Niccolò Antonelli has been announced as a rider for Althea Racing in the upcoming World Supersport season, alongside Piotr Biesiekirski. Both will be making their debut in the category, riding the Ducati Panigale V2 955.

After a season that fell far short of expectations in Moto2 World Championship, Antonelli competed in the Moto2 European Championship in 2023, seeking a new direction in his career in production-based motorcycles. He is 27 years old. As for Biesiekirski, at 22 years old, he has had sporadic appearances in the Moto2 World Championship, and this year he competed in the Moto2 European Championship.

Genesio Bevilacque, Althea’s General Manager, stated in a press release: ‘I welcome two riders who I believe they can go a long way in World Supersport. I believe in Niccolò Antonelli and I believe in Piotr Biesiekirski. Both have already demonstrated their grit and value in championships where the fight is close and the competition is truly aggressive. They are two tenacious athletes, with a great desire to grow. It’s important to work with those who want to improve and are still hungry’.

The team manager of Ecosantagata Althea Racing will be Moreno Coppola. The leader added: ‘The team manager of Ecosantagata Althea Racing will be Moreno Coppola. Moreno has all my trust due to the many years of experience and results achieved with us’.

O conteúdo Niccolò Antonelli and Piotr Biesiekirski in WSSP with Althea in 2024 aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Nicolo Bulega ended this Supersport World Championship with another victory after the red flag on Race 2, and this was for sure a year he won’t forget so soon, end more because he proved he was worthy of being promoted to Superbike… with the factory team. The italian was, naturally, super pleased with this season.

In a team statement the #11 analysed this year, considering this to be the best so far on his career: ‘It has been an incredible year, the best so far in my career. We achieved fantastic results together with a team that welcomed me in an extraordinary way. I thank them, one by one, for giving me everything to be competitive again after a few difficult seasons’.

Bulega ended the season with 503 points, more 95 than the second, Stefano Manzi.

O conteúdo ‘This 2023 was incredible, the best so far in my career’ – Nicolo Bulega aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Nicolò Bulega had a strong start to the final round of the World Supersport Championship with a dominant win in the first race at Jerez. The already crowned champion crossed the finish line with nearly a five-second lead.

Starting from pole position, the Aruba.it Ducati rider made the most of his advantage and led in every lap of the race. After just two laps, he had a lead of over a second over Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing/Ducati), and the gap continued to grow while there was an intense battle for the second position.

At one point, Bulega had a lead of more than five seconds, but he allowed his rivals to get slightly closer in the final laps. The battle for the second position remained uncertain until the end, with Manzi edging out Caricasulo by just 39 thousandths of a second. He finished 4.892s behind the winner. Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) rounded out the top five.

Results:

O conteúdo Nicolò Bulega gets another dominant victory in WSSP at Jerez aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Even after securing the title, Nicolò Bulega continues to be unstoppable in the World Supersport Championship, and yesterday, he led the second free practice. It was the only dry session on Friday.

Initially, Adrián Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) set the pace with a sequence of fast laps. Still, he was eventually overtaken by Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati). As the riders made up for the lost work time due to the rain in FP1, lap times steadily improved, leading to several changes in the leader position.

Bulega was the only one who managed to stay at the top consistently: for about ten minutes. However, before securing the lead for good, he was briefly beaten by Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team/Ducati).

With less than seven minutes left in the session, Bulega set the best time in FP2, lapping in 1m43.171s. Montella finished second, 0.628s behind, followed by Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha). Only two more riders managed to stay within one second of the leader: Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) and Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha).

Timesheet:

O conteúdo Nicolò Bulega smashed his rivals in the WSSP FP2 at Jerez aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Only six riders took to the track in the first free practice session of the World Supersport Championship in Jerez. The rain and poor weather conditions led most of the field to choose not to leave the garages this morning.

Riding a Yamaha for Zeus Motorsport, wildcard Miquel Pons set the pace and was the fastest for most of the session. He briefly lost the top spot to Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha), who finished second, 0.363s behind.

Nicolas Spinelli (VFT Racing Webike Yamaha) was third, over a second adrift of the leaders, followed by José Luis Pérez González (D34G Racing/Ducati) and Leonardo Taccini (Vince64 by Puccetti Racing/Kawasaki).

Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing/Ducati) also completed some laps, but in his best lap, he was outside the 105 percent of the leader’s time, which means he was not classified in this session.

Timesheet:

O conteúdo Miquel Pons leads the rain-soaked WSSP FP1 in Jerez with only six riders aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The final round of the Superbike World Championship (WSBK) and the Supersport World Championship (WSSP) will take place at the Circuito de Jerez Ángel Nieto this weekend. Mathematically, there is still one title to be decided.

In the premier category, WSBK, the championship has not been decided yet. Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) leads 60 points ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha). The Spanish rider only needs two points to secure his second consecutive title. Even if he doesn’t get those points, the Turkish rider will need to win all the races in this round to overtake his rival.

The battle for third place is also open: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) is close to securing it, but with a 50-point deficit, there is still some hope for Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) to surpass his future teammate.

In the WSSP, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) has already secured the title. The top four riders already know their final positions: Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) will be second, Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) will be third, and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing/Ducati) will be fourth. The end of the top five is still up for grabs, with five riders in contention, with Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) currently holding the fifth position with an eight-point advantage.

Here are the complete schedules (CET times) for WSBK and WSSP at Jerez:

Friday, October 27
10:30-10:15: FP1 WSSP
10:30-11:15: FP1 WSBK
13:00-13:45: FP2 WSSP
14:00-14:45: FP2 WSBK

Saturday, October 28
09:00-09:30: FP3 WSBK
10:25-10:45: Superpole WSSP
11:00-11:25: Superpole WSBK
12:30: Corrida 1 WSSP
14:00: Corrida 1 WSBK

Sunday, October 29
08:00-08:15: Warm-up WSBK
08:25-08:40: Warm-up WSSP
10:00: Corrida Superpole
11:30: Corrida 2 WSSP
13:00: Corrida 2 WSBK

O conteúdo The curtain falls on WSBK and WSSP: The schedules for Jerez aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marcel Schrötter will continue with MV Agusta Reparto Corse in the next season of the World Supersport Championship. This year, he is in third place in the championship with one round to go.

The German rider made his debut last year as a wildcard and joined full-time this season. He has shown consistent performance and has already been on the podium, although he hasn’t secured any wins yet.

In a press release, Schrötter said: ‘I am very happy and also glad that I can continue with MV Agusta in WorldSSP. Of course, I looked at other options, which is normal, but in the end, MV Agusta and my current team offered me the best package. I also feel that there has been a lot of motivation rising this year, as we have been able to achieve strong results. We also clearly noticed where we still need to catch up compared to other manufacturers and in which areas we need to improve’.

As for his goals, the German rider aims to compete for the championship title: ‘I sense a lot of enthusiasm within the team […] to take the next steps and improve some things. It starts with more tests I asked for and get promised now, as well as further developments to the bike and the material will be increasingly pushed. That also increases my motivation to fight for victories with this package, the bike, and the brand, and hopefully to be able to intervene a bit more in the fight for the title next year, or to fight for the title. That is definitely our goal together’.

O conteúdo Marcel Schrötter renews with MV Agusta in WSSP for 2024 aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Nicolò Bulega is on the verge of becoming the Supersport World Champion. This weekend, he won both races at MotorLand Aragón, putting himself in a position to clinch the title in the next round at Portimão.

Yesterday, after securing pole position, the Aruba.it Ducati rider led from start to finish in the first race. Without giving his opponents any chances, he crossed the finish line with a 3.581s lead. The battle for second place was considerably more intense. Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) came out on top after overtaking Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) on the 13th lap. The Italian rider lost more positions after running through the gravel and ultimately finished in 11th place, while Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team/Ducati) completed the podium.

Starting from pole position once again, Bulega continued to dominate and led from start to finish in the second race on Sunday. After just one lap, he had a gap of over a second, which then stabilized at around two seconds. Manzi was his main rival throughout the race, finishing 2.160s behind. The #62 had the upper hand in a battle with Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing/Ducati), but the positions remained stable for most of the race. Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) and Schrötter completed the top five.

O conteúdo Two wins at Aragon put Nicolò Bulega on the brink of the WSSP title aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The Aruba.it Racing WSSP team has announced the signing of Adrián Huertas. Born in Madrid on August 21, 2003, the Spanish rider will represent the team in the 2024 Supersport World Championship, riding the Ducati Panigale V2. He will be taking the spot of Nicolò Bulega, the current leader of WorldSSP. Bulega will transition next year to partner with Álvaro Bautista in the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati WorldSBK team in WorldSBK.

Huertas began his journey in the SuperSport 300 Championship at just 16 years of age. After an initial season of learning, he clinched the World Championship title in his second year, boasting 6 victories and 8 podiums in the 16 races he participated in. His subsequent move to the SuperSport World Championship in 2022 and consistent growth has seen him finish very close to the podium (P4) three times in the last four races.

Stefano Cecconi, the team director of Aruba.it Racing-Ducati, expressed his satisfaction with the new signing. “We enthusiastically welcome Adrián Huertas. We have great faith in his talent and are confident that he can bring us significant achievements. We value the determination he displayed in accepting our proposal, which affirms the quality of the project we initiated two years ago when we decided to venture with Feel Racing into the Supersport World Championship.”

Cecconi further elaborated on the team’s vision, “We view the Aruba.it Racing WSSP team as a sort of junior team through which we nurture young riders who can then advance to the official WorldSBK team. This is precisely what happened with Nicolò Bulega, who will race with the Ducati Panigale V4R next season. Adrián is unanimously regarded as one of the most promising riders in the WorldSBK paddock, and we anticipate his continued growth and significant achievements.”

Adrián Huertas also shared his excitement about joining the team. “I am truly delighted to have reached this agreement. Racing for the Aruba.it Racing team is a tremendous privilege for me. I have a goal: to be the first rider to win the World Championship in all three categories. I’ve already succeeded in SuperSport 300, and I believe that the Aruba.it Racing WSSP team is undoubtedly the best choice to continue pursuing this goal.”

Becoming a Ducati rider is also a dream come true for Huertas. “Since I was a child, I’ve always supported Ducati, and now I’ll have the chance to race with the Panigale V2. I want to express my gratitude to my family, friends, sponsors, and everyone who has supported me, even during the toughest times. And, of course, a big thank you to Aruba.it Racing and Feel Racing for granting me this opportunity,” he concluded.

O conteúdo Ducati Signs Spanish Rising Star for the Supersport World Championship aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Two wins in two races. That’s the tally for Nicolò Bulega in the Magny-Cours round of the World Supersport Championship, as he won the second race of this round on Sunday.

The Italian rider from Aruba.it Ducati started from pole position and kept the lead, gradually pulling away from the rest of the field. Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) was his main pursuer. Up until a certain point, the Frenchman managed to keep up with Bulega and put pressure on him, but the championship leader ultimately held on to consolidate his race lead.

In the end, Bulega crossed the finish line 1.991s ahead of Debise. The rest of the pack didn’t have the pace to challenge the top two. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) secured the final step of the podium with little opposition but was 12.441s behind the leader. Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) and Niki Tuuli (PTR Triumph) rounded out the top five.

Results:

O conteúdo Nicolò Bulega completed the perfect weekend in WSSP at Magny-Cours after another duel with Valentin Debise aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.