It took one of last year's instant successes, Eugene Laverty, no time at all to prove he was a real asset to the SBK grid, and he ended up fourth in the overall rankings with Yamaha. After the Japanese manufacturer decided to opt out for 2012, Laverty eventually landed a plum ride, one of the best available, with the official Aprilia Racing Team (photo Laverty in new leathers).

His transition to the RSV4 so far has been almost seamless, as he explains. "It was disappointing for both Marco and me having been signed in for the second year with Yamaha, but I have been fortunate to have picked up a competitive ride even though for a fair few months it was not so nice, because I was still looking for a job. It has worked out well. As soon as I got on the Aprilia it felt quite rigid but it suited me right away, and I could be fast on it right away."

Laverty has taken two of his own picks into the proven championship winning Aprilia set-up, which Laverty thinks is already working out well. "I brought two technicians along with me, Marcus Eschenbacher (former Yamaha race engineering linchpin) and Phil Marron, whom I worked with at Parkalgar before. Aprilia were open to it and the whole team gelled pretty well at the test at Portimao in the end of November last year."

Next up for Laverty are two tests at Phillip Island, one private and one official. "I will be testing at Phillip Island very soon but there will be a few other teams there too, and then the two day official test in the week running up to the race itself. The aim is to be there from the word go. Checa will be very strong but after that it will be open to anybody, so there is no reason why we cannot be fighting with Checa as well."

The season will grow to 14 rounds this year, but like most people Laverty will be keen to find out more about the all-new track on the calendar, near Moscow, before he goes there in August. "We also go to Russia this year but I do not know much about it. I think there is a very big straight and all I have seen the layout of the track and a few pictures. We get an extra day of testing before the race so it will be another day onto the weekend."

Last year Laverty vied with his then team-mate Melandri for the unofficial title of top rookie, but this year few doubt that Laverty will have a realistic chance to go for the biggest title of all.

The Trasimeno Team has opted to continue its policy of bringing up youngsters within its ranks by signing the talented Spanish rider Nacho Calero Perez for its European Superstock 600 Championship attack.

The Spaniard, born in Valencia on 7th May 1991, began racing at a very early age in the Metrakit Trophy before making the logical move into 125 GP. In 2008 he switched to four-strokes in the European Superstock 600 series and over the past few years has proved his worth by obtaining a series of positive results such as ninth overall in 2010. Last season he finished 15th with 35 points, with his best performance being a fastest lap at Monza.

Calero Perez will be joined in the two-rider Trasimeno Yamaha team by a South African rookie: Jonathan Willcox. The 22 year-old from Johannesburg has only raced once in European Superstock 600, last year at Portimao, but that brief appearance was enough to earn him a confirmed slot with the team.

The Effenbert Liberty Racing Team has decided to double up in the Superstock 1000 category with the announcement that Italian Federico Sandi will join Canadian Brett McCormick in the two-rider team.

Team owner Mario Bertuccio and the Superstock Team Manager Natale Egi opted for the 22-year-old Italian Federico Sandi, who is eager to show his potential on the new 1199 Ducati Panigale, which will debut this year in Superstock. Sandi will be given the opportunity to step up with the new bike that will eventually replace the 1198 model.

Sandi spent a season riding in the Italian CIV championship last year with the Althea Ducati Team, finishing third overall and winning a race at Vallelunga. He also has experience in Superstock in 2009 on an Aprilia and has taken up the challenge to race as a wild card rider on several occasions in SBK in 2010 and 2011.

After signing the agreement Sandi commented: "My goal for the season was to race with the new 1199 Ducati Panigale. The chances to fulfill this goal were very low because there are not going to be many teams having the Panigale available to them. I am delighted to have signed the agreement with the Liberty Racing Team from a technical standpoint as well as from a human one. I will do my very best to pay the team back for believing in me as I will be aiming for top positions."

It seems like no time at all since Marco Melandri put pen to paper to agree to ride for the factory BMW team, but soon he will be lining up to race against the best in the world again in what is arguably the biggest team in the paddock. BMW recently sent out a release featuring an interview with Melandri, a condensed version of which follows here.

What were your first impressions of the BMW Motorrad Motorsport team?
"That it was very big! That was a bit unusual for me in the beginning. But now we are all working together, and trying to use the full potential of all the resources and people available to us."

What are your thoughts on the BMW S 1000 RR?
"I am happy with it. Before I tested it for the first time, some people made me very scared because I had some bad experiences with the Ducati in 2008. When I jumped on the bike for the first time I discovered some difficult areas, but I was also pleasantly surprised by many of its positives. During the test with the 2011 bike I saw that it is a ‘normal' bike without any pitfalls. We just need to take the pieces and put them together in the best way to provide the optimal package. Of course it was a lot of work over the winter, and we will see how long it takes us to have this optimal package. However, I am happy about the bike and about how it feels, so I am very confident. I think good confidence is the only thing a rider needs to be fast."

How well do you get on with Leon Haslam?
"We get on very well. I have known him since the time I lived fairly close to him in England. I think it is good for the team for us to be team-mates because it means we can push each other, which is good for results. We do have different riding styles, but we have agreed on what changes to make to the bike so that we can work in the same direction in order to move the team forward."

What are your personal strengths - and weaknesses?
"I always try to improve myself in those areas where I have weaknesses. That is not always easy. One of my strengths is that in races I am always stronger compared to testing and practice. I don't know why. I'm a racer. I love racing, and as soon as a race starts I always try to give it a bit more than in practice."

What is your target for the 2012 season?
"To have fun. When I am fast I score good results - and I always enjoy doing that. That is why that is my target. I would like to have some good fights, score good results and feel good on the bike. Then it is a lot of good fun - and the good results will also be there."

For John 'Hopper' Hopkins 2012 should be the year he embarks on his real SBK career even though he cannot be thought of as a rookie, having been a Stiggy Honda rider back in 2009.

Injury has played a part in his career at key times in the past and this season will start in a similar way, with John having had the top two knuckles of the fourth finger on his right (throttle) hand amputated, after several operations to try and save the finger. For some riders this would be a blow to their confidence with the season only a month or so away, but Hopper's comments about this situation say a lot about the way he has rebuilt a positive outlook on racing and life in general in recent times.

"I have been keeping the injury clean and so on, so there is no infection," affirmed Hopkins from his home in the USA. "It is going to be a little different feeling, probably a bit awkward, when I get on the bike for the first time. But the fact that it is the fourth finger means it is probably the least used, as far as gripping the bars, braking and throttle is concerned. It is something I will have to get used to but I do not think it will affect me tremendously. When I get used to it, I think it will be good."

Part of the reason why Hopkins is so motivated for 2012 is the fact that he proved he was back to being a truly potent force after coming so close to winning in BSB in 2011 for Suzuki. That and the facts that he will now take on the might of the SBK entry with his existing team, an updated version of a bike he knows well and with the support of legendary tuning house Yoshimura, who will supply engines for himself and his team-mate Leon Camier.

"I am very much looking forward to this year and we are going to have as good a chance as anyone," said Hopkins, unequivocally. "I get along really well with the team, the bike seems really good, and I feel a whole lot better within myself - personally, mentally, with my fitness, everything. I feel a lot better on the Suzuki than I ever did on '09 on the Stiggy bike. I was injured still then, and it was just not a good time for me, but I feel a lot better. More motivated and hungry to go out and fight for the win."

Hopkins does not, of course, underestimate the level and depth of competition he is about to face in 2012, stating, "I am back in a World Championship and it is no means going to be easy. There is a lot of stiff competition out there with all the guys that are riding."

Hopkins had his stitches removed on 26th January, and said via his twitter page, "YES!!! Stitches have finally been removed, wounds have almost healed and its time to do some riding..."

The Barni Racing Ducati team, runner-up last year with Danilo Petrucci, has confirmed that Eddi La Marra will line up alongside Lorenzo Savadori in the 2012 edition of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup. The 22-year-old from the outskirts of Rome has already raced with the Lombardy-based squad during the Winter Trophy held in December at Vallelunga on a 1098R (photo).

For the 2012 season, which gets underway in Imola at the start of April, La Marra will be one of the first riders to get his hands on the brand-new 1199 Panigale, with which he will make a first shakedown test at the end of February at Vallelunga. La Marra has come off the back of two difficult seasons in Superstock 1000 with Honda Lorini, his best result being a sixth place at Portimão in 2010.

"I am very happy about this new adventure with Barni Racing Ducati" declared La Marra. "I'm training harder than I've ever done in the past to prepare for the start of the season. I'm curious to test the new bike, which will be delivered to the team in a few days time. I'm going to have to wait to the end of the month to test it, but Ducati have already told us that it a very competitive bike. I'll be giving 100% and even more, and the fact that I'm racing with such a top-level team makes me even more optimistic. I know I can do well."

Telecom Italia and Ducati have extended their partnership to the Superbike World Championship for the 2012 season as the sponsorship agreement between the two companies in MotoGP is extended to the championship-winning Althea Racing Team.

TIM, Telecom Italia's mobile telephony brand, will be emblazoned on the fairing and front cowls of Althea Racing's two Ducati 1198s, and on the racing leathers worn by Carlos Checa, current World Superbike Champion, and Davide Giugliano, the young Italian rider who last year won the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup.

This partnership strengthens the links between the two companies, both of which share values such as the pursuit of excellence, technological leadership and a desire to compete in major challenges.

Team Pedercini's Leandro Mercado will now not take part in the opening round of the 2012 Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, after the 19 year-old Superbike debutant broke the radius bone in his right arm in a crash on his supermoto bike during a training session last week in Argentina.

On Monday "Tati" Mercado underwent an operation to speed up rehabilitation. He will be back for the second round at Imola, scheduled for April 1st, and his place at Phillip Island will be taken by Australian Bryan Staring. Bryan already took part in the race last year with the Italian Team - as a wild card - in the first round of the World Superbike at Phillip Island, finishing with a fifteenth and a seventeenth place in the two races.

"I'm really disappointed because I won't be able to take part in the Phillip Island races as it was to be my Superbike debut," said Mercado. "I was eager to compete in Australia hoping to obtain good results. I know the whole team worked extremely hard to prepare my bike for the first appointment of the season and now I'm forced to miss out on the race. Starting from next week, with the help of my doctors, I'll start intensive rehabilitation to make sure that I'll be in top condition for the second race in Imola".

The new KTM 690 Duke has been chosen as the competition motorcycle for the 2012 European Junior Cup, the entry level class to the FIM Superbike World Championship.

With low weight, premium cycle parts and a punchy power output the new 690 Duke holds true to the KTM motto of 'Ready to Race' and will provide the talented young 14-19 year old racers with an ideal platform to start their international careers. The series will also be rebranded as the 'KTM European Junior Cup' to reflect this new partnership.

Pirelli have also joined Infront Motor Sports in supporting the European Junior Cup champions award. This means that the 2012 champion will receive a total package worth 23,000 Euro towards a ride in the European Superstock 600 championship.

For more information on the 2012 KTM European Junior Cup please visit www.europeanjuniorcup.com

Althea Racing today took the opportunity to officially present its 2012 World Superbike outfit to sponsors and members of the press at the team's headquarters in Civita Castellana. Later this month the 2011 World SBK Champions will be back in action at the opening round of the 2012 World SBK Championship, but before embarking on what will be an inevitably challenging journey, team manager Genesio Bevilacqua, riders Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano and team members were all on hand to officially launch the season and unveil the new livery of the Ducati 1198 machines.

Key sponsors, including representatives from Unibat, TIM and SNAI, were present for an informal lunch followed by the formal presentation, during which team members and riders spoke about their expectations for the coming season. Also on stage were special guests including Paolo Flammini, CEO of Infront Motor Sports, Paolo Ciabatti, General Manager of Infront Motor Sports, and Ernesto Marinelli, SBK Project Director for Ducati. The event was attended by many members of the national and international press with guests also having the chance to view Genesio Bevilacqua's extensive private bike collection, housed at the same location.

Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager of Althea Racing spoke about his team's objectives going into the new year: "I'm very happy to officially present our 2012 line-up. As you know, our confirmed riders are SBK champion Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano, a rising talent. We thank all of our sponsors, and particularly Unibat, SNAI and TIM, as it is thanks to them that we are able to embark on this adventure. We start the season with high expectations, having won in both the Superbike and Superstock categories last year. We know it won't be easy as the competition is very strong but we will do our best to repeat last year's incredible performance, knowing that we can count on the experience gained by our men in the field during 2011. We hope that this experience will help us to do even better than last year."

Carlos Checa, the 2011 championship winner, knows that competition will be stiffer than ever this year but is confident as he sets about defending his title: "I prefer not to say too much, it's impossible to make predictions when it comes to racing! We do know that this coming season will be tough, there will be stiff competition and we will fight with more or less the same bike as in previous seasons. Having said that, I am confident and can't wait to get back on track with my team - it goes without saying that we will do our utmost to defend the title!"

Having demonstrated his potential by winning the 2011 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup with Althea Racing, Davide Giugliano makes an important step up to the Superbike class this year and relishes the chance to compete in such a strong field: "I hope to be strong right from the start. I'm riding the championship winning bike and am part of the championship winning team so I don't have any excuses really! I realize that I need to get straight down to work and learn fast if I want to start seeing the results."