Oli Bayliss primed for WorldSSP debut this weekend at Aragon

New look Supersport competition firing into action at Aragon

After a chilly final two-day test session at Motorland Aragón, preparation for the 2022 season is officially complete for Aussie teenager Oli Bayliss ahead of the first round of the season which is set to play out around the 5.077 km circuit located in the Spanish province of Teruel.

Bayliss used the two days to complete a number of set-up tests to improve his feeling with the Ducati Panigale V2.

Bayliss made significant progress, dropping from a 1m56.422 on Monday to a 1m55.510 on Tuesday. The Australian rounded out the two-day test in P22 in the combined Supersport standings.

Oli Bayliss

“Two very important test days for me, and I think we made the most of them. The track was a brand new one for me, but that will be the case with almost all of them. It’s a great circuit and we’re in for a good race weekend.”

The long-awaited debut of the Ducati Panigale V2, the MV Agusta F3 800 RR and the Triumph Street Triple RS is a hot headline ahead of the round. All three come back to the class following a change to the technical regulations to open up the class to more bikes, with Ducati the most popular choice of the new machines. There will be seven Panigale V2 bikes on the grid at Aragon, and factory backed WorldSSP rookie Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) has already gone under existing race lap or Superpole lap records to show the pace of the Ducati. Oli Bayliss rides a Panigale V2 for the Barni Racing Team while Bulega leads the charge for Ducati in the factory backed Aruba squad.

Two teams have switched to Ducati machinery for 2022 with CM Racing moving from Yamaha with rookie Maximilian Kofler, and Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP switching from Kawasaki with race winner Raffaele De Rosa. Davide Giugliano is back, this time as team manager of his own D34G Racing team, also with Ducati machinery and brothers Filippo and Federico Fuligni in the WorldSSP Challenge.

Both Triumph and MV Agusta will be represented by two bikes each. Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) will be joined by rookie Bahattin Sofuoglu, the nephew of Kenan Sofuoglu, who competes in the WorldSSP Challenge whilst Dynavolt Triumph will run with Estonian rider Hannes Soomer and rookie Italian Stefano Manzi.

After taking the Championship by storm in 2021, Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) aims to become the first rider since Kenan Sofuoglu in 2015 and 2016 to retain his title. Aragon was one of four circuits he did not win at in 2021, when he finished second and fifth, and he’s looking to go one better in 2022. He will face stiff competition in 2022, with new team-mate Leandro Taccini hoping to be in the mix from the off.

After making a step forward in 2021, Turkish star Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) will be aiming to continue that at MotorLand Aragon on his Kawasaki ZX-6R. Oncu is joined by rookie Yari Montella as they go in search of glory for Kawasaki.

The Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team claimed the titles in 2019 and 2020 but missed out last year. The team have a new line-up for 2022, bringing in ex-Moto2 GP winner Lorenzo Baldassarri with Peter Sebestyen, aiming to get back on the top step. The team have won every race at Aragon since 2019 and hope to continue that success this season and start their campaign in the best fashion. Another rider still in search of his first victory at Aragon is Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha), with the ex-title runner-up coming into 2022 off the back of a strong end to 2021. He’s joined by WorldSSP’s youngest race winner, Andy Verdoia, who aims for the top ten this year.

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Unai Orradre (MS Racing Yamaha WorldSSP) made the step up to WorldSSP mid-way through the 2021 season after competing in WorldSSP300, where he is the youngest race winner in class history. After fighting for points in 2021, he will be hoping to build on that in his first full season. He is joined by Czech rider Ondrej Vostatek at MS Racing for his first full-season campaign.

For the first time since 2020, Kyle Smith (VFT Racing) will line up on the WorldSSP grid for the full season as he looks to spearhead the VFT Racing effort in 2022, alongside Marcel Brenner who will take part in the WorldSSP Challenge. Patrick Hobelsberger (Kallio Racing) returns to WorldSSP after five appearances in 2021 and Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) will have a full season. One bit of housekeeping: Eugene James McManus will replace injured Aussies Ben Currie at Motozoo Racing by Puccetti, with Currie recovering from a fractured vertebra.

There’re three big-name rookies to look out for elsewhere, all of which fought for the WorldSSP300 title in 2022. Reigning Champion Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) graduates, with ex-teammate Jeffrey Buis, the 2020 WorldSSP300 Champion, also coming up to join the Motozoo Racing by Puccetti team. Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing WorldSSP) also makes the jump, the 2021 WorldSSP300 runner-up and the Prodina team moving up to the WorldSSP class.

Performance balancing across this more diverse new Supersport competition is going to comprise of Concession Parts, Torque limited map with Rev Limit, Minimum Weight, Air restrictor, and allowed Modifications.

Simply put, organisers can pull power/torque from all the motorcycle types in the championship at various rpm to aid them in trying to provide a fairly level playing field. Brave new world this one…

We also have weight limits set on a combined basis of rider (in full race gear) and motorcycle, with a minimum limit also in place.  All machines start with a minimum combined weight of 239 kg, apart from the largest engined bike in the field, the 955 cc Ducati, which must be a minimum combination of 244 kg.

Effectively it looks as though we will end up having two championships running in the same race.  A conventional World Supersport catergy we are accustomed to, but also the new Next Generation class fighting their own battles.

It does look as though it might get a bit messy in regards to balancing parity, but lets hope it produces some great racing!  And of course we will have Oli Bayliss and Ben Currie to cheer on!  Action gets underway this weekend at Aragon

2022 World Supersport Minimum Weights

2022 World Supersport Entry List

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round One – Aragon – Schedule

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

2022 WorldSBK Calendar