Five predictions for the 2024 WorldSBK season

Whether it’s who will be world champion, top independent rider or biggest surprise, we have you covered with five predictions for the upcoming WorldSBK season. 

Starting with the big one… Alvaro Bautista will be world champion for a third season in a row

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The Ducati rider was the most dominant Superbike champion the series has ever seen in 2023.

Winner of 27 races - the next highest total was Toprak Razgatlioglu with 6 - Bautista showed just why Ducati made the right decision in bringing him back.

Other riders aboard Ducati had success in their own right, but Bautista was the only one able to consistently be at the front of the field.

Bautista won’t have it all his own way as Razgatlioglu and BMW could be a major force, while the same can be said for Jonathan Rea following his move to Yamaha.

But it’s unlikely that either of those two phenomenal riders will be able to beat Bautista in their first season aboard new machinery. 

Razgatlioglu will get the better of Rea in first season with new teams

While this was a very difficult one to predict, in large part because six-time world champion Jonathan Rea is the greatest Superbike rider ever, Razgatlioglu is in the prime of his career and demonstrated that on multiple occasions in 2023. 

When he had no business being close to Bautista, Razgatlioglu either pushed the Spaniard all the way or got the better of the Ducati rider, like in Jerez even if the result was later overturned.

Razgatlioglu showed that he can out-perform a bike and by some margin, so while the BMW needs to be improved it’s a bike that has shown different, but also very good qualities compared to the Yamaha.

Some of those involve braking and top speed, which is exactly what Razgatlioglu was after when he made the decision to switch manufacturers.

It will be close but we believe Razgatlioglu will narrowly get the better of Rea in the championship. 

Danilo Petrucci will reign as top Independent rider

Petrucci’s first season in WorldSBK involved a fair-few ups and downs, however, when he was on the pace there were very few riders able to beat the Italian. 

With another year of experience and the Italian still riding at a very high level, Petrucci should hold the advantage over riders making their debut in the class, even if they are big names. 

Biggest surprise - Nicolo Bulega

Yes Bulega is stepping onto the best bike on the grid, and yes Bulega is the reigning WorldSSP champion, but challenging for podiums as a rookie is no easy task in WorldSBK no matter the machine you’re on.

That’s exactly what we’re expecting Bulega to do, and with some consistency after he adapts fully to the Panigale V4 R.

Challenging Bautista for wins will be very difficult but if Bulega can get close then it will be somewhat of a surprise given how much Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who is multiple race winner, struggled to do that. 

Now for the final but very bold prediction…

Andrea Iannone will be a race winner as a rookie

This is a very, very BOLD prediction, especially after the Italian has been out of action for over four years.

However, if there is one rider not currently in MotoGP that has the talent to send shockwaves through the Superbike paddock, it is Iannone.

A mercurial talent, Iannone is also aboard a Ducati bike and will have every opportunity to be competitive.

It might take tricky conditions, an incident at the front or another reason for Iannone to find himself in a winning position, but ruling the former Suzuki, Ducati and Aprilia rider out from producing a shock on merit, is something we’re not willing to do.