British rider Ryan Vickers will join the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid in 2025 after signing a contract with Team Motocorsa Racing for next season. The Norfolk-born star is in the top six of the British championship this season onboard a Yamaha R1 but he will switch that for a Ducati Panigale V4 R for 2025. Vickers will replace Michael Ruben Rinaldi who will depart the team after a difficult season which hasn’t yielded the results both team and rider have achieved before.
Vickers made his WorldSBK debut in 2022 at the Autodrom Most onboard a Kawasaki ZX-10RR machine with TPR Team Pedercini Racing, taking a best result of P17 in Race 2. He’ll return to the WorldSBK grid at the season finale at Jerez as a wildcard alongside BSB teammate Kyle Ryde, which will be his last race with the team. It was announced that he would leave OMG Racing UK at the end of the season, with his plans now known.
Vickers made his domestic debut in the STK600 British championship in 2017, finishing eighth in the standings with one victory, before taking a dominant victory in Junior Superstock as he won all but two races. That performance earned him a seat in the British Superbike class onboard Kawasaki machinery, securing top ten finishes and a seat for the following season. A first win came following his switch to Yamaha for 2022 and now has seven wins and 13 podiums in total. The 25-year-old sits sixth in this year’s standings with two events left.
Vickers takes the place of Rinaldi after a difficult year for the #21. Rinaldi is a five-time race winner in WorldSBK and also has 23 rostrums to his name, but he has so far been unable to add to his tally this season. He has a best finish of sixth, in Race 2 at Phillip Island, but has only taken four top-ten finishes in 2024. The team were consistent podium challengers with Axel Bassani in recent seasons, but the Rinaldi-Motocorsa combination hasn’t been able to hit the highs that both parties have done in the past.
A statement from Motocorsa read: “Motocorsa is pleased to announce Ryan Vickers for 2025. The rider, born in 1999, one of the youngest riders to take part in British Superbike, has already achieved 7 wins and 13 podiums in the British championship. Ryan Vickers currently rides with OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing and will soon be working with Motocorsa, which will provide him with a Ducati Panigale V4 R 2025. The entire Motocorsa team hopes that he will be able to return to the results he has already seen in previous superbike seasons, with renewed commitment and enthusiasm Motocorsa thanks and bids farewell to Michael Ruben Rinaldi.”
Watch all the action from WorldSBK in 2024 using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now 50% off!
Source: WorldSBK.com