Opening Round

With the first European-based round of the 2010 SBK season arriving at Portimao on 28 March, the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and Superstock 600 European Championship classes will soon get underway, with strong entries confirmed in each category.

Populated by relatively young riders, and using machines which are very close to standard production models, these classes will once again run alongside the Superbike World Championship and Supersport World Championship categories at every one of the ten European-based rounds of the overall SBK series.

In the 1000cc class some exciting new machines enter the fray, including the BMW S1000RR and KTM 1198RC8 R. There will be 32 regular riders representing no less than eight different manufacturers in 2010 - Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, KTM, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. Given the strict rules of the class, each machine should be capable of running at the front. Last year three manufacturers won races, with five scoring podiums of some kind.

The 600 Superstock class features four different manufacturers - Honda, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha - with a regular entry of 19 riders coming from nine different countries.

In the Superstock 1000 class Ayrton Badovini joins Daniele Beretta in the BMW Motorrad Italia STK Team, and there will be seven riders on BMW machinery in total, making the S1000RR a popular choice in its first year in Superstock.

As well as some established names there will be new threats aplenty in the Superstock categories, each of which has provided major career steps for some top riders in the SBK and WSS classes.