WorldSBK crew chiefs: Who is working with which rider for the 2024 season?
While shocking rider moves took place for the 2024 WorldSBK season, some big names have also been on the move when it comes to crew chiefs.
Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea stole many headlines in 2023 when they announced their WorldSBK moves to BMW and Yamaha, respectively.
Then there was the return of Andrea Iannone, which not only added another big name to the world championship, but strengthened Ducati even further.
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Nicolo Bulega, the reigning WorldSSP champion and Sam Lowes moved to WorldSBK aboard Panigale V4 R machines.
Replacing Rea at Kawasaki is Axel Bassani, who has become a factory rider for the first time in his Superbike career as a result.
But while there have been plenty of rider changes, that’s also true in the crew chief market as Phil Marron, who was part of Razgatlioglu’s title success at Yamaha in 2021, has followed the Turkish star to BMW.
At Yamaha, Rea will be working alongside former WorldSSP team-mate Andrew Pitt, who was also a Superbike rider in 2010 which was Rea’s third year in the series.
Pitt moves across to Rea’s side of the garage after being alongside Andrea Locatelli. For the latter, Locatelli will be working with Tom O’Kane who comes across from the factory Yamaha team in MotoGP.
There has also been a game of musical chairs at Kawasaki following Rea’s departure, with Alex Lowes now working with Pere Riba.
Kawasaki new boy Bassani will be working together with Marcel Duinker, who previously worked with Lowes and Tom Sykes.
At the factory Ducati team, Bulega is stepping up with his crew chief from WorldSSP, Tommaso Raponi.
Another name who has left MotoGP to become a crew chief in WorldSBK is Tom Jojic who will work with Iker Lecuona. Scott Redding will work with Loris Baz’s crew chief from last season, Bela Kujundzic.
But some noticeable partnerships that are remaining the same include Alvaro Bautista and Giulio Nava, Michael Van Der Mark and Marcus Eschenbacher, while Xavi Vierge will continue to work alongside Gorka Segura.
