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Three different manufacturers have won the last three Riders’ and Manufacturers’ in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as Kawasaki, Yamaha and Ducati tasted success between 2020 and 2022. Heading into the 2023 season, all five manufacturers have made changes to their bike including, in some cases, bringing a new model as they look for glory in 2023. BMW and Ducati both have a new version of their bike while Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda have brought masses of upgrades to extract the best performance from their machine.

DEFENDING THEIR TITLE: a new Panigale V4 R for Ducati…

Ducati announced in October 2022 that there would be a new version of the Panigale V4 R for 2023 and it will be this bike that Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) looks to defend his title with. The bike has more power, different gear ratios to allow a more usable first gear when racing, while there are also updates to the chassis, swingarm and aero package to maximise performance. In testing, both Bautista and teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi have shown impressive pace so far and they will be aiming to continue that when the season starts in Australia.

In terms of Independent Ducati teams, there has only been one change to the line-up for 2023. In comes Danilo Petrucci at the Barni Spark Racing Team, aiming to become the 18^th rider to win in both MotoGP™ and WorldSBK, while Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) remain with their teams for their third and second season respectively.

LOOKING TO GO ONE STEP BETTER: Yamaha’s focus on the rear of the bike

After taking the 2021 title with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), Yamaha lost out in 2022 to Ducati and Bautista. Having identified where they could improve to try and minimise the gap to Ducati, there has been a lot of work on the rear of the YZF R1 machine. During testing, there was a new swingarm for Razgatlioglu and teammate Andrea Locatelli to try as they looked to improve acceleration out of corners. There were also electronics settings to try and links.

The Independent Yamaha teams have had an overhaul for 2023. Dominique Aegerter and Remy Gardner will make their WorldSBK debut at the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, with Pata Yamaha and GRT Yamaha having four World Champions in their line-up, while Lorenzo Baldassarri makes the jump up with GMT94 Yamaha. Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) will compete in the European rounds in 2023.

ENGINE UPGRADES FOR KAWASAKI: bike and personnel changes

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Alex Lowes will have an engine upgrade on their bike for 2023 as they also look to close the gap to Bautista and Ducati. During testing, like Yamaha, there was a focus on improving acceleration out of corners for the ZX-10RR and new electronic ideas, while Kawasaki have new personnel in the team. Christophe Lambert comes in from Razgatlioglu’s team at Yamaha to take on a more central electronics role while Rea will work with Zander Donkers on the electronics side.

The big news for the Independent Kawasaki teams is the return of 2013 Champion Tom Sykes, who links up with the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team for 2023 after a year of competing in Britain. Can he add to his 51 pole positions? At Orelac Racing MOVISIO, Oliver Konig will start his second campaign with a new team and crew chief around him as he looks to build on his points finishes at the end of 2022.

BMW’S NEW BIKE: updated M 1000 RR for 2023

German manufacturer BMW have brought a new bike for 2023 and the biggest visual change is the aero package on the front of the M 1000 RR. Factory riders Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and teammate Michael van der Mark, as well as Bonovo Action BMW’s Loris Baz and Garrett Gerloff, who joins the team for 2023, will have the new bike. There have been changes to the bike inside the bike too with a new gearbox to allow for quicker upshifts and downshifts while they have also switched brake supplier to Brembo. Could there be a step forward for BMW in 2023 to become consistent podium and win challengers?

CHANGES FOR HONDA: new weld point for geometry options

Iker Lecuona and Team HRC teammate Xavi Vierge will have a revised CBR1000RR-R at their disposal for 2023 with a series of upgrades aimed at making the bike faster for the pair. The Japanese manufacturer were testing some revised engine specifications as well as different swingarms, while there were different Nissin brake callipers. The bike also features a new weld point on the chassis, the team’s super concession, which gives them more geometry settings on the bike and the team also worked on some electronic strategies during testing. The sole Independent Honda team, the MIE Racing Honda Team, will once again have a two-rider line-up in 2023 but with a new face. Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin stays for a second season but, this season, will be joined by Eric Granado for his maiden campaign.  

THE GOLDEN ERA CONTINUES: follow the 2023 WorldSBK campaign in style using the WorldSBK VideoPass!