World Supersport

2019 WorldSBK Provisional Calendar Announced: 12 Confirmed Rounds, 1 TBA

Submitted by David Emmett on

The FIM has announced the provisional WorldSBK calendar for the 2019 season. The calendar as it stands has 13 rounds, 12 of which have been confirmed. Brno and Laguna Seca are out, while Jerez makes a comeback, with a midsummer round still to be announced. That round could be Kyalami.

The season starts out in a similar vein to previous years, kicking off proceedings at Phillip Island on 24th February, before heading to Buriram in Thailand three weeks later. Three weeks after that, the series lands in Europe, racing first at Aragon in Spain, where WorldSBK and WorldSSP are joined by the WorldSSP300 class, before heading north to Assen for the Dutch round. Four weeks after Assen, the WorldSBK paddock heads south to Italy for the round at Imola.

There has been a fair shake up of the middle of the season, with various rounds reshuffled. From Imola, the paddock heads west again to Spain, this time to Jerez, then drives all the way back again to Misano. From Misano, WorldSBK heads to the UK, for the British round at Donington Park. 

After Donington, an additional round has been scheduled, though it is not yet clear where that is. It is widely expected to be Kyalami, though details remain to be finalized. After this round, WorldSBK  heads into its long summer break, with no racing through the month of August.

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2018 Qatar World Supersport Race Results: Worth The Wait

Submitted by Jared Earle on

The last World Supersport race of the year was delayed by adverse weather in Qatar, first with a sandstorm, then a rainstorm. The championship decider between Sandro Cortese and Jules Cluzel was then reduced to just twelve laps on a dry track with rivers of water across a few corners. 

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Wind And Rain Cause Delay For WorldSBK In Qatar

Submitted by David Emmett on

A huge storm, and the threat of more bad weather, has forced Dorna to delay action on the final day of the WorldSBK season in Qatar. Torrential rain has flooded the track, and garages, and strong winds have caused damage around the circuit, including to the podium area. Various videos and photos posted on social media showed the severity of the storm. 

For the moment, all action has been postponed, awaiting inspections of the track and the floodlights. Initially, racing had been canceled, but the organizers revised the decision and will look at various options to ensure that racing does happen. Although the WorldSBK title is settled, the WorldSSP title is still wide open, with just 5 points separating Sandro Cortese and Jules Cluzel.

There are a number of options for the organizers. They can either wait and hope the weather will clear, and run the races under the floodlights, or they can postpone the racing until Sunday. Both those options would cause a problem for the teams, many of whom are booked onto flights back to Europe tonight. That would also involve considerable cost, and an argument over who would bear it. Alternatively, Dorna could call off the final day of action altogether. 

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2018 Qatar World Supersport Superpole Results: Lights On!

Submitted by Jared Earle on

World Supersport qualifying started with the floodlights turning on over Losail, as the sunset turned to dusk. Hikari Okubo and Thomas Gradinger were the favourites to advance to Superpole Two where they could contest pole position alongside the Yamahas of Lucas Mahias and Sandro Cortese.

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2018 Qatar World Supersport FP2 Results: Mahias And Cortese Remain On Top

Submitted by Jared Earle on

Lucas Mahias and Sandro Cortese once again topped the session, this time the only two riders inder 2'01s. Randy Krummenacher was half a second slower than Mahias's quickest time, with Jules Cluzel another two tenths of a second behind him.

Results:

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Lucas Mahias' Appeal Against Portimao Disqualification Upheld

Submitted by David Emmett on

Lucas Mahias has been reinstated as the winner of the WorldSSP race at Portimao. The Frenchman and the GRT Yamaha team had appealed to the Court of Arbitration For Sport after being disqualified for riding his bike back to the pits after the race had been red flagged following a crash.

Mahias had been deemed to cut the track, but the CAS upheld the appeal. The rules on how a rider must return to the pits after a red flag were sufficiently unclear that the penalty imposed was too severe. The CAS struck down the disqualification, and replaced the punishment with a fine.

Revoking the disqualification for Mahias also restores him as the winner of the Portimao round of WorldSSP. The Frenchman moves back up to third in the championship. But it also cuts into championship leader Sandro Cortese's lead, as he was demoted to sixth place in the results. Cortese leads Jules Cluzel by just 5 points in the championship. Cluzel can now win the championship by scoring 5 points over Cortese, as Cluzel has more wins during the season.

Below are press releases from the WorldSBK organizers and the FIM:

Mahias reinstated as winner in Portugal

Frenchman gets 25 points following appeal

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