Submitted by David Emmett on
The FIM today published the preliminary and provisional calendar for the WorldSBK championship for the 2021 season. Like all aspects of international events, it is very much a provisional affair, subject to local and regional restrictions on movement and events in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The biggest change to the season is the rescheduling of the Philip Island round of WorldSBK. Instead of being the opening race of the season, it is now due to take place in the second half of November, with a date still to confirmed. Travel to Australia is still nigh on impossible, but the hope is that restrictions will look very different by the end of 2021, as vaccines start to be rolled out.
Moving Phillip Island to November means that the 2021 WorldSBK calendar is set to kick off in The Netherlands in Assen, with all three classes starting their seasons at the first round. The WorldSBK paddock then moves around Europe for the summer, with a race every two to three weeks up until the British round at Donington Park, due to be held at the start of July. Only the World Superbike class will be racing at Donington, with no information as to which other series will be racing there as support classes.
The WorldSBK season resumes two months later at Magny-Cours in France in early September, before heading south to Barcelona, then Jerez, and then Portimao. The Portuguese round - the second race in the country, with Estoril scheduled for May - will be the final race in Europe, before the WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes head overseason.
First port of call is San Juan Villicum in Argentina, before heading west again to the new Mandalika circuit in Indonesia, once that track has been completed and homologated. There have been few updates on the progress of the track, especially given how severely the tourism sector in Indonesia has been hit, but the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation has promised the track will be ready by November. After Indonesia, the WorldSBK paddock heads to Australia and Phillip Island.
The thirteenth and final round of WorldSBK is as yet unconfirmed, but believed to be planned for the Middle East. Qatar is one option, though the track is also due to be resurfaced, which could mean WorldSBK makes its debut in Bahrein.
As stated before, this calendar is very much a provisional affair, and extremely likely to change. It is not yet clear which races will be open to fans, and anyone wishing to book travel and accommodation should make sure they have free cancellation or insurance to cover the cost of cancellation or change. But the world may look very different in three months time, once vaccination starts.
The provisional calendar appears below:
MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship/FIM Supersport and Supersport 300 World Championships
2021 Provisional* calendar, 30 November 2020
| DATE | COUNTRY | CIRCUIT | WorldSBK | WorldSSP | WorldSSP300 |
| 23 - 25 April | The Netherlands | TT Circuit Assen | X | X | X |
| 7 – 9 May | Portugal | Circuito Estoril** | X | X | X |
| 21 - 23 May | Spain | MotorLand Aragón | X | X | X |
| 11 - 13 June | Italy | Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” | X | X | X |
| 2 - 4 July | United Kingdom | Donington Park | X | ||
| 3 - 5 September | France | Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours | X | X | X |
| 17 - 19 September | Spain | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya | X | X | X |
| 24 - 26 September | Spain | Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto | X | X | X |
| 1 - 3 October | Portugal | Autódromo Internacional do Algarve | X | X | X |
| 15 – 17 October | Argentina | Circuito San Juan Villicum | X | X | |
| 12 – 14 November | Indonesia | Mandalika International Street Circuit*** | X | X | |
| STC | Australia | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit** | X | X | |
| TBA | TBA | TBA**** | X | X |
*All dates, events and the attendance of spectators are subject to the evolution of the global pandemic and the approval of the corresponding governments and authorities.
** (STC) Subject to contract / *** (STH) Subject to homologation /**** (TBA) Venue/event/date to be announced
2021 SUPPORTED TEST - Championship Filming and Photo-shoot season opening
- 29 - 30 March: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - WorldSSP & WorldSSP300
- 31 March - 1 April: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - WorldSBK
Comments
Sigh...
If Dorna had actually set out to make the chair I'm sitting in the point on earth that is furthest from a scheduled WSBK race, they could not have done a better job.
Assen in April is...
...wet. Genius scheduling.
Pregnant pause
Still got a two month break in the middle. Kills the interest.
8 weeks dead time
this is a continuing interest killer. wtf! after 2 years.. it is intentionally suicidal.
WTF?
No American round?
The break
The 8 week break does kind of make it a game of two halves. Although I guess it would devalue the 'title', maybe it would make it more interesting for the audience if it was treated as two series I.e a spring series and autumn series.
I do know the 'gappiness' of wsbk in recent years has contributed to it being of lesser interest to me than MotoGP or BSB and I probably wouldn't pay for a wsbk videopass if it wasn't part of the Eurosport bundle.
2 Months
Regardless all the other gimmicks and fiddly farting with format that turn me off bigly, they take 2 MONTHS OFF in the middle of the season. Is WorldSBK run by people who have shorted the stock? Are they trying to destroy any shred of interest a fan could try to maintain? Are they serious? 2 months. I'm in awe
I am Indonesian and lombok native and...
Mandalika is painfully slow in the making. No wonder Carmelo said finish the sircuit first then we talk. But am surprised that it actually there already in superbike's calender, funny enuff that it uses a rendering image. but lets hope it will be ready before the race start which is unlikely. The national newspaper said that it will be finished by june-july 3-4 moths after first race 2021. So go figure, will dorna let mandalika race into its calender at end of 2021??
No sweat
Good news though, the grid is growing. A few manus have upped their game. BMW most notably. (Not going to complain even a peep about the big break). Homologation Specials are the order of the year again, and this has been something I like historically. Look out for the new BMW. Sweet chassis was there, now the motor has a bump towards top end and overall power and better electronics (they were already fabulous). Honda should take another step, the CBRRRrrrr has potential to sort (out of the crate it is off). Kawasaki evolved a step that looks easily profitable if Rea's countenance and early speed indicates much. Anyone know what Duc is up to right now? Yamaha?
Evidently here comes a new Supersport picture. A bigger triple and twin arriving? The Triumph 765 better not use that anemic Street Triple top end and rev limit. Perhaps MV A will be the winner of the rulebook if they get extra displacement? Then a "middleweight" Red twin coming in close to the old Superbike? Hmm. I guess this is one way to do things. And cue the restrictor plates again for old times' sake? Rea, you and Green are difficult to bump off of that podium step!