The 2016 WSBK season is to start in a couple of days and here we are to refresh you with some Superbike gyaan! We will be covering the WSBK races at Phillip Island, Australia, where the season opener has traditionally been held. So here goes..
World Superbike is World Championship for production motorcycles. Manufacturers race the bikes which they sell in the showrooms. At least on the face of it! Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday has been the age old adage for this production series.
Production motorcycle racing has been going on for many decades around the world. But its popularity caught on mostly in Australia and USA only in the 1970s. Bikes were usually large capacity 4 strokes, with Kawasaki, BMW, Moto Guzzi and Ducati battling it out. But with the advent of the 2 stroke GP bikes, these races took a backseat. In the latter half of the 1970s, American Motorcyclist Association once again set up the production motorcycle races, and the Japanese manufacturers were giving the Europeans a run for their money. The stage was set and these races started gaining popularity steadily.
Motorcycle racing has always given more importance to the riders than to the manufacturers. Extremely talented young men, putting their lives at risk to be the better racer, make for a wonderful spectacle. And the rivalry was fierce. The Japanese manufacturers continued to rule the roost and these races started getting popular in the European continent as well with the addition of European riders.
With the races getting popular across continents and in various countries, it was time to take the next big step by going global. And thus WSBK was born in 1988, a year later than originally planned. 9 rounds were held in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The inaugural championship was won by Fred Merkel, an American racer, on his Honda VFR. It was a hard fought championship with the runner up just 5.5 points adrift! A successful opening season ensured that WSBK would always hold a special place in the hearts of race fans the world over. And from there WSBK has never looked back, with the series being extremely popular in the late 90’s and the early part of this century, coinciding with the decline of GP racing.
Besides the litre class Superbikes which race, the support series for WSBK is comprised of World Supersport (WSS), where 600cc Supersports compete and the two Superstock series. WSS started in 1990 as a support series, but became a world championship only in 1999.
WSBK & MotoGP
While MotoGP is a series where prototype motorcycles are raced, WSBK is a series for production bikes. The production bikes might look similar to the bikes in the showroom near you on the outside, but are very different within.
MotoGP bikes are prototypes; these bikes are built only to be raced in that series. They sport the most advanced technology in the world. It costs a bomb to lease these bikes for a season, educated guesses put the figure at around 3 million Euros or around 20 crore INR! At the end of the season, the teams don’t even own the bike, but have to return it! WSBK on the other hand has much simpler bikes, relatively that is! Under the fairing, the bikes are very different to what is sold on the street. This allows the bigger heavier WSBK bikes to slide much more along the track. The rider is more connected with the bike; he has more control over the bike with his right wrist as compared to electronic gadgetry that controls GP bikes.
MotoGP uses Michelin tyres, while WSBK on the other hand uses Pirellis. With the simpler electronics and tyres which go off easily, tyre management becomes an art in WSBK. Coupled to this, WSBK uses qualifying tyres, which ensures that the race is always a topsy-turvy event with fast qualifiers being overtaken by fast tyre managers! Often one sees the top fifteen riders separated by just a second in qualifying in WSBK.
Because of the expenses involved in MotoGP, the series has seen less factory participation. Currently things have improved with Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, Suzuki and Aprilia participating. WSBK on the other hand, has seven manufacturers – Ducati, Aprilia, BMW, Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and MV Agusta. This is because Superbike allows more freedom in the rules with 1200cc and 1000cc bikes competing against each other. In MotoGP the rules are much more rigid, ensuring that every manufacture has to produce bikes very similar to their competitors and build them in conformity with the spec tyre.
MotoGP has two support classes known as Moto 2 and Moto 3. Moto 2 uses tuned Honda CBR 600RR engines in all the bikes with privateer chassis. Moto 3 has 250cc 4 stroke bikes, with manufacturer’s KTM, Honda and Mahindra supplying bikes to 16 year olds, as they display a maturity far beyond their age. A Red Bull Rookies Cup is also organized. WSBK has Supersport and Superstock as the support classes. Supersport is the intermediate category using 600cc bikes. While Superstock is further divided into 1000cc and 600cc.
WSBK Calendar
xBhp at Phillip Island
xBhp will be covering the Phillip Island Round in Australia. The Phillip Island circuit has always been something special with most riders. From the rider who comes first to the rider who finishes last, every single one will sing praises of this track. The layout of the track is such that it tests the rider more than the bike. Both in WSBK and MotoGP (which also races at PI), the bravest, most skilled riders are rewarded with good results, even when the machinery being used is not the best on the grid.
The First Corner is named Doohan Corner after legendary Australian GP rider, Mick Doohan. Corner 3 is named Stoner Corner, in acknowledgement of the Australian Casey Stoner’s phenomenal success at this particular track. Corner 6 is known as ‘Siberia’, since the riders are hit with spine chilling cold air coming off the Bass Strait. You go right around the track and complete a lap on the start/ finish straight, aka the Gardner Straight. This is named after Wayne Gardner, the 1987GP Champion and also the first Australian to do so. The circuit is 4.445km long and 7 left corners, 5 right corners and an 835metre long straight. The majority of the corners are high speed sweeping corners, which allows motorcycles which are down on power to be able to do well.
The Top Riders of WSBK
WSBK 2016 will see 24 riders line up on the grid, except wildcards. These are the riders that you need to keep an eye on in 2016!
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team, Kawasaki ZX-10R: He is the 2015 WSBK Champion and wil be racing with the Number 1 on his bike. He has the title to defend and has already gotten off to a good start in the pre-season testing.
Tom Sykes, Kawasaki Racing Team, Kawasaki ZX-10R: Teammate to Rea, he will probably be mounting the toughest challenge for the title. It will be a battle between teammates and one worth watching, as the sparks have already started flying without a wheel being turned yet!
Chaz Davies, Aruba.it Racing Ducati, Ducati Panigale R: Chaz was runner-up in the 2015 season and will be hoping to improve his final position by just one place! Even though he had a strong showing in the latter half of 2015, it will be a big challenge to take on the might of the two Kawasakis
Davide Giugliano, Aruba.it Racing Ducati, Ducati Panigale R: Teammate to Davies, he had an injury filled 2015. No one has ever doubted his speed, but what he has lacked is in consistency. He will be hoping to improve on that and have an injury free season.
Nicky Hayden, Honda World Superbike Team, Honda CBR 1000RR SP: He is Americas big hope. 2006 MotoGP Champion and MotoGP Legend, this is his ‘Rookie’ year. He will have a tough time learning the new tracks and getting up to speed to challenge the front runners, but top ten positions are what can be expected from him at the tracks he doesn’t know, and top five at the tracks that he has raced at before.
Michael van der Mark, Honda World Superbike Team, Honda CBR 1000RR SP: The Flying Dutchman! He showed his speed in World Supersport by taking the Championship and had a strong rookie season last year, outriding his teammate and then WSBK Champion Guintoli. This is his second year in WSBK and he will have a chance to shine, with only machinery holding him back.
Sylvain Guintoli, Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF-R1: This is the return of Yamaha to the WSBK paddock with the new R1. The bike has looked very promising in testing and big things are expected off the Frenchman and 2014 WSBK Champion.
Alex Lowes, Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF-R1: A talent which couldn’t bloom last year with the Suzuki that he was riding. He will hope to improve on his results this year on the Yamaha. He starts the season with an injury picked up last year.
Josh Brookes, Milwaukee BMW, BMW S1000RR: Reigning British Superbike Champion has known to be fast on a bike and a straight shooter off it. Brookes should be up to speed in WSBK soon enough and add a lot of colour to the paddock!
Karel Abraham, Milwaukee BMW, BMW S1000RR: Abraham is another mover from MotoGP to WSBK this season and will have a tough time adapting to the new series. He missed out a lot of last season due to serious injury and will take a bit of time before he starts challenging for top five positions.
Leon Camier, MV Agusta Reparto Corse, MV Agusta F4: The Italian manufacturer has to develop their F4 to be able to compete in WSBK successfully. And Camier is the perfect man to do the job. He will put in his 100% to make the bike competitive and take on the might of the larger manufacturers.
Alex de Angelis, IodaRacing Team, Aprilia RSV4 RF: Angelis is the third rider from MotoGP who has shifted to WSBK this year. Though he has moved along with his team. Ioda Racing will also be racing in WSBK for the first time in 2016 and it will be a big challenge for both team and rider to compete. Alex had a horrific crash in Japan last year, one of the worst imaginable for a rider. Yet he is today up and ready to race!
So these are the guys to watch out for in the 2016 season of WSBK. We also got a chance to speak with Nicky Hayden before the start of the season. Here is our conversation with him.
xBhp will be there to cover the 1st race at Philip Island with a very special motorcycle that we will ride from Phillip Island to Sydney! Stay Tuned!
Coverage of WSBK 2016 is brought to you by Motul. Motul has partnered with WSBK from this season. The partnership was announced in 2015 at the penultimate round of WSBK. From the Press Release at the time –
Motul, the French company producing high-performance motor oils and industrial lubricants, has a long history in motorsports. It is a key partner for both the FIM and Dorna Group and will make its debut in WorldSBK in 2016, as Title Sponsor of the Championship.
Starting from the forthcoming new season, the series will feature a dedicated combined championship logo in all of its adaptations, as well as a brand-new Motul-SBK product range. This will be launched during the first quarter of next season and is aimed at customers who expect the very best.
In the meantime, racing oils and lubricants will be available for the teams competing in WorldSBK, putting a perfect combination of racing knowledge and skills at the end users’ disposal.
Motul has embraced the essence of the SBK Experience and it is now going to offer its guests the closest motorcycle racing experience ever with proximity and accessibility being the key words.
Motul products will be on display within the Paddock for all the Superbike fans attending the races, making this a full partnership which involves fans, teams and Motul guests.
Romain Grabowski, Motul Motorsport Manager said: “We are really delighted to add WorldSBK to the list of motorcycling disciplines we support on a worldwide basis. As with the FIM EWC, WorldSBK teams will be able to use the Motul Factory Line range which is dedicated to racing and which benefits from knowledge gained from the major manufacturers’ use of experimental products in MotoGP. This 360° partnership includes the launch of a WorldSBK by Motul product which will be destined for fans of the championship, and we’ve also got a brand-new ‘Motul SBK Experience’ concept which from 2016 will allow us to offer our customers a unique experience at each of the season’s races. We can’t wait for this 2016 campaign to begin!”.
Marc Saurina, WSBK Commercial and Marketing Director says: “It is a great pleasure for us to see such an important brand in the history of motorsports joining with WorldSBK’s core values. Motul is the perfect partner with whom to develop our concept of brand experience, having a close proximity to the very DNA of production-based motorcycling.”
Photos Courtesy: WorldSbk.com
