The FIM and Infront have released the 2012 World Superbike provisional entry list and it’s a pretty healthy grid with 24 riders, and a last minute surprise entry of Moto2 rider Raffaele de Rosa but sadly enough Noriyuki Haga is not listed.
De Rosa will be riding for Pro Ride Motorsports, which with all probability is the same team that under the banner of Pro Ride Honda had announced that they would debuting in WSBK in 2009 and then in 2010 and even signed Makoto Tamada, but never found a big enough sponsor to fund their racing programme.
Reigning World Champion Carlos Checa has opted not to take the #1 plate and his keeping his usual #7, while Max Biaggi is returning to his historical #3, but his Aprilia factory team no longer has Alitalia as their main sponsor and are racing under the Aprilia Racing Team banner (ART anyone?).
We’ve already seen that Jonathan Rea has reverted back to his #65 leaving Honda team mate Hiroshi Aoyama his last year’s #4, and Superbike rookie Chaz Davies will have to make do with #19 as his lucky #7 that he used to win the 2011 Supersport championship belongs to Carlos Checa.
John Hopkins is back with his #21 after gotten permission from Troy Bayliss to use his number after it had been retired.
Leon Camier and Mark Aitchison have yet to announce their racing numbers, but it is expected that they keep the same numbers they used last season Provisional entry list after the jump: 3- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory4- Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR7- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1098R17- Joan Lascorz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R19- Chaz Davies – ParkinGO Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory21- John Hopkins – Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 100033- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR34- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Ducati 1098R35- Raffaele De Rosa – Pro Ride Motorsports – Honda CBR 1000RR36- Leandro Mercado – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R44- David Salom – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R50- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1098R58- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory59- Niccolò Canepa – Team Ducati Roma – Ducati 1098R65- Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR66- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R78- Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1098R84- Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GOLDBET SBK Team – BMW S1000RR86- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GOLDBET SBK Team – BMW S1000RR91- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR96- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1098R121- Maxime Berger – Liberty Racing Team Effenbert – Ducati 1098RTBA- Leon Camier – Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000TBA- Mark Aitchison – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR