 Updated following the news that Lorenzo Baldassarri and GMT94 Yamaha have moved up to WorldSBK for the 2023 season. Baldassarri will step-up to WorldSBK after an impressive rookie WorldSSP campaign which has seen him take the title challenge to reigning champion Dominique Aegerter. Axel Bassani has re-signed with Motorcorsa Ducati for what will be his third season with the team. After losing out on the Aruba.it Ducati seat to Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Bassani has decided to stay put with Motocorsa Ducati for a third consecutive season. Speaking about his new deal, Bassani said: "I’m really happy to continue with Motocorsa and we’ll see what happens! This year, we did a really good job and we continued in a good way and grew up a lot. "I’m happy to stay with the mechanics and with all the team. I hope to compete for the top three but it’s really difficult with Toprak, Jonny and Alvaro are on another level right now. "We’ll aim for this and try to do the best possible. I hope to be on the podium every weekend! I want to enjoy the moment and this season, and after, during the winter break, I’ll start to focus on 2023." Rinaldi's one-year extension ends rumours that Bassani or Danilo Petrucci might take over the factory ride alongside title leader Alvaro Bautista and follows recent confirmation that GRT Yamaha has signed MotoGP rider Remy Gardner for 2023. Gardner will leave KTM after just one season with the Tech 3 team in MotoGP. A move back to the intermediate class had also been discussed before the reigning Moto2 champion elected for one of the two GRT Yamaha seats. Also signing a new deal in WorldSBK is Garrett Gerloff, with the American joining Bonovo Action BMW. Xavi Vierge had become the 11th rider to be confirmed for the 2023 WorldSBK rider line-up after being retained by Honda. Speculation had suggested LCR Honda MotoGP rider Takaaki Nakagami could have replaced the Superbike rookie at Team HRC, but with the Japanese rider likely to stay with LCR or take up a possible testing role, a switch to WorldSBK now appears unlikely. After it was confirmed in June that Alvaro Bautista would be staying for another season at Aruba.it Ducati, six-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) and Michael Van Der Mark (BMW) followed suit in becoming the latest factory riders to have their futures secured. Rea signed a two-year deal to remain with Kawasaki, while Van Der Mark will stay at BMW for a third consecutive year.
With a move to MotoGP in 2023 out of the question following RNF's decision to swap Yamaha for Aprilia - RNF have since signed Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez - Razgatlioglu will officially be staying at Pata Yamaha alongside Andrea Locatelli. Pata Yamaha were the first team to complete their 2023 rider line-up. At KRT, Alex Lowes will also remain with the team after his most recent deal saw him signed through to the end of 2023. The same goes for Scott Redding at BMW and Iker Lecuona at Honda.
The lone factory seat remaining is at Aruba.it Ducati as Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Axel Bassani and Danilo Petrucci are still in contention to partner Bautista next year. In a bid to save his seat, Rinaldi's form since Misano has significantly improved, while the Italian also has the backing from Bautista who stated at Donington Park that he would like Rinaldi to remain alongside him. As has been the case in recent seasons, expect there to be some kind of movement with regards to MotoGP and/or Moto2 riders moving across to WorldSBK. While it remains to be seen which riders could make the switch from Grand Prix racing, Marcel Schrotter is someone who is likely to do so although it's unclear whether that would involve moving to Superbike or Supersport. There could be more bikes on the grid than ever before in 2023, as Puccetti Kawasaki and Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha are both interested in adding a second bike to the grid, while GMT94 have also expressed an interest in joining the premier class from WorldSSP. Winner of nine out of the first 12 races, not to mention he’s the defending WorldSSP champion, Dominique Aegerter is expected to make the step-up to WorldSBK, with GRT Yamaha the most likely destination. |
