WSBK: Temporada 2016 começa neste final de semana

A temporada 2016 do Campeonato Mundial Superbike promete fortes emoções e muita adrenalina com a participação de novas equipes e novos pilotos na disputa da competição de motovelocidade com motos de marcas consagradas e que podem ser encontradas no mercado.

Em 2015, o piloto britânico Jonathan Rea faturou o título de campeão do Mundial Superbike e garantiu a hegemonia da escuderia japonesa Kawasaki Racing Team em mais uma temporada da competição.

Para quem esperava ansiosamente pela abertura do Campeonato Mundial Superbike em 2016 já pode ficar tranquilo, pois nesse final de semana, dias 27 e 28/02, acontecem as corridas do GP da Austrália, na pista de Phillip Island.

TRANSMISSÃO

O canal de TV por assinatura ESPN+ (HD) anuncia em sua programação a transmissão do GP da Austrália, neste sábado (27), a partir da 0h55, a 1ª bateria, e neste domingo (28), a partir das 0h55, a 2ª bateria. 

FATOS IMPORTANTES NO WSBK 2016

Mais vitórias: Jonathan Rea – 29
Mais pódios: Jonathan Rea – 65
Mais poles: Tom Sykes – 30
Mais voltas mais rápidas: Tom Sykes – 28
Mais pole position: Tom Sykes – 184
Piloto mais experiente: Nicky Hayden – 34
Piloto mais jovem: Markus Reiterberger – 21
Número de Campeonatos WorldSBK: 3 – Sykes, Guintoli and Rea
Novatos no WorldSBK: 5 - Abraham, Al Sulaiti, Hook, Menghi and Schmitter
Nacionalidades: 12 (5 - UK, 3 - Spain, 2 - Australia, France, Hungary, Italy, 1 - Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Qatar, Switzerland, USA)

QUEM É QUEM NO WSBK 2016

Kawasaki Racing Team
Kawasaki ZX-10R

JONATHAN REA – First back-to-back Champion of the millennium?

            - Ballymena, Northern Ireland, UK

Race number: #1
Age: Turning 29 on February 2
Race starts: 166
Wins: 29
Podiums: 65
Poles: 6
Fastest laps: 21
Last year: Dominant season to become first Northern Irish WorldSBK Champion: 14 wins, 23 podiums, 2 poles and 11 fastest laps, while just missing out on points record

TOM SYKES – Looking to bounce back

            - Huddersfield, England, UK

Race number: #66
Age: 30
Race starts: 184
Wins: 26
Podiums: 64
Poles: 30
Fastest laps: 28
Last year: Third in championship with 4 wins, 15 podiums, 6 poles and 7 fastest laps

Aruba.it Racing - Ducati
Ducati 1199 Panigale R

CHAZ DAVIES – Trying to carry on where he left off

            - Knighton, Wales, UK

Race number: #7
Age: Turning 29 on February 10
Race starts: 100
Wins: 9
Podiums: 32
Poles: 1
Fastest laps: 11
Last year: Second only to Rea with 5 wins, 18 podiums, 1 pole and 5 fastest laps

DAVIDE GIUGLIANO – Keeping out of trouble

            - Rome, Italy

Race number: #34
Age: 26
Race starts: 89
Best finish: 2nd (x6)
Podiums: 9
Poles: 5
Fastest laps: 6
Last year: Injury-stricken fifth season with flashes of brilliance: poles and podiums

Honda World Superbike Team
Honda CBR1000RR SP

MICHAEL VAN DER MARK – Learning year over, now down to business

            - Gouda, South Holland, Netherlands

Race number: #60
Age: 23
Race starts: 26
Best finish: 3rd (x3)
Podiums: 3
Best grid: 4th (x2)
Last year: In rookie season, more podium finishes than World Champion team-mate

NICKY HAYDEN – The goal: to win both MotoGP and WorldSBK

            - Owensboro, Kentucky, USA

Race number: #69
Age: 34
Race starts: 2 (Laguna Seca wildcard, 2002)
Best finish: 4th
Last year: A difficult final MotoGP season ends with 20th position overall after a difficult bike

Althea BMW Racing Team
BMW S1000 RR

JORDI TORRES – Taking the fight to the Brits

            - Rubí, Catalunya, Spain

Race number: #81
Age: 28
Race starts: 26
Wins: 1
Podiums: 4
Best grid: 2nd
Last year: Rookie of the season, fifth overall; five podiums and impressive Qatar win

MARKUS REITERBERGER – Knows BMW better than anybody

            - Trostberg, Bavaria, Germany

Race number: #21
Age: 21
Race starts: 6
Best finish: 12th
Last year: Scored points in WorldSBK races and won German IDM Superbike title

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team
Yamaha YZF R1

ALEX LOWES – Time to shine free of Suzuki- Lincoln, England, UK

Race number: #22
Age: 25
Race starts: 54
Best finish: 2nd
Podiums: 3
Best grid: 3rd
Fastest laps: 2
Last year: Thai podium followed by immense frustration with new ECU on Suzuki

SYLVAIN GUINTOLI – Clean sheet for 2014 title winner

            - Montelimar, France

Race number: #50
Age: 33
Race starts: 154
Wins: 9
Podiums: 41
Poles: 4
Fastest laps: 12
Last year: Single podium in otherwise uncompetitive season on Honda

Barni Racing Team
Ducati 1199 Panigale R

XAVI FORES – One-man band

            - Llombai, Valencian Community, Spain

Race number: #12
Age: 30
Race starts: 15
Best finish: 5th
Best grid: 3rd
Last year: Solid sub for injured Giugliano (including front row qualifying in Qatar) while winning three IDM Superbike races to finish runner-up to Reiterberger

Team Pedercini
Kawasaki ZX-10R

SYLVAIN BARRIER – Needs to stay fit

            - Oyonnax, France

Race number: #20
Age: 27
Race starts: 17
Best finish: 10th (x3)
Best grid: 10th
Last year: Lost WorldSBK ride and moved to Superstock 1000, but hit by more injuries

SAEED AL SULAITI – The third Qatari to race in WorldSBK category

            - Doha, Qatar

Race number: #11
Age: 30
Race starts: 0
Last year: Raced in Qatar SuperBike Championship (QSBK)

MV Agusta Reparto Corse
MV Agusta 1000 F4

LEON CAMIER – Rapid racer, comprehensive developer and team builder

            - Ashford, England, UK

Race number: #2
Age: 29
Race starts: 133
Best finish: 2nd (x2)
Best grid: 2nd
Last year: Along with his team, few riders grafted harder in developing their machine and a top five finish at Magny-Cours was well deserved

Team GOELEVEN
Kawasaki ZX-10R

ROMAN RAMOS – Mr. Consistency

            - Santander, Cantabria, Spain

Race number: #40
Age: 25
Race starts: 26
Best finish: 7th
Best grid: 14th
Last year: A very respectable rookie campaign, scoring in all but three of the races he finished and retiring only three times from 26 starts

Grillini Racing Team
Kawasaki ZX-10R

DOMINIC SCHMITTER – Stepping up the ladder

            - Altstätten, Rhine Valley, Switzerland

Race number: #9
Age: 21
Race starts: 0
Last year: Finished World Supersport 14th overall, also racing twice in IDM Supersport Championship and scoring a podium finish

JOSH HOOK – Into the shark pool

            - Taree, New South Wales, Australia

Race number: #16
Age: 23
Race starts: 0
Last year: Finished second in prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours alongside Kyle Smith and Dominique Aegerter. Also raced in All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship and four Grands Prix in the Moto2 World Championship

Team Toth
Yamaha YZF R1

IMRE TOTH – Climbing the steep learning curve

            - Budapest, Hungary

Race number: #10
Age: 30
Race starts: 44
Best finish: 12th
Best grid: 20th (x4)
Last year: On a lesser developed bike than rivals, Toth achieves three points finishes

PETER SEBESTYEN – Half of Hungarian duo hungry for international success

            - Budapest, Hungary

Race number: #56
Age: 21
Race starts: 11
Best finish: 18^th

Best grid: 25^th
Last year: 29 points in STK1000 

MILWAUKEE BMW
BMW S1000 RR

KAREL ABRAHAM – Grand Prix winner tries his hand at WorldSBK

            - Brno, Czech Republic

Race number: #17
Age: 26
Race starts: 0
Last year: Former Moto2 winner starts ten MotoGP races in season plagued by injury

JOSH BROOKES – Newly-crowned BSB Champion returns to WorldSBK

            - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Race number: #25
Age: 32
Race starts: 35
Best finish: 7th
Best grid: 3rd
Last year: A controlled ride to BSB title on Milwaukee Yamaha, amassing no less than 13 wins, 23 podiums, 6 poles and 11 fastest laps along the way

VFT Racing
Ducati 1199 Panigale R

FABIO MENGHI – Ever-popular WorldSSP rider steps up a gear

            - Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Race number: #61
Age: 29
Race starts: 0
Last year: 15th overall in World Supersport with best finish of sixth at Misano

Foto: WSBK/Divulgação