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Nine countries, 12 rounds and 36 races later, 2025’s four MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rookies have earned their stripes after a hard-fought season of determined work on and off track and laying it all on the line, corner after corner. The new faces each took steps throughout the season, riding out of Jerez much more complete competitors than when they first debuted down under at Phillip Island. Here’s how each of them fared!

MONTELLA MAKES IT COUNT: The Italian takes top rookie honours

Yari Montella made his WorldSBK debut riding with the Barni Spark Racing Team, the team he rode for in WorldSSP when he mounted a title challenge, and showed real growth over the course of his rookie season while sharing the paddock with MotoGP and WorldSBK race winner Danilo Petrucci. He landed the most top tens of all the rookies with nine, seven more than any other. The strongest stretch of his season came from May to June, where he landed two P8s at Most, then followed it up with a further P8 to open Misano. DNFs, however, were an issue for #5, as his 12 races not finished were the most of any rider on the grid. In fact, while he enjoyed arguably his best form of the season from Most into Misano, he suffered three consecutive DNFs to close Misano and to open at Donington. Provided he can control the bike, his speed has been no issue for him, and he is sure to benefit from the experience of his new 2026 teammate, Alvaro Bautista to work to improve on his P18 Championship placement.

ON THE BUBBLE: Ryan Vickers showed real speed in his first season

Ryan Vickers made the jump from the British Superbike paddock in 2025 after six years of experience in that championship to ride with the Ducati independent Motocorsa Racing. He jumped into the paddock with no holds barred, moving to Italy to be closer to the team and facilitate his getting up to speed in the World Championship. That commitment was reflected in his second-place finish among all rookies and finishing the season tied with Montella for the best result among all rookies on the season with his P7 in Hungary. While Vickers was only able to crack the top ten on two occasions - at Assen and at Balaton - by the season’s midpoint onwards he only missed the points on four occasions, all due to DNFs. Vickers will rejoin BSB in 2026, but he showed his talent on the world stage in 2025.

SOFUOGLU SETTLES IN: Landed his season-high P10 at Magny-Cours

Already decently familiar with the WorldSBK paddock after his two full seasons in WorldSSP300 and three seasons in WorldSSP, Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) rode his Yamaha R1 well throughout the campaign. He finished in P21 directly behind Vickers in the Championship standings. His season’s highlight came in Magny-Cours’ Race 1. He began the race in P21, benefitting from a five-rider pileup in Lap 1 but otherwise rode well to take tenth for his sole top ten of the season. He will gain a new teammate in the form of Mattia Rato in 2026, whom the Turk will look to grow alongside in his sophomore season.

ZAIDI FINDING HIS FOOTING: The Malaysian rookie progressed to land in the points at Magny-Cours

Having competed in a single WorldSSP race at Sepang back in 2014, Zaqhwan Zaidi (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) arrived to the WorldSBK paddock as a newer face than some of his fellow rookies. He and his Honda independent teammate both had a tricky season before Tarran Mackenzie left the team to ride with the MGM BONOVO Racing squad. Zaidi continued to struggle to find form until Magny-Cours, where he earned his first WorldSBK point when he took P15 from Race 1. MIE Honda haven’t confirmed their 2026 lineup, but if Zaidi is on one of their bikes next season, he will have that baseline to improve from.

Look back through the expansive catalogue of these riders’ rookie season with the WorldSBK VideoPass!