Battaini (Kawasaki Bertocchi) is another proven
MotoGP and 250GP rider to opt for the charms of SBK in 2006, and much is expected of the privateer rider in his first season.
The unique Petronas FP-1 triple will once more be campaigned by the Foggy Petronas team, with 2005 signing Martin returning after successful kidney surgery and after having set impressive test times at Phillip Island in January.
Young Briton Craig Jones may find the outgunned FP-1 not an ideal platform from which to launch his rookie SBK season, thanks solely to its 100cc capacity handicap compared to all other types of eligible SBK machines, but his youthful enthusiasm will nonetheless see him gunning for the maximum possible rewards.
In the World Supersport championship, Winston Ten Kate Honda's reigning title holder Sebastien Charpentier may not have things all his own way this year, as a frontal assault of talent and all-new machines attempt to depose last year’s clear winner.
Charpentier’s new team-mate is 2005 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup runner up
Kenan Sofuoglu, but his greatest challenge may come from the two-rider Yamaha Motor Germany squad, now equipped with the all-new R6.
Both Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain won races in 2005, despite their machines’ relative venerability, and with a full 15 new R6s on the grid, plus 13 well-proven Hondas, this year’s contest is expected to be a true class act on all levels.
An all new Suzuki GSX-R600, plus some fast Ducatis and Kawasakis, makes WSS a five cornered manufacturers’ fight again, in what is a massively resurgent class.
With race day in Qatar on Saturday, track action begins on Thursday, with Superpole for the Superbike class on Friday and points scoring races on Saturday 25th. Shortly thereafter, the paddock decamps to Phillip Island for round two, on Sunday 5 March.
