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Althea Racing’s owner Genesio Bevilacqua is excited about the new season, which sees his team competing in the eni FIM Superbike World Championship with a two-rider line up. New signings Matteo Baiocco and Nico Terol had a chance to get to grips with the 2015-spec Panigale R in dry conditions last week at Jerez, with especially the Spanish rookie and former World Champion Terol able to show great speed. Bevilacqua still thinks the two riders might need a bit more time to bridge the gap to the front runners but at the same time he is very confident about the season ahead.

“We start the year aiming for the same strong results we have achieved over the past years,” said Bevilacqua. “Of course, we need to take into account the high level of this year’s field. Our team has enough experience to give Nico Terol and Matteo Baiocco the right direction. Unfortunately we couldn’t test as much as the other teams did but both riders are very talented and I’m sure that in two, three races we will  be able to fill the gap with the front runners. Our realistic goal is to be consistently in the top 6, top 7.”
In 2011 the Althea Racing Team managed to grab the title with another Spanish rider, Carlos Checa. With the new regulations coming into place, Bevilacqua believes the field will be evenly matched this year and private teams will be able to compete at the front: “With the new technical rules there will be a better chance for private teams to do well as they will get an almost factory bike, too. I think the series now is much closer to the idea of production racing than it was before.”