FIM WorldSSP Challenge ready to kick off: who is joining the grid from Assen onwards?
Eight WorldSSP Challenge riders will fight for glory on European turf, with only one able to come out on top – who are they and who is could ruffle feathers from the start?
The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is already two rounds in and with the TT Circuit Assen and the Pirelli Dutch Round up next, it signifies the first European round of the season and thus new names joining the grid in World Supersport. This year, there are a pack of fast riders in the FIM WorldSSP Challenge, from WorldSSP300 race winners and title contenders to fast rookies looking to emulate previous generations. With a reigning Champion graduating too, is this the most competitive field yet?
THE ESTABLISHED NAMES: Alvaro Diaz headlines, Booth-Amos and Yuta Okaya alongside
One of the favourites for the WorldSSP300 title in 2022 right from the start, Alvaro Diaz (Arco YART Yamaha WorldSSP) clinched the title at Portimao last year and with two wins and nine podiums, he was a deserving Champion. Now, it’s time for a new challenge as he graduates to WorldSSP and does so with the same team – the Arco Motor University Team, although in 2023, the Arco YART Yamaha WorldSSP team. The team of university students had more than a degree of excellence in WorldSSP300, but the WorldSSP Challenge will be an entirely different lecture hall.
Tom Booth-Amos (MOTOZOO ME AIR RACING TEAM) was in WorldSSP action last year but an injury-hit season after a big crash at Assen left a ‘what could’ve been’ feeling for the 27-year-old British rider. Having adapted to the Motozoo team last year and achieved a top ten result at Phillip Island, he’ll hope for more of the same at Assen, a circuit he goes well at and likes. You can read more about him and teammate Luke Power here, as we caught up with them separately ahead of the season, where Booth-Amos declares that he aims for the WorldSSP Challenge title.
Another name graduating from WorldSSP300 is Yuta Okaya (Prodina Kawasaki Racing WorldSSP), with the Japanese star hoping to make a name for himself in WorldSSP too. With two wins in WorldSSP300 – both coming in a final lap, final corner pass at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2020 and 2022 – and plenty of podiums, he’ll hope that he can push the Prodina team into the points on a regular basis as well as challenge for the top ten.
COMPLETE ROOKIES AND FAMILIAR NAMES: new stars emerge, regulars return
There are some major names coming into the WorldSSP Challenge this season, with one in particular bringing a famous racing name back to the world stage. Maiki Abe (VFT Racing Yamaha), the son of the late great Norick Abe, will be present on the grid and fly the Japanese flag in WorldSSP. He was 16th in the Asian Supersport series in 2022 and will hope to adapt to the WorldSSP Challenge quickly. Alongside him, there’s also Luke Power and the Australian has already enjoyed plenty of testing ahead of the season. He’s achieving a life-long dream of racing at the world level and hoping that he can make a name for himself from the start.
Elsewhere on the WorldSSP Challenge grid, Federico Fuligni (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) is present aboard Ducati machinery, as is Maximilian Kofler (D34G Racing), who is alongside one of his best friends in the paddock Oli Bayliss – Bayliss competing full-time in WorldSSP. The final rider to keep an eye on will be Tom Edwards (YART – Yamaha WorldSSP Team), with the Australian back for a full WorldSSP Challenge season and hoping for more points.
WHAT IS THE WorldSSP Challenge?
Now in its third year under the WorldSSP Challenge banner, it effectively replaced the European Supersport Cup from previous years. However, the ethos remained the same: logistics and travels costs are kept low for the European rounds of the season but teams and riders still enjoy competition in the class, as well as benefitting from global audiences – trackside and through TV. A separate fight to WorldSSP, riders still score World Championship points and start on the WorldSSP grid. In 2021, the title winner was Yamaha’s Kevin Manfredi, whilst 2022’s winner was Bahattin Sofuoglu for MV Agusta. A third different winner is guaranteed, but will it be a third different manufacturer too?
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