Moto2, WorldSSP race winner Lorenzo Baldassarri lands 2023 WorldSBK deal
Five-time Moto2 race winner Lorenzo Baldassarri and GMT94 Yamaha will graduate from the WorldSSP class to join the 2023 WorldSBK Championship grid
Lorenzo Baldassarri will join WorldSSP title rival Dominique Aegerter in making his WorldSBK debut in 2023 after securing a deal to progress with fellow series newcomers GMT94 Yamaha.
A former front runner in the Moto2 World Championship - where he won five races and 12 podiums - Baldassarri switched to WorldSSP this season with 2019 and 2020 champions Evan Bros. Racing.
The only rider to get close to challenging Aegerter’s dominant superiority in the intermediate class, though the Italian has slipped away from the Swiss racer in the title fight, four wins among 14 podiums see him comfortably on course for the runners-up spot.
For 2023, however, Baldassarri will step up to the WorldSBK Championship with GMT94, the French outfit also confirming its plan to graduate from WorldSSP for the first time with a single customer Yamaha R1 entry.
“I’m very happy, because I started this project with Yamaha in WorldSSP from Moto2,, and my goal was always to be in WorldSBK. This year, we’ve had a very good season, we have grown together and I’m always improving.
“I’m ready for this step into the WorldSBK Championship with Yamaha and the GMT94 Yamaha WorldSBK Team, so thanks to them for giving me this opportunity; I can’t wait to start this new adventure.”
Baldassarri becomes the fifth Yamaha rider confirmed for the 2023 WorldSBK season alongside Toprak Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli on the factory Pata bikes, plus Remy Gardner and Aegerter with the works supported satellite GYTR GMT outfit.
However, as many as seven Yamaha R1s are expected to be present on the grid together with Gil Motorsport, which is expected to retain Christophe Ponsson, and Motoxracing which is understood to have held talks with BSB Champion-elect Bradley Ray after negotiations with Tarran Mackenzie fell through.
GMT94 Yamaha’s arrival comes after several years spent in both WorldSSP and the Endurance World Championship.
2023 WorldSBK Championship - Rider Line-up [Provisional as of 15/10/22]
| 2023 WorldSBK Championship - Provisional Rider Line-up [as of 15/10/22] | |||
| Rider | Nat. | WorldSBK Team | Superbike |
| Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Aruba Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha R1 |
| Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha R1 |
| Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR |
| Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR |
| Iker Lecuona | ESP | Team HRC Honda | Honda CBR1000RR-R |
| Xavi Vierge | ESP | Team HRC Honda | Honda CBR1000RR-R |
| Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M 1000 RR |
| Michael van der Mark | NED | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M 1000 RR |
| Philipp Oettl | GER | Team Go Eleven | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac VerdNatura Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR |
| Remy Gardner | AUS | GYTR GRT | Yamaha R1 |
| Dominique Aegerter | SUI | GYTR GRT | Yamaha R1 |
| Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | GMT94 | Yamaha R1 |
| Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action Racing | BMW M 1000 RR |
| Garrett Gerloff | USA | Bonovo Action Racing | BMW M 1000 RR |
| Xavi Fores | ESP | Barni Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| Tom Sykes | GBR | Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR |
| Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Gil Motor Sport | Yamaha R1 |
| Bradley Ray | GBR | Motoxracing WorldSBK | Yamaha R1 |
| Marcel Schrotter | GER | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R |
| TBA | TBA | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R |
| TBA | TBA | Team Pedercini Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR |
Riders rumoured (not official) in grey/italics
