Ranking Crash.net's top five WorldSBK title contenders for 2022

Each of the last three WorldSBK seasons have seen no more than two riders battle for the title, but could that change in 2022 and if so, here’s five riders including last season's top two Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea who we think can be title contenders.

In 2019 it was Rea vs Alvaro Bautista with the former coming out victorious, while the same outcome occurred in 2020 when Rea got the better of WorldSBK rookie Scott Redding. However, in 2021 Rea was beaten to a title for the first time since 2015 as Razgatlioglu claimed a maiden world title. 

The Yamaha rider, who had won races in the previous two seasons more than doubled his win tally last year alone. Although Razgatlioglu was expected to mount a title challenge, no one would have predicted the season he had which makes us wonder who could be next to join the title fight alongside himself and Rea in 2022. 

Here’s Crash.net’s ranking of the top five title contenders in 2022.  

5: Andrea Locatelli

Andrea Locatelli’s last two seasons in world championship racing speak for themselves. As a rookie in WorldSSP (2020) the Italian won 12 out of 15 races en route to a maiden title, which was in a class that had perennial Supersport race winners Jules Cluzel and Lucas Mahais included.

Then as a WorldSBK rookie in 2021 Locatelli first made a major impact during round five at Assen as he claimed his first podium in the premier class, while nearly beating his world champion team-mate Razgatlioglu to second in the Superpole race. Finishing fifth in the first race of three in the Netherlands, Locatelli then began a streak of 12 top five finishes in succession, while also claiming 18 from the final 25 races. 

It’s the type of consistency that many riders with more experience were and still to this point have been unable to achieve, while it also showed the type of form over a considerable distance that would be needed for a title challenge. 

Although Locatelli will need to find another gear (excuse the pun) if he’s to match the likes of Razgatlioglu and Rea, an expected year-two jump along with the experience he’s now gained should lead him to challenge for race wins as soon as round one in Aragon. 

4: Scott Redding

Number four on this list is the curious case of Scott Redding as his season will depend entirely on the type of package he’s provided by BMW. 

The German manufacturer is yet to show that they can challenge for a title, however, they haven’t had a rider of Redding’s talent since returning to the championship as a full factory outfit. Still, if you base this prediction off the bike’s 2021 form then Redding would struggle to get anywhere close to a title challenge.

However, there’s no reason why BMW can’t take a considerable step forward as they go into year two with the M 1000 RR. Since joining WorldSBK in 2020 Redding has claimed more than five wins in both seasons and has not finished lower than third in the championship. 

In fact, his form during the middle part of 2021 was as good if not better than Razgatlioglu and Rea at times. Should BMW provide Redding with a bike that can fight for wins on a consistent basis, then he’s the rider most likely to challenge the series’ top two riders.

3: Alvaro Bautista

Alvaro Bautista is perhaps the most intriguing on this list because his one and only season with Ducati looked like being a title winning campaign through the first six rounds. 

Bautista won the first 11 races in a row, while taking 14 of the first 18. However, the Spaniard suffered various crashes and a lack of form from that point forward which resulted in just two wins from the final 16 races.   

While crashes continued to be a problem for Bautista during his time with Honda, the former MotoGP rider has returned to Aruba.it Ducati with the Bologna-based manufacturer arguably having the most well-rounded bike on the grid. 

The 38 year-old still showed enough pace at Honda, who it needs to be said were quite some way away from the likes of Yamaha, Kawasaki and Ducati in 2021, to be a title contender especially since the bike has a lot of the same traits it had in 2019. 

2: Jonathan Rea

It goes without saying that Rea belongs inside the top two when it comes to title favourites. 

Despite making several mistakes in 2021, the Kawasaki rider produced yet another stunning season as he tied Razgatlioglu for wins, had one more podium and five more pole positions than the Turkish rider. 

Rea, who won both season finale races at Mandalika, will be without the number one plate for the first time since 2015 as he remains in search of a seventh title. 

Following the season Rea acknowledged that battling with Razgatlioglu over a whole season has led him to better understand the world champion’s mentality and approach to racing, something you would expect him to benefit from when the two inevitably do battle again in 2022.

1: Toprak Razgatlioglu

Starting the year as the favourite to repeat as WorldSBK champion is Pata Yamaha rider Razgatlioglu. 

The 25 year-old was in a class of his own regarding consistency last season, while improved qualifying performance was another key to Razgatlioglu’s success. 

Although 2021 was his first attempt at fighting for a world title, Razgatlioglu showed relentless pace whilst being mistake-free, which was mightily impressive given the level he and Rea were competing at.

Pressure was something that often seemed non-existent to Razgatlioglu, which is unlikely to be a problem going forward after having already won the title and doing so in a high-pressured season finale. For these reasons, Razgatlioglu is our favourite to win the title again.