World Superbike reveals 18-rider 2019 entry list

The entry list contains few surprises, with the only new name that hadn't previously been confirmed being that of Argentine racer Leandro Mercado, who returns with the Orelac Racing Kawasaki team.

He in effect replaces Gabriele Ruiu, who had been announced as a Pedercini Kawasaki rider alongside Jordi Torres - but is absent from the entry list issued on Friday.

The entry is split between five manufacturers: Kawasaki, Honda, Ducati, Yamaha and BMW. Of those, Kawasaki is the best represented with five bikes, followed by Yamaha and Ducati (four apiece), Honda (three) and BMW (two). 

Aprilia is absent from the grid, following Shaun Muir Racing's switch to BMW machinery for the 2019 campaign.

Testing for the upcoming season at continues at Jerez on January 23-24, and continues at Portimao on January 27-28. Phillip Island plays host to the opening round of the season on February 23-24.

2019 WSBK provisional entry list:

No.	Rider	Bike	Team
1	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
2	Leon Camier	Honda CBR1000RR	Moriwaki-Althea HONDA Racing Team
7	Chaz Davies	Ducati Panigale V4 R	ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati
11	Sandro Cortese	Yamaha YZF R1	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK
19	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati Panigale V4 R	ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati
21	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	Ducati Panigale V4 R	BARNI Racing Team
22	Alex Lowes	Yamaha YZF R1	Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team
23	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Honda CBR1000RR	Moriwaki-Althea HONDA Racing Team
28	Markus Reiterberger	BMW S1000 RR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
33	Marco Melandri	Yamaha YZF R1	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK
36	Leandro Mercado	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	Orelac Racing VerdNatura
50	Eugene Laverty	Ducati Panigale V4 R	Team Goeleven
52	Alessandro Delbianco	Honda CBR1000RR	Althea Mie Racing Team
54	Toprak Razgatlioglu	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	Turkish Puccetti Racing
60	Michael van der Mark	Yamaha YZF R1	Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team
66	Tom Sykes	BMW S1000 RR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
81	Jordi Torres	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	Team Pedercini Racing
91	Leon Haslam	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK