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 calendar for the World Superbike, Supersport, and Supersport 300 Championships for 2024 has been announced, and there are some absolute novelties in another season with 12 rounds (except for WSSP300, which will have eight). There are two new circuits in the season, with the start set for February 23-25.

Phillip Island in Australia not only hosts the opening round but also an official test for WSBK and WSSP on February 19 and 20. This is the only event outside of Europe. The second round will be in Barcelona from March 22 to 24, marking the start of WSSP300, with a test supported at the same circuit for WSBK on March 14 and 15.

The Catalan round is one of those with an earlier date compared to 2023, as is Portimão, which is almost two months earlier from August 9 to 11 – in recent years, it has been in early October. Then, from August 23 to 25, there’s the first big novelty: the return of Hungary, with the debut of Balaton Park.

From September 20 to 22, the second round in Italy (Misano is in June) visits the Cremona Circuit for the first time. After that, it’s a trip to Aragon before the end of the season will be in Jerez once again from October 11 to 13.

With the addition of two new circuits – both subject to homologation – two are leaving: Indonesia is no longer on the list of destinations, as well as Imola, which had returned to the calendar in 2023.

Calendar for WSBK, WSSP and WSSP300 for 2024:

February 23 to 25: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (Phillip Island, Australia)
March 22 to 24: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Montmeló, Spain) – with WSSP300
April 19 to 21: TT Circuit Assen (Assen, Netherlands) – with WSSP300
June 14 to 16: Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli (Misano Adriatico, Italy) – with WSSP300
July 12 to 14: Donington Park (Castle Donington, United Kingdom)
July 19 to 21: Autodrom Most (Most, Czechia) – with WSSP300
August 9 to 11: Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (Portimão, Portugal) – with WSSP300
August 23 to 25: Balaton Park Circuit (Balatonfőkajár, Hungary)
September 6 to 8: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (Magny-Cours, France) – with WSSP300
September 20 to 22: Cremona Circuit (Cremona, Italy)
September 27 to 29: MotorLand Aragón (Alcañiz, Spain) – com WSSP300
October 11 to 13: Circuito de Jerez Ángel Nieto (Jerez de la Frontera, Spain) – with WSSP300

O conteúdo WSBK announces the calendar for 2024, very «European» with two debuts 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 the new World Supersport champion. The victory in the first Portimão race this Saturday allowed the rider who has dominated the season to seal the title with still three races to go.

Despite starting from pole position, Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) had a slow start and was overtaken by Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha). However, he quickly regained the lead in the first corner. In the early laps, Manzi managed to put pressure on his rival, but on the fourth lap, he was passed by Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team/Ducati).

Once in second place, Montella kept up with Bulega and even set a new lap record, but on the seventh lap, he was forced to retire due to a technical issue with his bike. Bulega then had a more comfortable lead, with Manzi more than a second behind. Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) climbed to third place.

The top three positions remained unchanged until the end. Bulega crossed the finish line with a 2.637s gap over Manzi, who managed to distance himself from Navarro after a few laps of pressure. Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) finished fourth, winning a hard-fought battle against Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing/Ducati).

Results:

O conteúdo Nicolò Bulega is the new WSSP champion after a dominant win at Portimão race 1 aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The Superbike paddock arrives in Portimão this weekend for a round in which titles can be decided in all categories. For the World Supersport 300 Championship, it’s the end of the season, so the champion will be determined.

In WSBK, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) leads with a gap of 47 points over Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha). If the Spaniard scores 16 more points than his opponent in Portugal, he will become the champion. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) is in third place and can’t go any higher, but he could still be caught by Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha), Axel Bassani (Motocorsa/Ducati), and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati).

As for WSSP, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) is in a privileged position to become the champion: he has an 85-point lead over Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), and even if he loses 35 points, he will still seal the title. Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta), in third place, no longer has a chance to fight for the championship.

WSSP300 is coming to an end, and the battle will be among the top three. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) has a 30-point lead over José Luis Pérez González, so he has a relatively comfortable lead with 50 points at stake. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM Paligo Racing) is 47 points behind, so once Buis scores at least three points, he will be out of contention.

Here are the schedules for the Portimão round of WSBK, WSSP, and WSSP300 (CET times):

Friday, September 29th
10:45-11:15: FP1 WSSP300
11:30-12:15: FP1 WSBK
12:25-13:10: FP1 WSSP
15:15-15:45: FP2 WSSP300
16:00-16:45: FP2 WSBK
17:00-17:45: FP2 WSSP

Saturday, September 30th
10:00-10:30: FP3 WSBK
10:45-11:05: Superpole WSSP300
11:25-11:45: Superpole WSSP
12:10-12:25: Superpole WSBK
13:40: Race 1 WSSP300
15:00: Race 1 WSBK
16:15: Race 1 WSSP

Sunday, October 1st
10:00-10:15: Warm-up WSBK
10:25-11:40: Warm-up WSSP
10:50-11:05: Warm-up WSSP300
12:00: Superpole race
13:30: Race 2 WSSP
15:00: Race 2 WSBK
16:15: Race 2 WSSP300

O conteúdo Potentially decisive weekend in the Superbike World Championships: Schedule for the Portimão round aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.