorldSBK from grand prix competition: Iannone making his return after serving a four-year ban for doping, while Lowes was leading Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s expansion into the category after many successful years in the Moto2 class.
Aussie interest in WorldSBK was focused on Remy Gardner, who would be starting his second year in the category with GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK and came to this year after a solid finish to 2023. Multiple Top 10 placings
