Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia
Breaking news

Cortese handed WSBK lifeline by Pedercini

Sandro Cortese will race in the World Superbike championship after all in 2020 after securing a last-minute agreement with satellite Kawasaki squad Pedercini Racing.

Sandro Cortese, Barni Racing Team

Sandro Cortese, Barni Racing Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Pedercini made the announcement on Sunday, just two weeks ahead of the start of the new season at Phillip Island.

It comes after Cortese lost his ride with the GRT Yamaha squad for 2020, which had originally left the former Moto3 and World Supersport champion without a ride.

However, the German rode for Ducati customer team Barni Racing in last month's pre-season tests at Jerez and Portimao, deputising for the injured Leon Camier.

Pedercini's announcement made no mention of Jordi Torres, who had been announced as one of the team's two riders last year but now appears to have been dropped.

Torres' name was conspicuously absent from the draft WSBK entry list released in January, which listed a single Kawasaki ZX-10RR for Pedercini despite the team having named both Torres and Lorenzo Savadori as part of its 2020 line-up.

It subsequently emerged that Savadori had been dropped due to sponsorship issues, the Italian going on to appear for Aprilia in the recent Sepang MotoGP test.

Torres won't be completely out of action in 2020 however as he has signed up to race for the Pons MotoE team, replacing ex-MotoGP frontrunner Sete Gibernau.

The announcement of Cortese at Pedercini leaves only one slot to fill on the 2020 WSBK entry list, which is the second satellite MIE Honda alongside Takumi Takahashi.

2020 WSBK line-up so far:

Team Riders
Kawasaki

 Jonathan Rea

 Alex Lowes

Ducati

 Chaz Davies

 Scott Redding

Crescent Yamaha

 Toprak Razgatlioglu

Netherlands Michael van der Mark

GRT Yamaha

 Federico Caricasulo

 Garrett Gerloff

Honda

 Alvaro Bautista

 Leon Haslam

BMW

 Tom Sykes

 Eugene Laverty

Puccetti Kawasaki

 Xavi Fores

Pedercini Kawasaki

Germany Sandro Cortese

Orelac Kawasaki

Chile Maximilian Scheib

Barni Ducati

 Leon Camier

Go Eleven Ducati

 Michael Ruben Rinaldi

Motocorsa Ducati

Argentina Leandro Mercado

Ten Kate Yamaha France Loris Baz
MIE Honda

Japan Takumi Takahashi

TBA 

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Ducati reveals 2020 World Superbike livery
Next article Redding: Bautista cost himself 2019 WSBK crown

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia