TEAM ALTHEA RACING UNVEILS ITS PLANS FOR THE 2015 SBK SEASON

Before the 2014 Superbike World Championship comes to a conclusion, Team Althea Racing is already hard at work as it starts to make preparations for next season. In 2015, the partnership between the Team and Ducati will continue. In 2011, the Team won Ducati’s most recent World Superbike title, with Carlos Checa on board the 1098R; Checa was the first Spaniard ever to win the Superbike title.

Next year the Team will line up with two very experienced riders and with the strong desire to unleash its full potential and be able to create a team with all of the characteristics needed to win. Genesio Bevilacqua, Althea Racing Team Owner, has decided to focus on Spaniard Nicolas Terol and on Italian rider Matteo Baiocco. Both riders are able to bring results to the Team and it is for this reason that the Team has decided on these two men. Ambition, experience and a desire to stand out are the qualities that the Team was looking for and, in this case, all of the prerequisites with which to do well exist. A bike, the Ducati 1199 Panigale R, that has everything needed to be able to compete at the highest level against rival manufacturers, and two riders that can fight for podium finishes with the Ducati in every race.

Nicolas Terol was the last rider to win the former 125 championship title, in 2011, with the Aprilia of Team Bancaja Aspar. 2014 was not a very positive year for Nico, who did not achieve the results he’d hoped for due to a hip injury that resulted from the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez della Frontera and went on to condition his entire season. The 26-year old, from Alcoy in Spain, will come to Team Althea with a great deal of experience and the desire to demonstrate his true value.

Matteo Baiocco, born in 1984, knows the bike better than anyone, thanks to his work as Ducati test rider. It is also worth noting that Matteo has, until now, been the fastest rider ever to ride the 1199 Panigale R; he set a new Mugello track record of 1’49.7 which smashed all previous records. The rider, from Osimo in Italy, won the Italian Superbike championship (CIV) on two consecutive occasions, in 2011 and 2012, and also battled for the 2014 title right down to the last laps of the very last race at Mugello. All of these qualities have resulted in the Team selecting him for 2015.