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Pedercini Racing Team had an interesting year that saw a shuffling of riders in the team, with Saeed Al Sulaiti the only constant rider to compete at every round. It was Al Sulaiti’s first year racing in WorldSBK, and though he spent the year in learning mode, he was still able to collect points in some races. It hasn’t been confirmed yet whether or not Al Sulaiti will stay with the Kawasaki team next year but Team Manager Lucio Pedercini is hopeful and confident in the Qatari rider.

“At the moment I want to keep Saeed for another season because you know he didn’t know any of the tracks this year, so he lost all his Friday’s having to learn all the tracks,” said Pedercini. “For that I think he needs another opportunity to prove himself. For next year we will try to work with another top rider as well in order to achieve another good result.”

Al Sulaiti had four teammates in total over the season and that seat for next year is still undecided. The team began with Sylvain Barrier but after injuries that put him on the sidelines in Aragon, Frenchman Lucas Mahias rose to the challenge for Assen. After the Dutch Round, Anthony West joined the team and stayed for eight rounds, until Leon Haslam finished off the year in Qatar on the Kawasaki.

“The year for us has not been bad but in the beginning, we started with Sylvain Barrier and after his injury in Aragon all our plans changed,” explained Pedercini. “Right now we’ll see what the future will bring and what we can do. Sure we will try our best like always and I’m sure our bike is good enough, it’s not far from the factory Kawasakis so for that I’m very happy.”

Of the four temporary riders to don Pedercini livery throughout the season, Anthony West and Leon Haslam were the most successful, both achieving a fifth place finish as their best result. It was thought that Anthony West, after serving for so many rounds would continue on with the Kawasaki into next season, but it was Haslam who landed in Qatar to take his place and Pedercini stays coy about who the other rider in his line up could be.

“We spoke with West at the last race and he’s one of the top riders that I would like to continue to work with,” explained Pedercini. “With Leon Haslam for Qatar, last year in November when I met him he asked me if we could organise a wild card for Donington this year. We tried to work towards that race but his team didn’t allow it because he was fighting for the Title in BSB. Now that BSB is finished, we worked together for this race. Also Kawasaki was very happy for him to do it because he is also a Kawasaki rider. For now the future isn’t set. We see on my list, one of the riders is Anthony West but at this point we haven’t confirmed anything.”