There will be a fresh face on the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid at both the Indonesian and Australian rounds that cap off a memorable 2022 WorldSBK campaign as Kyle Smith joins the TPR Team Pedercini Racing squad. Smith, who competed in WorldSSP for the majority of this season, will make his WorldSBK debut onboard the team’s Kawasaki ZX-10RR machine at Mandalika before heading to Phillip Island a week later with the team.

Smith competed in WorldSSP between 2015 and 2019 on a full-time basis, racking up seven podiums on both Honda and Kawasaki machinery. His first podium came at MotorLand Aragon in 2015 as he took third place while his first win came in the same season as he won in Qatar. In his maiden season, Smith took three podiums including one win while he took three podiums with two wins in 2016.

2017 would prove to be Smith’s worst season in WorldSSP in terms of podium count as he scored no rostrum visits but responded in 2018 with one trip to the podium. There were no podiums in 2019 for the British rider either when he competed with Team Pedercini Racing but did take the first of two pole positions. For 2020, Smith competed in the Spanish Supersport championship and took one win and five podiums while, for 2021, he competed in his native Britain. A return to WorldSSP for 2022 provided Smith with one podium finish this season but he split with the VFT Racing team before the end of the season.

Smith, who took a win and a podium in STK600 and two podiums in STK1000, will now make his WorldSBK debut with TPR Team Pedercini Racing, starting in Indonesia. He said: “I am really happy to have the opportunity to race in World Superbike with Team Pedercini. The only time I have ridden a superbike was in World Endurance which is a different technical specification and so I am quote excited. I have also never ridden in Mandalika as I wasn’t there last year. I hope to learn from the experience and try to enjoy it and take it as it comes. I think Phillip Island will be a bit easier as I know the track, but I am ready for both events and looking forward to return to the World Superbike paddock.”

Team Principal Lucio Pedercini added: “I am happy that we have been able to reach an agreement with Kyle for Indonesia and Australia. I know him very well, in fact we worked together in 2019. Despite him racing in World Supersport for many years he is fast, and I am sure that together we can do a good job.”

Watch the final two rounds of the 2022 season for only €9.99 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!