Sylvain Barrier swaps BSB for WorldSBK tilt on Ducati

Sylvain Barrier returns to the World Superbike Championship ranks this weekend at Portimao after abandoning initial plans to compete in the British Superbike Championship.

A two-time champion in the now defunct FIM Superstock 1000, Barrier began the 2019 season in the British series riding a new Ducati Panigale V4 R under the Brixx Racing banner.

However, the team hasn’t started a BSB race since round four and instead re-emerged during August’s WorldSBK test at Portimao with the bike now conforming to the world championship regulations to allow it to race there.

As such, Barrier will be on the grid in Portimao, raising the Ducati contingent to five alongside the factory Aruba.it machines of Alvaro Bautista and Chaz Davies, Eugene Laverty on the Go Eleven bike and Barni Racing’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

Barrier – whose career has been beset by injuries since winning back-to-back SSTK1000 titles in 2012 and 2013 -  has previously raced in WorldSBK but not since 2016 when he competed with the Pedercini Kawasaki team.

Portimao WorldSBK Schedule