Gordon Ritchie has covered World Superbikes for over a quarter of a century, and is widely regarded as the world's leading journalist on the series. MotoMatters.com is delighted to be hosting a monthly blog by Ritchie.
Everybody’s a pundit when it comes to who will win the championship each time the WorldSBK season starts. Especially in a season that will kick off in its regular late February time slot, making it the first of the big championships out of the traps.
This soothsaying by the masses is fair enough, because without the fans and citizen-chatterati who are all excited by WSBK again since the resurgence of Alvaro Bautista and the growth of Toprak Razgatlioglu into a World Champion, the WorldSBK championship would probably still be languishing under a dusty awning in the largely green-tinted fringes of two-wheeled awareness.
It may well have been almost as much fun for the true racing anoraks to watch Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki provide a masterclass for six season in a row as it was to have serious challengers show up every year. But like the almost endless domination of the 500cc Grands Prix (remember them!) by Mick Doohan and Honda, you had to be a special kind of minority to truly appreciate the subtleties of what was playing out in front of you. I could watch five-times champion Mick lapping all day and find something else awesome to look at, but it was hardly a group activity. It’s supposed to be racing, of course, not a 40 minute flat hill climb.
Series rising
Mass market viewer interest in WorldSBK was stirred up previous to 2022 by the eventually failed rocket-man act of Bautista and Aruba Ducati in 2019. It was then adrenalised by too-tall Toprak on his Pata Yamaha in 2021. But it was the first half of last year that saw the three-way fight for men and machines once again become the talk of all the racing towns. Highly animated and excitable talk, to boot. The early rounds provided some real motorbike racing greatness between the three modern hyper-riders in Superbike.
MotoGP may have had its ‘aliens’ a while back, but in WorldSBK we have had three remarkable earthlings probing their showroom missiles for every extra joule of juice. Their bikes look quite unlike MotoGP’s aero experiments (although that new BMW features an Aprilia-esque ironing board at the front now). Whatever tuning is allowed, under the strict tech rules and because the bikes have to look just like their roadbike parents, WorldSBK features relatable roadbike hearts rather than unobtainable prototype souls. MotoGP is astonishing and exciting on many levels but all the wing things and scaly stegosaurus protrusions are not every enthusiast’s cup of warm Castrol R on a Sunday afternoon.
Personally, I love the whole whacky tech stuff in MotoGP, for the simple fact that it makes it unique - the diamond on top of the two-wheel pyramid for tech as well as rider talent. If you (specifically Dorna) wanted something approaching two-wheeled F1 racing, you got it in modern MotoGP. In all ways, MotoGP really should go prototype or go home. But not everybody likes the direction of very fast tech travel that the blue ribbon class sometimes ties itself in knots with.
Real-world racing
Superbike exists, in various forms, as the premier class in every single other discipline of global (WSBK and EWC) and national racing, whatever different shades of technical grey are chosen by each ruling body. So the WorldSBK should, in any season, be a focus for everybody who is not only in it for the engines pushing 300bhp, ground effect aero protrusions and ride height devices.
Hence, the ground was already theoretically fertile for the Bautista/Razgatlioglu/Rea rollerball express and the 2022 racing proved to be epic almost every single time. WorldSBK took a step change upwards in its popularity with the fans. And the racing year ended that way too, even if the three way wrestling match out front became a game of chase the Ducati contrail as the season rotated through the halfway point.
At the end of last year, the Spanish/Italian package that proved to be an acceleration effort across all the venues, finally delivered. This was in marked contrast to how 2019 turned out for the same combo of Alvaro Bautista and the Ducati V4R.
Comments
Excellent article, Mr…
Excellent article, Mr. Ritchie! Very entertaining.
Thank you, and Motomatters too.
Nice wrap-up
Hoping that Bulega does well. Be surprised if Ducati doesn't take both titles -- and given testing form, Rinaldi might do well.
Just the tip...500 more ..purdy please.
Need to give Kawi those extra revs. Silly they don't.
WSBK Initialrev-limitBrandProposedAprilia14700BMW14950BMW 201914900Ducati V212400Ducati V416100Honda15050Honda 202015600Kawasaki 201814100Kawasaki 201914600MV Agusta14950Suzuki14900Yamaha14700Yamaha 202014950
https://www.visordown.com/news/racing/worldsbk/worldsbk-champ-rea-dont-…
Ouch!
No mention of Scott Redding as a fourth 'big beast'? Despite Toseland's relentless promotional campaign, I tend to agree, that ship has sailed.
I hope Ducati don't have it all their own way too much this year. WSBK gained new life in the last 2 or 3 years and we need a good dose of uncertainty for each race.
In reply to Ouch! by Lilyvani
To be fair Lilyvani Toseland…
To be fair Lilyvani Toseland started to overcompensate last season after he took a lot of criticism from Redding and Reddings Uncle!
At start of 2022 he said live on Eurosport commentry a number of times it was a mistake for Redding to go to BMW (probably not financially). He also questioned whether it was a good idea if Redding should ride a bicycle to a round (forget which round). I guess he took some stick off Redding supporters on social media and then started to backtrack. Shame really as he was correct originally.
In reply to To be fair Lilyvani Toseland… by Jarnosar
Idle chat
I think we all probably shook our heads in disbelief when Scott went to BMW. I mean, BMW, really? That’s as good as abandoning all aspiration to take a title. Or maybe some wise soul whispered in his ear that now was a good time to put the money first. I’d guess that at 30-ish, most professional racers recognise that they don’t have too many years left to go and need to start thinking about the longer term future. All of which is perfectly sensible and laudable.
I also hope James continues to grow as a commentator. He did a much better job last year than previously and it’s good to have an expert in the chair, once they’ve found their voice.
I can forgive you Gordo
For not mentioning the returning of the indomitable Tom Sykes. Free from the woeful M1000RR and back to his beloved Kawi, surely he's the dark horse to retake the crown 10 years on!
In reply to I can forgive you Gordo by lotsofchops
quite a leap of faith!
Tom had a pretty miserable BSB season, as did Leon. But I think he too has seen his best day :-(
2023
The most interesting aspect of 2023 will be the super concessions and their effect on Honda and BMW. Initial signs are not positive. Camier said Honda is happy for the super concessions, but that they won't offer a big step forward. I guess their troubles lie elsewhere, perhaps with the engine or electronics. BMW, on the other hand, appear to be dealing with handling issues, and several of Redding's good results during 2022, occurred after the new swingarm spec was introduced.
Super concessions could be a boon for the Bavarian manufacturer, but they have another dark horse. Garrett Gerloff had a disappointing 2022 campaign, to say the least, but a contributing factor in his lack of form was the departure of his crew chief Les Pearson. Well, the two have re-united at BMW, which could lead to some interesting results, if they can get the M1000RR sorted. Unfortunately, Gerloff will be fighting an uphill battle, same as the situation at GRT, because he's not in the reference team. It's likely that all changes in tune, and most of the super concessions will be designed for Van der Mark and Redding. If Pearson and Gerloff are able to find their way into a reference team somewhere, they could make waves. They seem to be a good combination.
Personally, I think Bautista already has one hand on the championship trophy. It's a long season, and lots can happen, especially if people are trying to ride through injuries, but Bologna has a setup (or something) that suits Bautista, and his Panigale is a rocket ship in a straight line. I'm not sure Toprak can brake much harder, and I don't think Johnny can open the throttle much earlier. Maybe Kawasaki and Yamaha can find something, but it looks like Ducati have cracked the code, similar to MotoGP.
I'm not one to throw shade, but I'm surprised Petrucci is not making a bigger impact. He was riding a Panigale in MotoAmerica last year. The bike was Dunlop shod, and the match did not look particularly well-suited at times. The Pangiale has been developed for use with the Pirellis. I thought Danilo would throw a leg over the bike, and be at the pointy end, sort of like Spies in 2009.