The teams and riders are ready in Australia, ready for the new era of WorldSBK as all the action kicks off on Saturday!

FAST FACTS ON 2016 FIELD:

Most wins: Jonathan Rea – 29

Most podiums: Jonathan Rea – 65

Most poles: Tom Sykes – 30

Most fastest laps: Tom Sykes – 28

Most race starts: Tom Sykes – 184

Oldest rider: Nicky Hayden – 34

Youngest rider: Markus Reiterberger – 21

Number of WorldSBK Champions: 3 – Sykes, Guintoli and Rea

Yet to start a WorldSBK race: 5 - Abraham, Al Sulaiti, Hook, Menghi and Schmitter

Nationalities: 12 (5 - UK, 3 - Spain, 2 - Australia, France, Hungary, Italy, 1 - Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Qatar, Switzerland, USA)

WHO IS WHO:

Kawasaki Racing Team

Kawasaki ZX-10R

JONATHAN REA – First back-to-back Champion of the millennium?

- Ballymena, Northern Ireland, UK

Race number: #1

Age: Turning 29 on February 2

Race starts: 166

Wins: 29

Podiums: 65

Poles: 6

Fastest laps: 21

Last year: Dominant season to become first Northern Irish WorldSBK Champion: 14 wins, 23 podiums, 2 poles and 11 fastest laps, while just missing out on points record

TOM SYKES – Looking to bounce back

- Huddersfield, England, UK

Race number: #66

Age: 30

Race starts: 184

Wins: 26

Podiums: 64

Poles: 30

Fastest laps: 28

Last year: Third in championship with 4 wins, 15 podiums, 6 poles and 7 fastest laps

Aruba.it Racing - Ducati

Ducati 1199 Panigale R

CHAZ DAVIES – Trying to carry on where he left off

- Knighton, Wales, UK

Race number: #7

Age: Turning 29 on February 10

Race starts: 100

Wins: 9

Podiums: 32

Poles: 1

Fastest laps: 11

Last year: Second only to Rea with 5 wins, 18 podiums, 1 pole and 5 fastest laps

DAVIDE GIUGLIANO – Keeping out of trouble

- Rome, Italy

Race number: #34

Age: 26

Race starts: 89

Best finish: 2nd (x6)

Podiums: 9

Poles: 5

Fastest laps: 6

Last year: Injury-stricken fifth season with flashes of brilliance: poles and podiums

Honda World Superbike Team

Honda CBR1000RR SP

MICHAEL VAN DER MARK – Learning year over, now down to business

- Gouda, South Holland, Netherlands

Race number: #60

Age: 23

Race starts: 26

Best finish: 3rd (x3)

Podiums: 3

Best grid: 4th (x2)

Last year: In rookie season, more podium finishes than World Champion team-mate

NICKY HAYDEN – The goal: to win both MotoGP and WorldSBK

- Owensboro, Kentucky, USA

Race number: #69

Age: 34

Race starts: 2 (Laguna Seca wildcard, 2002)

Best finish: 4th

Last year: A difficult final MotoGP season ends with 20th position overall after a difficult bike

Althea BMW Racing Team

BMW S1000 RR

JORDI TORRES – Taking the fight to the Brits

- Rubí, Catalunya, Spain

Race number: #81

Age: 28

Race starts: 26

Wins: 1

Podiums: 4

Best grid: 2nd

Last year: Rookie of the season, fifth overall; five podiums and impressive Qatar win

MARKUS REITERBERGER – Knows BMW better than anybody

- Trostberg, Bavaria, Germany

Race number: #21

Age: 21

Race starts: 6

Best finish: 12th

Last year: Scored points in WorldSBK races and won German IDM Superbike title

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team

Yamaha YZF R1

ALEX LOWES – Time to shine - Lincoln, England, UK

Race number: #22

Age: 25

Race starts: 54

Best finish: 2nd

Podiums: 3

Best grid: 3rd

Fastest laps: 2

Last year: Thai podium followed by challenging season

SYLVAIN GUINTOLI – Clean sheet for 2014 title winner

- Montelimar, France

Race number: #50

Age: 33

Race starts: 154

Wins: 9

Podiums: 41

Poles: 4

Fastest laps: 12

Last year: Single podium in otherwise uncompetitive season on Honda

Barni Racing Team

Ducati 1199 Panigale R

XAVI FORES – One-man band

- Llombai, Valencian Community, Spain

Race number: #12

Age: 30

Race starts: 15

Best finish: 5th

Best grid: 3rd

Last year: Solid sub for injured Giugliano (including front row qualifying in Qatar) while winning three IDM Superbike races to finish runner-up to Reiterberger

Team Pedercini

Kawasaki ZX-10R

SYLVAIN BARRIER – Needs to stay fit

- Oyonnax, France

Race number: #20

Age: 27

Race starts: 17

Best finish: 10th (x3)

Best grid: 10th

Last year: Lost WorldSBK ride and moved to Superstock 1000, but hit by more injuries

SAEED AL SULAITI – The third Qatari to race in WorldSBK category

- Doha, Qatar

Race number: #11

Age: 30

Race starts: 0

Last year: Raced in Qatar SuperBike Championship (QSBK)

MV Agusta Reparto Corse

MV Agusta 1000 F4

LEON CAMIER – Rapid racer, comprehensive developer and team builder

- Ashford, England, UK

Race number: #2

Age: 29

Race starts: 133

Best finish: 2nd (x2)

Best grid: 2nd

Last year: Along with his team, few riders grafted harder in developing their machine and a top five finish at Magny-Cours was well deserved

Team GOELEVEN

Kawasaki ZX-10R

ROMAN RAMOS – Mr. Consistency

- Santander, Cantabria, Spain

Race number: #40

Age: 25

Race starts: 26

Best finish: 7th

Best grid: 14th

Last year: A very respectable rookie campaign, scoring in all but three of the races he finished and retiring only three times from 26 starts

Grillini Racing Team

Kawasaki ZX-10R

DOMINIC SCHMITTER – Stepping up the ladder

- Altstätten, Rhine Valley, Switzerland

Race number: #9

Age: 21

Race starts: 0

Last year: Finished World Supersport 14th overall, also racing twice in IDM Supersport Championship and scoring a podium finish

JOSH HOOK – Into the shark pool

- Taree, New South Wales, Australia

Race number: #16

Age: 23

Race starts: 0

Last year: Finished second in prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours alongside Kyle Smith and Dominique Aegerter. Also raced in All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship and four Grands Prix in the Moto2 World Championship

Team Toth

Yamaha YZF R1

IMRE TOTH – Climbing the steep learning curve

- Budapest, Hungary

Race number: #10

Age: 30

Race starts: 44

Best finish: 12th

Best grid: 20th (x4)

Last year: On a lesser developed bike than rivals, Toth achieves three points finishes

PETER SEBESTYEN – Half of Hungarian duo hungry for international success

- Budapest, Hungary

Race number: #56

Age: 21

Race starts: 11

Best finish: 18th

Best grid: 25th

Last year: 29 points in STK1000

MILWAUKEE BMW

BMW S1000 RR

KAREL ABRAHAM – Grand Prix winner tries his hand at WorldSBK

- Brno, Czech Republic

Race number: #17

Age: 26

Race starts: 0

Last year: Former Moto2 winner starts ten MotoGP races in season plagued by injury

JOSH BROOKES – Newly-crowned BSB Champion returns to WorldSBK

- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Race number: #25

Age: 32

Race starts: 35

Best finish: 7th

Best grid: 3rd

Last year: A controlled ride to BSB title on Milwaukee Yamaha, amassing no less than 13 wins, 23 podiums, 6 poles and 11 fastest laps along the way

VFT Racing

Ducati 1199 Panigale R

FABIO MENGHI – Ever-popular WorldSSP rider steps up a gear

- Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Race number: #61

Age: 29

Race starts: 0

Last year: 15th overall in World Supersport with best finish of sixth at Misano