2017 World Superbike Season Preview: Part One

The start of a new season is always exciting and this year's World Superbike Championship is no exception. There are some new rules, new players and a stacked grid full of hungry riders. All of whom will fire up their bikes on February 24 as the season kicks off in Australia at the Phillip Island Circuit. Without a crystal ball, it's tough to pick a championship favorite, but it's hard to bet against the reigning back-to-back World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea.

Rea hit his stride when he joined the Kawasaki Racing Team in 2015 and has been the man to beat ever since. Winning championships hasn't dulled his competitive edge and if the Ulsterman can pull off the title defense in 2017, he will go down in the record books as the first World Superbike racer to pull off the three-peat. World Superbike legend Carl Fogarty won four titles and Troy Bayliss three, but neither could string together three in a row.

“I hope to break that statistic, but it’s not going to be easy,” Rea said. “There’s so many guys realistically this year’s going to be so tough because I honestly believe there’s many other riders that can win races and other riders that can win the championship. So It’s probably going to be the biggest challenge I’ve had to date.”

The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR is also a force to be reckoned with. Although they struggled a little bit last year with its debut, it looks as though they were able to dial it in for its sophomore season. So you also can't rule out the man on the same machinery - Rea's teammate Tom Sykes. The 2013 World Champion has been champing at the bit of a repeat.

While the Kawi duo is strong, it's hard not to see Chaz Davies as the favorite to pull off the big upset. The Aruba.it Ducati rider was on fire at the end of last season, taking seven-straight wins after the summer break. So for Davies the new season can't start soon enough for him to begin his effort for a first World Superbike title.

Also eager to win the crown is Ducati. The Bologna marque has had a six-year-title drought and the folks at Ducati Corse are thirsty. They’ve put a lot of effort into making its World Superbike-spec Panigale into a winner.

Although there are more than three new riders added to the World Superbike mix in 2017, three stand out because of their MotoGP pedigrees. The first two aren't really Superbike newbies, but are returning to the superbike fold after a two-year absence: Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty.

Melandri returns as Davies teammate on the Aruba.it Ducati team, and his quite happy to be back in action after a disastrous MotoGP season with Aprilia in 2015 that ended early. As such, the Italian was out in the cold last year without a ride. Although the former World Champion is a bit rusty, he’s a proven World Superbike winner on a competitive machine. Add to that, Melandri heads into the season opener feeling great on the Panigale, making him a valid potential threat in the championship.

Laverty returns to World Superbikes after a two-year stint with the MotoGP Aspar squad. The Ulsterman is also a proven World Superbike winner with 13 wins and will ride for Shaun Muir’s Milwaukee Aprilia squad. Muir had a lot of success in the British Superbike Championship and the hope is that the switch from BMW to Aprilia in 2017 will reap success on the World stage.

World Superbike rookie Stefan Bradl is another rider to keep an eye on in 2017. While making the move from MotoGP to World Superbike is never easy (with new tracks and a new format), it’s hard to dismiss a former World Champion. Bradl joins former MotoGP Champion Nicky Hayden on the Red Bull Honda World Superbike squad, which is a wildcard in itself as the team got a late start in developing the new Honda. But if the team and Bradl hit their stride, the 2011 Moto2 Champion could very well be in the mix for wins.