Superstock 1000 FIM Cup riders out in force
The line up of the 2012 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup has been released and once again there is a healthy entry for a category designed for machines which are very close to street specification when they take to the circuits around Europe. Superstock 1000 is a category reserved for riders born between January 1, 1986 and March 29, 1996.
There are 23 permanent riders in competition, from 13 countries. Italy is the best represented in terms of riders with six, followed by France with five and in an exciting development two riders hail from Brazil, in the shape of Philippe Braga Thiriet and Heber Pedrosa. Each will be riding Kawasakis for Team Brazil by ASPI. After Italy, France and Brazil and their multiple riders, there are competitors from Poland, Australia, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK.
In terms of motorcycles there will be five regular manufacturers represented in this important class - BMW, Ducati, Kawasaki, Honda and Aprilia. Ducati riders will run a mixture of the existing 1098R models and the all-new 1199 Panigale. Four will be on the new model, three on the 1098R.
With four of last year's top 5 moving on to higher things (Giugliano, Petrucci, Zanetti and Canepa), the line-up gains a major face-lift. But the competition will be stiff as always with no less than ten riders opting for Kawasaki power, including former European Superstock 600 champion, Loris Baz (MRS Kawasaki).
Three BMW S1000RR machines will be out at each round, two from the BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet STK team and one from Germany's Markus Reiterberger, in a Team alpha Racing entry.
Two Hondas will also compete, and one Aprilia, as the vee-four returns in the guise of the RSV4 APRC model.
All eyes will be on the new Ducati Panigale to see how it stacks up to the proven bikes in the class, after the 1098R and S1000RR machines shared all of the glory between them in the last couple of years.
There will also be a lot of focus on Kawasaki runners in 2012, with former Aussie Superbike Champion Bryan Staring and Superstock 600 charger Jeremy Guarnoni (Pedercini) plus Baz leading the call to arms on the Ninja ZX-10R.
