Six All-New Riders To The World Superbike Championship For The 2022 Season, All looking To Make An Impact In Their First Full-Season.

As the the start of the World Superbike Championship gets closer we take a look at the six new faces that will be lining-up on the grid for 2022. Spanish riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge, both at Team HRC, alongside Czech rider Oliver König, San Marino’s Luca Bernardi, German Philipp Oettl and Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin.

The six rookies might be new to the World Superbike Championship but all of the names are familiar to us from their previous racing experience.

Team HRC have two ex MotoGP paddock riders for their 2022 season line-up, Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge. Both Spanish riders will looking to get Honda’s first victory since 2016, big expectations for both riders having come from the MotoGP Series. Honda will be hoping for podium success in 2022.

The youngest rookie and rider on the grid is Oliver König, the Czech rider is just 20-years-old. Oliver has made the leap from WorldSSP300 straight into the WSBK Championship. He is riding for Orelac Racing Verdnatura. He had a taster of WSBK action for the final round at Indonesia in 2021 and is now ready for his first full-season in WSBK.

Luca Bernardi joins the Marco Barnabo’s Team for his rookie season in WSBK. Luca has ridden in WorldSSP300 and WorldSSP in previous seasons, for 2021 he had an impressive season in WorldSSP until he got injured at Mangy-Cours. He is now back to full fitness and ready for the task ahead of him.

Philipp OettI joins Team GoEleven for his rookie season, he will be aboard the Ducati Panigale V4 R. The 25-year-old brings a wealth of racing experience with him from competing in both Moto 3 and Moto 2 and WorldSSP.

The final rookie lining-up on the WSBK grid is Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin. Hafizh is the oldest of the rookies at 27-years off age. He is riding for the MIE Racing Honda Team, he too brings a wealth of Moto 2 racing experience with him, he also spent two season in the MotoGP Class and was a regular point scorer. Hafizh is the first Malaysian rider to compete in a full-season in the WSBK Championship.

Featured Images: Motorcycle Sports, SportsBeezer, Visordown, GPone.com, Paultan.