Leandro Mercado will return to the World Superbike Championship next season after signing a deal to join the Orelac Kawasaki Racing squad, who are stepping up from World Supersport.
Argentine Mercado stepped back up to WorldSBK after a year in the European Superstock 1000 class – in which he was runner–up – with the IodaRacing Aprilia team, who previously contested the MotoGP World Championship from 2012 to 2015.
Despite missing the opening two rounds through injury, Mercado enjoyed a strong season on the RSV4, scoring 12 top 10 finishes and securing 13th in the standings with 115 points.
Mercado was forced to miss the final round in Qatar when Ioda quit the series following the Jerez races. The team’s future in WorldSBK remained unclear at present.
Orelac team boss Jose Calero admits the jump up to the Superbike class will be a tough one, and is pleased to have secured Mercado’s services for the 2018 season.
“The step up to WorldSBK is a big one and nobody here is underestimating the amount of hard work that has to be done,” said Calero.
“It is a very big challenge, but one that we are all excited about.
“When we made the decision to go to WorldSBK next year, Giulio Bardi and I were in contact with quite a few riders.
“Our talks with Tati were very constructive and we were able to come to a good agreement thanks to Arturo Scalise of Kawasaki Argentina.”
Orelac will continue to compete in WorldSSP in 2018 on top of its Superbike effort, but will scale back to a one–rider effort, with Nacho Calero remaining with the squad.
