Supersport Special 2012: 32 riders and a title up for grabs

The Supersport World Championship in 2012 is going to deliver a lot of excitement. We have a grid full of big names. Although last season’s champion and runner-up will not be taking part in this championship, other riders have arrived who are going to cause plenty of trouble, so nobody can afford to miss the WSS races.

The season will get under way on 26 February at Phillip Island, although before that we will see the test teams of the pre-season at that same Australian track. It will be interesting to see the 32 riders entered on the grid so far. There is no doubt the excitement will be at its peak, with several riders in the spotlight as favourites, among them the newcomer Kenan Sofuoglu. After his adventure in the Moto2 World Championship, the Turk has decided to return home, where he had his greatest successes, so watch out for the Turk and his Kawasaki.

Specifically, there will be four manufacturers on the grid: 17 riders with Honda CBR600RR; seven riders on Yamaha YZF-R6s; five riding Kawasaki ZX-6Rs; and one Triumph Daytona 675. All of them are ready to give everything they have over the thirteen rounds on the calendar, which will run alongside the World Superbike Championship except for the event in the United States. So there are many riders chasing a crown that currently has no king: nobody will carry the number 1 in 2012.

A championship made up of fourteen different nationalities represented on track: Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States. As you can see, in 2012 we will not have any of our own in Supersport, so it will be strange, but it seems there will be no Spanish rider in this category, which is a shame.

As I mentioned earlier, it is difficult to make a prediction for the favourites, since there are many new names, and we will have to see the first races to judge performance. But Sofuoglu, Foret, and rookies such as Day could be at the front causing plenty of trouble, although surely some surprises will emerge along the way.

Here you can see the provisional entry list. We may have some surprises before registration closes, but for now these 32 riders are the ones who will contest the 2012 Supersport World Championship.

Which one is your favourite?

Photo | WorldSBK