Crew chiefs: who is working where in WorldSBK in 2022?
Crew chiefs make up a vital role throughout a WorldSBK round and there have been some moves in the 2022 off-season
The 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is fast approaching with racing due to get underway at the start of April at MotorLand Aragon. Ahead of the new campaign getting underway, with teams and riders on track and testing before racing starts, we take a look at the crew chiefs that will work with riders throughout the 2022 season with some changes at the factory teams.
At reigning Teams’ Champions Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK, the winning formula for 2021 remains in place across both sides of the garage. Reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu will continue to work with Phil Marron as they look to make it two titles in a row. For his second season in WorldSBK, Andrea Locatelli will have two-time WorldSSP Champion Andrew Pitt as his crew chief.
With the return of Alvaro Bautista to the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati squad comes one of the changes in crew chiefs in 2022. Bautista worked with Giulio Nava at Team HRC and will do so again as they reunite with Ducati. The duo has also worked together in MotoGP™, while Nava has also worked with esteemed riders such as Ben Spies, Casey Stoner, Marc Marquez and the late Nicky Hayden. On the other side of the garage, Michael Ruben Rinaldi will have Filippo Burgatti as his crew chief for the 2022 season having worked with him throughout 2021.
After so much success over the years, six-time Champion Jonathan Rea will have WorldSSP race winner Pere Riba at Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK as they look to re-claim the title they won interrupted between 2015 and 2020. On the other side of the box, Alex Lowes will be looking to visit the top step of the rostrum again and he will work with Marcel Duinker in 2022, having been together since Lowes joined KRT in 2020.
The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team have a new rider line-up for 2022 as Scott Redding makes the switch from Ducati to the German manufacturer. The Brit will also have a new crew chief as he works with Ian Lord, with Lord having worked with Sykes at BMW in 2020. Michael van der Mark will once again have Marcus Eschenbacher in his corner, with Eschenbacher having plenty of MotoGP™ and WorldSBK experience.
Team HRC have an all-new line-up for 2022 and there has also been a change in crew chiefs for this season. Pete Jennings makes the move from Team GoEleven to work with Iker Lecuona for the 2022 season, using his experience to help Lecuona settle in to WorldSBK after two years in MotoGP™. For Xavi Vierge’s rookie season, he will work with Gorka Segura who has been with HRC since their return as a full-factory squad in 2020.
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