The Racing: Provisional WSBK grid 2011

The World Superbike grid for 2011 is slowly beginning to take shape as the final round of the 2010 season looms.

A rush of announcements in recent weeks have served to firm up a few positions on the 2011 World Superbike Championship grid, though much is still to be decided.

The most obvious change to the list below is the absence of the factory Ducati team, which will withdraw from World Superbikes at the end of this weekend's event at Magny-Cours. Though their place will be assumed by privateer entries – Carlos Checa and Jakub Smrz so far -, the Italian firm's decision to quit will still be felt next year.

Elsewhere, Yamaha and BMW have firmed up their line-ups with the former luring MotoGP rider Marco Melandri and Supersport race winner Eugene Laverty, while the latter will be fronted by Troy Corser and Leon Haslam.

Haslam's defection came as a result of Suzuki's decision to limit its factory involvement, the Alstare team down to just one bike as a result, while Ten Kate Honda could be forced to follow suit with just a single machine for Jonathan Rea.

Aprilia will retain its champion Max Biaggi and British protégé Leon Camier, while Kawasaki finds itself in the unusual position of having too many talented riders disputing its two seats, with Tom Sykes's recent form creating a major headache for bosses who had originally plotted a Chris Vermeulen-Joan Lascorz line-up.

More will become clear as the weekend progresses no doubt as testing is due to start in earnest at Magny-Cours just a day after the races.

Aprilia Alitalia

Max Biaggi

Leon Camier

Suzuki Alstare

Michel Fabrizio

Sylvain Guintoli

Yamaha Sterilgarda

Marco Melandri

Eugene Laverty

Ten Kate Honda

Jonathan Rea