Hero MotoCorp announced that it would be participating in the 2014 season of World Superbike Championship.In what can be considered as a monumental move for the Indian two-wheeler fraternity. The country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer would make its foray into the highly competitive world of WSBK with its partner Erick Buell Racing and the team would be christened Hero EBR. This isn’t the first time that the duo would be competing in the world of motorsport as they were involved in AMA Superbike series before making their switch to WSBK.

Their choice of weapon will be the new 2014 EBR 1190RX. Two riders are allowed for each team and the EBR 1190RX will be piloted by Geoff May and Aaron Yates, both of them also switch from AMA to WSBK. May, has ridden the EBR machine in the USA for the past two seasons and clinched a podium finish at the Sonoma Raceway circuit in 2012 and finished fifth overall. Yates, who has over 20 years racing experience, joined the squad for their 2013 AMA campaign and finished the season in eighth position overall just one point ahead of his team-mate.

Hero is the first Indian two-wheeler brand to be associated with this event and this is also the debut year for Team Hero EBR at the series. This is in perfect sync with brand Hero’s fast-paced global expansion into new international markets. I am sure it is going to be a lot of fun and we do look forward to some exciting times at the championships this year.”

The outfit would be spearheaded by Claudio Quintarelli, who is the team owner and Giulio Bardi, who will hold the position of team manager. According to Erik Buell, who is a former racer himself the main objective of the team for 2014 will be to develop and improve the 1190RX. He further added that he isn’t expecting any podium finishes this year since winter testing isn’t allowed which further hampers the development of their bike. It is a welcome move by Hero as it puts Indian manufacturers on the global stage and it would try to ape the success of Mahindra Racing. Also with an Indian team among the ranks there is high possibility of WSBK series heading to our country as its 2013 debut was cancelled this year. Apart from Hero, iconic Italian two-wheeler manufacturer MV Agusta also announced that it would be entering WSBK thereby taking the count of manufacturers participating in the 2014 season to eight.