Issue 1 - WorldSBK 2024 Preview

CONTENT CHANGES AND

DIFFERENCE S

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4

BMW

READY FOR TAKEOFF

SHOOTING

16

FOR SEVEN

22

FIGHTING AGAINST

THE TIDE

KAWASAKI

ALL CHANGE

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EUROPE’S HRC, PART TWO

RETURNING

TO FORM

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30

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HONDA RACE S, HONDA WINS

NEW BEGINNINGS with old friends

When we started the Paddock Pass Podcast in 2015, it was simply a group of friends in the media centre chatting about MotoGP. In the midst of deadlines, press releases, or other tasks, the podcast was a fun project rather than a chore or a job to be done. This magazine feels a lot like that again.

When I left the MotoGP paddock and moved to WorldSBK, I was determined to make it my home. The goal of the Paddock Pass Podcast has always been to give fans inside access. A press pass to a MotoGP or WorldSBK round comes with access to everyone. Media have the chance to ask the questions that must be answered to understand why a race played out the way it did.

This magazine is an extension of that with a look ahead to the new season.

I’ve always been lucky to have Gordon Ritchie as a friend in the paddock, so when there was an opportunity to involve him with the podcast, I was keen to make that happen. The same can be said for this magazine. Having missed only one race, due to Covid 19 restrictions, since joining the paddock fulltime in 1999, Gordo is “Mr. Superbike,” and what he says and writes comes from decades of that on-site experience. His insight is invaluable, and his ability to see through the storm is second to none. You don’t pull the wool over Mr. Ritchie’s eyes.

The Paddock Pass Podcast wanted to create a magazine that brings fans of the sport closer to the action. WorldSBK is about to start a very exciting new season. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu changing from Yamaha to BMW, Jonathan Rea moving from Kawasaki to Yamaha, and new regulations mean there are so many talking points for fans and paddock folk alike.

We hope this season preview for the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship prepares everyone for this weekend’s action at Phillip Island in Australia.

Steve English

Paddock Pass Podcast: Adam Wheeler, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, Steve English Feature Writer: Gordon Ritchie // Edited by: Matthew Miles and Sean Bice // Photos by: Steve English, Gold and Goose, Ducati Corse, BMW Motorad, Yamaha Racing, WorldSBK // Design by: Ariadna Domínguez

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W O R L D S B K

S E A S O N

P R E V I E W

CHANGES and DIFFERENCES WorldSBK is shaping up to be a boom-or-bust rollercoaster. Gordon Ritchie spreads out the maps for the new campaigns shortly before the first high-speed manoeuvres are launched

By Gordon Ritchie Photos by Chippy Wood/Gold and Goose

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ong before race officials switched on the starting lights at Phillip Island, I imagined enticing possibilities for this year’s WorldSBK championship—little green shoots of hope popping through the topsoil all but guaranteeing a surefire harvest of classic races.

OK, I have done this many times before, staring blissfully into the unexplored canyon of a grand-looking new season. But even as I embark for the season-opener in Australia, my cold journalist heart is skipping a little. And my grey-haired head is in agreement.

Here’s why: We knew changes were coming to the series well in advance of Álvaro Bautista wrapping up a dominant, second-consecutive title on his Ducati V4 R. There are two ways to look at these changes: 1) All change is good; and 2) all change is pure cost.

The cost thing is minimal, even with new rules bringing greater tuning freedoms for some and a few more kilograms of handicapping for others. In short, the new regulations are not some dry, bureaucratic, box-ticking exercise to keep the Swiss blazerati in jobs.

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The manufacturers thrashed out the rules with Dorna and the FIM, finalizing the basics at the last round. Ducati representatives needed extra sugar in their espressos to swallow the headline combined-weight rule, which will turn out to be almost meaningless, mark my words.

This year, the lightest riders will carry some extra weight. Not much, and most of them very little or none whatsoever. In return for that possibility, Ducati gets the 500 rpm lost last year. All because Bautista is too good and weighs too little. No wonder Ducati finally agreed.

Next up is a tectonic tech shift inside the engines, with the ability to add or subtract 20% of crankshaft and balancer-shaft weight. Kawasaki can finally take advantage of the 500 rpm the Japanese manufacturer was awarded in 2023 but could not use.

Kawasaki also got another concession late last year that allows a near-full, top-end overhaul of its aging inline-four with which to start Phillip Island. KRT should have

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slightly more potent engines, with certainly more over-rev capability.

There is a reduction in fuel-tank size to 21 litres, no more peak-rpm balancing rule, results-related concession checks every two rounds (down from three), and a loosening of the pre-notification rules for any Super-concession parts earned by qualifying manufacturers.

New fuel-control measurements, readying for real fuel-flow controls in 2025…

We’ll skip that to get to current changes that really count. (I nearly got sucked into tech-speak quicksand there, but I am back on terra firma for some truly disruptive and exciting 2024 pot-stirring.)

At the top of the rider list, Bautista stays with aruba.it Ducati. He is still somewhat injured, so thus far in testing, his new teammate, aruba.it Ducati 2023 WorldSSSP Champion Nicolo Bulega, has been melting the timekeeping computers.

Bulega was fastest in three of the four days of combined European winter testing.

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Next up is a tectonic tech shift inside the engines, with the ability to add or subtract 20% of crankshaft and balancer-shaft weight.

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Not so much a one-off, a three-off. In this field, that’s simply wild, and nobody quite expected this kind of non-racing winning WorldSBK debut from him.

Next, championship runner-up Toprak Razgatlıoğlu. A one-time indie icon for Kawasaki Puccetti, then world champion and clear lead rider for Yamaha, Razgatlıoğlu and mentor Kenan Sofuoğlu have made the ambitious leap to well-resourced, super-concession street urchins BMW. Toprak has done Toprak things already and even overhauled Bulega’s fastest time at Portimão. The BMW has an engine that may even come close to that of the Ducati in a straight fight, which is the main reason Razgatlıoğlu left Yamaha.

Razgatlıoğlu also has tamed some of the M 1000 RR chassis gremlins, probably by setting his longtime crew chief Phil Marron loose on them, and then Toprak simply ignoring any of them that remain when it’s go time.

The oft-injured Michael van der Mark, now seemingly fully fit, stays in the official Rokit BMW team. An extra-motivated Scott Redding has been sent to help tune-in, turnon, and help out the satellite Bonovo BMW squad alongside late-season 2023 force Garrett Gerloff.

Third in 2023 and winner of only one race, six-time champ Jonathan Rea has defected—openly and honourably—to the official Pata Prometeon Yamaha team to join with last year’s fourth-placed championship rider and podium-regular Andrea Locatelli.

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With Rea, ambitious as ever, taking ex-WSS champ Andrew Pitt from Locatelli to be his crew chief, spice has been sprinkled on the half-British/half-Italian official Yamaha team’s breakfast tea/espresso emulsion.

Tom O’Kane, one of the best crew chiefs imaginable, is with Locatelli.

Yamaha will run four more YZF-R1s: Remy Gardner and rookie-season podium rider Dominique Aegerter in a strong second-year GRT rider lineup; Motoxracing retains ex-BSB titlist Bradley Ray, and GMT94 will compete with former Ducati-runner Philipp Öttl.

Kawasaki, now without the GOAT in its verdant green yard, continues with Alex Lowes as the most experienced rider in the official KRT squad and twice Independent Rider Champion Axel Bassani in his first-ever factory WorldSBK season.

This is an important career stage for both Lowes and Bassani for different reasons. Versatile former Moto2 champ Tito Rabat and his Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team will get a full-factory Ninja this year, direct from KRT. Expect only three Kawasakis at Phillip Island.

The factory Honda squad retained Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge as its riding duo but lost Leon Camier as team manager, replaced by José Manuel Escamez. Honda debuted a new CBR1000RR-R, but so far it has not been better in testing than the previous model.

There will be a completely new-look rider lineup in the Petronas MIE Honda team this year, with Taz Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin, the recent WorldSSP pairing, on their new WorldSBK Hondas. They should have all their new kit for Phillip Island but will be playing catch up.

Last, and probably best-placed of the independents, are the Ducati hordes. There are as many Yamahas as there are Ducatis, but it feels like there are swarms of angry desmos in WorldSBK. And every single one of them looks like they could dent some podium foundations at least.

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Established forces first. Danilo Petrucci is a versatile talent, and the MotoGP winner made a podium debut season in 2023. He’s back for year two on a Barni Spark V4 R that will have 500 more revs again. He should be in the main mix—and often.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi had to make way for Bulega in the factory team, but the 28-year-old Italian won a race last year, and he is on the same Motocorsa Ducati that his big 2023 rival Bassani has just left behind.

Now to two very experienced WorldSBK rookies: Andrea Iannone has served his doping ban and come to WorldSBK with the maverick GoEleven Ducati team. He has been fast and not-so-fast in testing, so who knows? But MotoGP race winners are MotoGP winners for keeps.

Sam Lowes, identical twin brother of KRT’s Alex, is no stranger to the WorldSBK paddock, but the 2013 WorldSSP champ (on a Yamaha) left a race-winning Moto2 career to compete in WorldSBK for the very first time.

With a strong, new branch of the Marc VDS tree of racing life supporting Lowes, and riding a Ducati he has already lapped quickly on in some test sessions, we just need to see is how he keeps his Pirelli tyres in shape for all 20 laps of the longest of the three weekend races.

WorldSBK is, like MotoGP, not all about one category. We will see the WorldSSP300 riders later in the year, but right now the massed ranks of WorldSSP pilots are ready to start alongside their liter-class brethren in Australia.

The third year of the “Next Generation” WorldSSP championship rules has already started with the scorecards more or less reading 10 for 10 for expanding the franchise beyond 600cc Japanese bikes and some not-much-bigger-capacity European triples.

In “Next Gen” year one, a 600cc Yamaha still won the championship, but the 955cc Ducati Panigale V2 was the bike to be on

The BMW has an engine that may even come close to that of the Ducati in a straight fight, which is the main reason Razgatlıoğlu left Yamaha.

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last year, especially if you were inside the not-quite-factory aruba.it Ducati team.

Federico Caricasulo also won a race on a privateer Althea Ducati.

But bear in mind that even in a record-breaking walkover season for Bulega, with an incredible 16 victories to his credit, Caricasulo and a further four other riders—Stefano Manzi, Taz Mackenzie, Can Öncü, and Bahattin Sofuoğlu—also won WorldSSP races.

Ducati won 17 races, Yamaha four, with one each for Honda, Kawasaki, and MV Agusta; Triumph had a victory in 2022. No fewer than 14 riders took at least one podium, representing all brands. You can see why the new-ish WorldSSP already gets a full-points score.

Bulega, so fast on his official WorldSBK Ducati V-four this winter, played a major part in all those Ducati WorldSSP wins last year, even if the Panigale V2 was liberated a little more by some early 2023 season rules tweaks.

With Bulega gone and new chassis “kit part” rules introduced for this year, the possibilities are widening again. There will be one race-kit spec per manufacturer, at a set cost of 1,000 Euros. It will comprise upper and lower triple clamps, a steering stem, and a rear suspension link.

As usual, the greatest performance aids of all will be the very best riders. If it all comes to pass as planned, there will even be a Chinese entry in 2024, joining Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, Triumph, MV Agusta, and Kawasaki.

The QJ company, with its GSR 800, has hired Renzi Corse Racing and proven race-winner Raffaele De Rosa for its debut campaign. QJ will compete in the WorldSSP Challenge class, which means European rounds only—no early race at Phillip Island.

Who is going to win WorldSSP? A rider from at least any one of three manufacturers, and maybe more. Not much more can be asked of any championship than three red-hot factory possibilities and any one of six or seven riders being truly championship-capable.

Prospects for a mega-season in both WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes? Firm to excellently good.

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BMW ready for takeoff

Signing Toprak Razgatlıoğlu as its lead rider has put immense pressure on BMW. After opening its cheque book, the German manufacturer now needs to deliver race wins and a title challenge

By Steve English Photos by Steve English, David Clares/WorldSBK, BMW Motorrad

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Gone is the shy rider whose English was clearly a barrier. In his place is one of the world’s most charismatic athletes.

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W

hen rumors began to spread within the WorldSBK paddock that Toprak Razgatlıoğlu was speaking with BMW ahead of the 2024 season, the whispers were taken with a pinch of salt.

The Turkish superstar has never been conventional in his approach to racing, but this was widely seen as a step too far.

BMW had made progress with its M 1000 RR, but Razgatlıoğlu threatening to leave Yamaha—the brand with which he won the title in 2021—was surely nothing more than a negotiating tactic, right? Having established himself as a star in the making with Kawasaki, Razgatlıoğlu had flourished on the Yamaha.

The YZF-R1 was a proven package, but Razgatlıoğlu further elevated the pro-

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gramme. Race wins became the only acceptable target, and anything less was a disappointment. Moving to BMW, with only one victory in more than 10 seasons of racing, surely was the exact opposite of what the ex-world champion was all about.

Throughout his career, Razgatlıoğlu had always prioritized WorldSBK, regularly dismissing suggestions that he might go to MotoGP. With success, however, his confidence and self-belief skyrocketed. Gone is the shy rider whose English was clearly a barrier. In his place is one of the world’s most charismatic athletes.

Razgatlıoğlu brings a swashbuckling, never-say-die approach to his racing and a fun-loving personality to the paddock. He has always been well-suited to WorldSBK, but with a title in hand, the lure of MotoGP started to grow on him. Toprak’s ambition

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shifted to becoming the first rider to win both the WorldSBK and MotoGP titles.

Over time, the targets changed in Toprak’s mind. Legacy became more important to him. For Yamaha, the question was, “Why would he leave?” For Razgatlıoğlu, the question quickly became, “Why should I stay?”

That feeling only accelerated when his MotoGP chances were dashed after testing the YZR-M1 in April.

“I wanted to go to MotoGP for 2024,” explained Razgatlıoğlu, “but when I tested the MotoGP bike, I knew there would be problems. They did not make changes to the bike that I wanted, and they gave me five sets of tyres for two days of testing. It was just a test to ride the bike, not to prove myself.

Yamaha wanted Fabio Quartararo in MotoGP and me in Superbike.

“For me to stay with Yamaha in Superbike, it needed to be a good offer, but I told [manager] Kenan Sofuoğlu that we also had to look at the other teams, too. I tried to stay with Yamaha and we negotiated for 15 days, but they only offered me a good contract when they finally believed I might leave for BMW.” The mindset shared by Sofuoğlu and Razgatlıoğlu has always set them apart from other riders in the paddock. Their intense battles on small-capacity bikes are the stuff

of legends. Valentino Rossi has his academy in Italy, but Sofuoğlu has fostered an incredible spirit with the top Turkish racing talent.

Sofuoğlu has bred a single-minded focus into his riders: Winning is the only thing that matters, and finishing second means you simply have lost. That belief opened the door for BMW to sign Razgatlıoğlu. Rather than believing BMW was a dead-end, Toprak asked, “Why can’t I be the one to win on it?”

“When I signed with BMW, everyone wanted to talk about the money,” said Razgatlıoğlu. “I’m a rider, and if you are a very good rider, you take more money.

What’s unusual about that? Nobody asked why I signed with BMW. For me, it wasn’t just about the money. It’s about the challenge. If I can win here, I can do something no rider has done before.

“Kawasaki immediately called Kenan, but I told him that I wasn’t interested because Kawasaki has already won eight titles. If I am the world champion for Kawasaki, is it special for them? I don’t think so. We also didn’t approach Ducati because the Panigale is the best bike, so it would be the same.

“BMW is a big brand that has never won a title,” added Toprak. “So I said to Kenan that no one believes BMW can fight for the title. Maybe with my style I can fight for the top three overall in 2024, and afterward, with some small improvements, maybe we can fight for the championship in 2025.

“I said that if we meet with BMW and both Kenan and I agree with the potential, we will sign with them. It’s a very big challenge, but I’m very happy to be here.

Everyone knows the Ducati is the best bike, and it’s easy to be a champion with the best bike. I know with BMW that I will make the difference if we win.”

Mid-summer, BMW was still a questionable decision. The bike struggled for the first half of the campaign, but behind the poor performance, there were hints of success.

Michael van der Mark was fast at the opening rounds before breaking his leg at Assen.

The Dutchman was never able to show his full potential, but he had been the top BMW rider until the injury.

Scott Redding flashed potential at Most, but Garrett Gerloff’s performances at the end of the season showed the greatest

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progress. The ex-Yamaha man was becoming more confident on the BMW, and for the final four rounds of the year, he was consistently knocking on the door of the top six. Those strong end-of-season showings proved BMW was making progress.

During the winter, BMW flexed its financial muscles. Former champ Sylvain Guintoli was hired to lead a new test team. The Frenchman is credited with doing a lot of the hard yards that led to Joan Mir winning the 2020 MotoGP title for Suzuki. Bradley Smith also was brought in to test the bike. BMW has shown Razgatlıoğlu a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

New regulations for 2024 allow teams to modify their crankshafts, and this could be the key to making the BMW more user-friendly.

Rival engineers have said the M 1000 RR engine offers a very strong base.

With changes to the crankshaft, potentially increasing mass by as much as 20%, BMW may have a winning combination.

During testing, Razgatlıoğlu has looked at ease. Phil Marron, Toprak’s crew chief, knows the key to success for his rider is being comfortable on the bike and in the garage. Familiar faces have moved from Yamaha, but BMW’s desire to move heaven and earth is a good feeling. The 27-year-old Turk fully expects to soon add to his victory tally.

“The BMW is faster on the straight for me, but the Ducati is still faster,” he said.

“During the tests, I have been happy with my times in qualifying and race simulations.

I’m very happy because, even though I know Phillip Island will be unique with harder tyres and new asphalt, I think we have shown we can be very fast already.

“The bike is good because I have never been faster at Portimão with a race tyre. It’s also very consistent; this is the most important thing. I still need to understand how to make the bike work with the qualifying tyre. I have too much grip. The bike chatters

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and does not give me the right feeling, but there have been so many positive things to understand during testing.”

WorldSBK is firmly in a golden age. BMW has two world champions on its official machines, and Redding and Gerloff may well challenge for race wins on the Benovo bikes.

Yamaha has four world champions, and Ducati has the reigning Superbike and Supersport titlists amongst its six-rider stable.

It is difficult to think of a more competitive time for the series.

“During the tests, we have seen many fast lap times,” said Razgatlıoğlu. “There will be a lot of fighting this year. We don’t know for sure how the new rules will be, but if Alvaro can ride alone and win, it isn’t good. I don’t understand the new rules because there isn’t a balance. Alvaro will have more weight on the Ducati, but he will also have more rpm.”

The 2024 calendar has been much discussed, but many have overlooked the locations of the opening rounds.

Phillip Island and Catalunya are two of the toughest tracks for rear tyre consumption. The challenge is immense because both tracks have lots of fast corners that generate tremendous heat and wear.

Performances at Phillip Island rarely translate to the rest of the season: Eugene Laverty winning on a Suzuki, the podium split by 10ths of a second, and big groups fighting for victory. These are hallmarks of racing on the Island, but they often are an anomaly. And with Catalunya next, rather than later in the season, the opening six races might not show a full form guide.

“We need to see how the season starts,” said Razgatlıoğlu. “Phillip Island is a very difficult track to understand the level, but Catalunya is like this, too. I don’t expect a lot for these two rounds, but if we can have good results, it will surprise people. I spent four years with Yamaha, and we had many wins and podiums. I want the same with BMW.”

For me, it wasn’t just about the money. It’s about the challenge. If I can win here, I can do something no rider has done before.

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S H O O T I N G FOR SEVEN After sailing to unprecedented success with Kawasaki, Jonathan Rea has changed course and jumped ship to Yamaha, where he aims to get the most from the YZF-R1.

But, like altering your handwriting, reprogramming a lifetime of memories is difficult

By Steve English Photos by Steve English and Yamaha Racing

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Yamaha could have looked to MotoGP, but once it became clear that Rea was on the market, the focus changed.

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fresh start. A new opportunity.

A huge challenge. Following a three-year championship dry spell, Jonathan Rea has leapt out of his comfort zone. After nine years, six titles, and countless record-breaking feats, the 37-yearold Rea left the factory Kawasaki squad with which he enjoyed unprecedented success and joined rival Japanese manufacturer Yamaha.

A confluence of factors played into Rea’s decision, led by Álvaro Bautista dominating the championship on a Ducati and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu leaving Yamaha for BMW. But the biggest factor was simply this: Rea is addicted to winning. Having won just one race in 2023, aided by changeable conditions, Rea had nothing to lose.

Rea’s options were to stay at Kawasaki, with little chance to turn things around, or to look for a new challenge. By leaving Yamaha, Razgatlıoğlu had left an open door for Rea, who was still under contract with Kawasaki. Rea bought his way out of the final year of that agreement because he believed the opportunity to win again was greater on a blue bike.

“I did have reservations about leaving Kawasaki,” admitted Rea. “You’re never sure how it will feel when you change teams. You wonder about being fast with a new bike.

You wonder about settling into a new team.

I spent so long with Kawasaki that it was strange to leave, but the Yamaha team has made me feel welcome straight away.

“Yamaha lost their star rider, but they have really made me feel like they’ve gained me. I’ve been made to feel like a superstar.

Even though I’ve known a lot of the guys for a long time and worked with some in the past, it takes time to build working relationships. I’ve known [crew chief] Andrew Pitt since I started to ride in the world championship. Now, we are working together.”

The deal materialized quickly. With Razgatlıoğlu leaving for BMW, the blue bikes needed a new star rider. Yamaha could have looked to MotoGP, but once it became clear that Rea was on the market, the focus changed. An appearance by Chuck Aksland, Rea’s manager, at the Donington Park WorldSBK round was the first public indication of a potential switch.

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With a Kawasaki contract already in his pocket, the American was barraged with questions. Would Rea retire at the end of the season? Was Aksland’s presence the first step toward the final days of an illustrious career? Ultimately, we know the answer to those questions. Rea was looking to engineer an exit from Team Green and keen to sign with Yamaha. Now, Yamaha had to show its commitment.

There was little point in Rea showing his cards to Kawasaki unless he was ready to commit to Yamaha. Team staff allegedly made a grand gesture by leaving a Yamaha fairing with a blue number 65 on a table in Rea’s motorhome. Whether that happened or not, one thing was clear: both parties were keen to make a deal.

Anyone can imagine Andrew Pitt playing a key role in Rea’s move from Kawasaki to

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Toprak gets a lot of plaudits for how he brakes, but it’s a strength of this bike, too. I always thought the Kawasaki stopped well, but straight away, I’m stopping the bike really well.

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Yamaha. In fact, Pitt’s relationship with Rea proved critical in the decision. The fact that the Australian was already working with Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli created a strange set of circumstances, but pairing Rea with Pitt made perfect sense.

“Andrew took me under his wing in 2008 when I came to the world championship,” said Rea. “He won the title, and I was runner-up. We’ve been friends ever since. It was strange when Andrew became a crew chief because you’re a competitor again in such an intense environment. Now, we’re just building our understanding of each other.”

Understanding Rea’s feedback will be key for Yamaha and Pitt. The pressure is on both parties to deliver, but they are facing the most talented grid in WorldSBK history. Teams and riders have to dot their I’s and cross their T’s before wins can be expected. Three tests gave Rea an appreciation for the strengths of the YZF-R1, but much work remains to be done.

“All the bikes are ‘easy’ to ride fast now,” said Rea. “You can get within a second quite easily, but finding the time in that last second is difficult. Over race distance, we’re very competitive, but with new tyres I’ve struggled. From the first test, I’ve felt fast on the bike, but it’s taking me time to understand that last couple percent to extract the ultimate performance.”

Over time, the Yamaha has morphed from a corner-speed bike aided by the crossplane-crank engine configuration to focusing on corner entry. This process started in 2018 when Pitt, then working with Alex Lowes, shifted his attention to making the bike more useful in race conditions. Until then, the Yamaha had huge corner speed but no way to use it when bottled up in traffic.

That development path accelerated when Razgatlıoğlu signed for 2020. Stopping the bike with the rear wheel a foot off the ground and bucking around was seen as “Toprak style,” but that’s now the default way for Yamaha riders to enter a corner. During winter testing, it was striking how much pressure Locatelli and Remy Gardner were applying on the brakes.

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“From my first laps on the bike, it was the braking that struck me,” he said. “Toprak gets a lot of plaudits for how he brakes, but it’s a strength of this bike, too. I always thought the Kawasaki stopped well, but straight away, I’m stopping the bike really well. Looking at the data, there’s some areas where I’m already better than Toprak.

“It always impressed me the shapes that Toprak would be in under braking and still get the bike stopped and enter the corner.

But the Yamaha lets you do that, whereas my old bike wouldn’t let me do that. If I rode like this in the past, I would have crashed. I need to get comfortable being uncomfortable on the entry to the corner.”

Rea’s focus has always been racing. He is driven by an incredible determination to succeed, but putting in extra testing time isn’t the priority. Drop him on the starting grid with the red lights starting to flicker and the heart of a champion appears. Show him a cold track in the middle of winter and he is happy to spin laps, but he won’t be the busiest rider.

After nine years together at Kawasaki, Rea and crew chief Pere Riba knew the

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ZX-10RR and each other inside and out.

There was little they could do to reinvent the wheel, so testing was about quality laps rather than quantity. It’s part of the reason we saw many tests in which Rea would use a qualifying tyre to set the pace but where race simulations were a slot.

After six days of preseason testing on the Yamaha and two more planned at Phillip Island, Rea is raring to go racing, even if he knows that he’s not yet fully ready for it. “After the last race, I was really looking forward to getting on the bike and getting started,” he said. “But once I got that understanding of the bike, I just wanted the lights to go out.

“You can always improve the feeling and find performance, but there’s a time where you need to draw a line in the sand and just go racing. I have done a lot more laps than usual this year. Every lap I can learn something, and now the guys have a lot of data.

I need some support to put the package together, but we’ll be ready for Australia.

“There are some new faces and some familiar ones,” added Rea. “I worked with Davide [Gengile, electronics engineer] at Kawasaki, and we won a lot of titles. I’ve taken Uri [Oriol Pallarés] with me as my mechanic; he’s been my backbone over the years. I’ve got my brother with me again this year, too.

It’s been home away from home, really—a positive change.”

The proof of that positivity will come soon. By the end of the opening round of the year, Rea will have raced three times on the YZF-R1 and we’ll know where he stacks up. Yamaha has four world champions on its bikes this year, as well as a British Superbike champion and a Moto3 Grand Prix winner, so the talent to compare Rea with is top-tier.

Can he still deliver in the white heat of a title battle? It’s been three years since Rea’s last championship, but you can never underestimate him. He’s always been a killer on the track, but he’s now proved to be just as fierce off the track. Leaving Kawasaki wasn’t easy. He risked a guaranteed life ambassadorship as “Mr. Kawasaki” with his move to Yamaha.

Why would Jonathan Rea do that? Simple: He needs to win again.

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F I G H T I N G AGAINST THE TIDE

Ducati has dominated WorldSBK for the past two seasons. For 2024, the Italian manufacturer looks even stronger. An all-star lineup. The best bike on the grid.

Can they be stopped?

By Steve English Photos by Steve English

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ucati didn’t need to improve for the coming season. Álvaro Bautista now has two stars tattooed on his arm to signify his back-to-back WorldSBK championships. The Spaniard has won 43 races for the Bologna factory in the past two years, and he’ll start this campaign as the red-hot favorite.

The biggest question about Ducati through the winter has been about what happens next. When Bautista retires, who replaces him? Nicolo Bulega was almost an afterthought. Overlooked and underappreciated in the Grand Prix paddock, his career lost track when he left the VR46 Academy.

A once highly touted talent was relegated to the midfield. Eventually, he wound up in the Supersport World Championship.

It was a fall from grace that looked like being the end of his chances as a top-flight rider. Instead, a dominant title-winning season last year saw the Aruba.it Ducati squad promote him to be Bautista’s teammate. The easiest job in WorldSBK is being the num-

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ber-two Ducati rider right now. Back up your teammate, do a solid job, and you’ll be OK. It seemed perfect for the low-key Bulega to make his first steps onto a Superbike.

Instead, throughout the winter, Bulega has been the pacesetting Ducati man. Leading the way on three of four January test dates showed his potential. He’s adapted

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The weight penalty has been one of the most talked about rule changes in recent years but with Ducati gaining back 500 rpm compared to last year, it is debatable as to the extent this will play on the proceedings.

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quickly to the Supersport bike and now the often-written-off rider has underwritten his credentials. He’s ready to be a challenger this season.

Bulega burst onto the scene during the 2016 Moto3 season.

The Junior Moto3 champion proved his potential with a pole position and a podium in just his fifth Grand Prix. A further podium at the end of the campaign show potential but ultimately these were the highlights and his Grand Prix aspirations tailed off. In 2021 he joined World Supersport with a whimper. He can learn a lot from Bautista, and if he is strong enough, Ducati will keep him to help lead the post-Álvaro Age. Bulega will have his work cut out for him, though. The six-rider Ducati stable is incredible. Andrea Iannone is back after his four-year doping ban. The Italian will be race rusty but there’s a reason he was a factory Ducati, Suzuki, and Aprilia man in MotoGP. The former 125GP, Moto2, and MotoGP race winner is a big talent and will have his moments this year.

Danilo Petrucci is a two-time MotoGP race winner and former factory Ducati rider. The Italian has a big personality and a big fan base within Bologna. He made big steps last year once he got to grips with the V4 R in WorldSBK specification, and he’ll expect to be contending for podiums from the start of the season. Sam Lowes, the 2013 Supersport World Champion, returns to the paddock as a 10-time Grand Prix winner.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi is a lover scorned. Dropped by the Aruba.it squad, he has lost his status as an official rider and is back in the independent ranks. After fighting for two years with Axel Bassani, Rinaldi ironically was the rider chosen to replace the Kawasaki-bound Bassani. Rinaldi is a race winner, regular podium contender, and finished the past three seasons inside the top five. He’ll be a tougher act to follow than most imagine.

It’s up to one of these riders to put his head above the rest and prove that he is the rider to replace Bautista. Otherwise, Ducati will go shopping in MotoGP once again.

For Bautista, the winter has been a struggle. A crash during testing after the last round of 2023 left him with spinal injuries.

Racing in the Malaysian MotoGP round aggravated the injury.

It left Bautista on the treatment table rather than training for most of the winter. The famously fit Spaniard was left mulling his future and wondering when he could get his life back to normal.

“It was a big crash, and I lost the strength in my left arm,” explained Bautista. “A hernia was touching the nerve and costing me that strength. I had to rest for the winter and had to delay training. It’s been a very tough winter, but at the first test back I felt better than I expected. Portimao was very soon after and is a much more physical track, so this was more difficult.

“For this year, we have extra weight on the bike. This makes it more difficult to turn the bike. It has more inertia on the entry to the corner, so it’s more difficult to ride. The team has to adjust the settings, because the suspension works differently with extra weight on the bike. We’re working on finding the best setting for this weight. We’ve tried two different bikes with different weight distributions.”

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The rider’s weight in his riding equipment must now be 80 kilograms. Otherwise, ballast will be added to the machine. The weight added will be half the difference between the rider. For Bautista, this will equate to 7 kilograms. The weight penalty has been one of the most talked about rule changes in recent years but with Ducati gaining back 500 rpm compared to last year, it is debatable as to the extent this will play on the proceedings.

For Bautista, his physical condition meant that he is yet to show his potential.

The Jerez test was more positive than Portimao but the focus was on longer runs and harder tyres. Using a lot of race tyres, he was focused on understanding the changes to the Ducati compared to last year.

With so many top-class riders on Ducatis, there are no secrets between the teams.

Ducati prides itself that all four Ducati teams, Independent and Official, share their full data. Everyone knows the tyres used and how many have been run. You can see the differences between each bike and rider easily. This strength means that if someone is struggling, he is able to understand where he needs to improve.

“Normally, I like to focus on myself. I am not as interested in other riders but to have so many fast riders and to share the data between us means that you can learn a lot. Ducati has six very strong riders in WorldSBK so now it is like in MotoGP for us because if you are struggling in one corner or one area of the bike you can look at the data of someone else and understand how they are faster. It’s a positive for us to have this much information. The data isn’t always helpful, though, because I am lighter than the other riders and my riding style is very different. So, there are some positives to take from it, but I like to focus on my own riding.”

Throughout his WorldSBK career, Bautista has focused on his own decisions and riding. When he was dumped by Ducati in 2019 and left for Honda, Bautista landed on the earth repeatedly and was quickly reminded of how difficult it is to win. He takes none of his success for granted, but he also understands the mindset of his rivals changing bikes.

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“It’s always interesting to see riders change bikes,” he said. “Johnny and Toprak will be incredibly motivated to make it successful.

When you change teams, you want to find something that lets you go faster than in the past. It’s a powerful motivation, and for Toprak he will be fast on the BMW. I think that Jonathan [Rea] changing to Yamaha after a lifetime with Kawasaki is very brave.

He wants to be competitive again and be successful like in the past.

“Everybody wants to go faster and faster every year, but when you make a change there are many circumstances. I switched to Honda when there was no bike from them.

It was the first year of their project, so at least for Jonathan he knows the Yamaha is very competitive. There were more question marks about BMW, but they have had podiums and pole positions so you know it could be good. I discovered that there would be a lot of work at Honda, which was probably a more difficult situation than what they face.”

Bautista isn’t yet ready for the start of the season but, with long gaps between the early rounds, his body will have time to heal. Phillip Island, easily his best track on the calendar, starts the campaign, and then there are four weeks off until Catalunya.

After that, it’s a month until Assen. Then

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We have extra weight on the bike. It has more inertia on the entry to the corner, so it’s more difficult to ride. The team has to adjust the settings, because the suspension works differently with extra weight on the bike.

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another six weeks until Misano. If you were carrying any injuries, this is the time to heal and get ready for the summer push when the majority of races come in quick succession including two back-to-back events.

While there will be races where other Ducati riders are to the fore, it’s unlikely that any will have the consistency of Bautista.

The winter tests were about finding his feet, understanding the changes to his bike, and getting ready for round one. There are no prizes for testing and that’s a good thing for Bautista when he languished down the order in Portimao. Superpole in Australia will be the first time we get to see what we can expect from him this year.

With eight wins Down Under, not to mention his Grand Prix resume there, the 39-year-old Spaniard is out to prove himself once more. In the past, he was clearly disgruntled by a lack of respect. Winning is

never easy on the biggest stage, but it had to be acknowledged that the Ducati was the bike to be on.

Now, Bautista understands comments like that aren’t meant to undermine his status. He’s the complete package and is respected for what he’s been able to do. He’ll start the year eying up the chance to join Rea, Carl Fogarty, and Troy Bayliss as triple WorldSBK champions, but this year might be his toughest test.

Even so, facing down Bautista will be no easy feat. His midseason collapse in 2019 has been firmly consigned to the history books. He is a dominant Superbike rider, who can maximise his package. Is he the once-in-a-generation talent of Toprak Razgatlıoğlu? No. Is he the greatest Superbike rider of all time like Jonathan Rea? No. Is he the man to beat? You had better believe it.

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MOTUL ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH KAWASAKI RACING TEAM IN WORLDSBK Following a steady growth in the business relationship between Motul and Kawasaki, we are excited to announce that Motul has become the Official Lubricant and Maintenance Partner of the Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT) in the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK). This marks a significant milestone in our evolving partnership with Kawasaki, further solidifying our role as a key commercial partner.

“We are thrilled to further integrate into the Kawasaki family,” said Motul Chief Marketing Officer Pierre Barrard. “We are continuing an exciting journey that defines us as a 360° partner. WorldSBK team partnership, symbolizing not only a strategic alliance on product and technology, but also the shared passion for innovation and performance that characterizes both Kawasaki and Motul. As we embark on this new racing season as the official sponsor of the Kawasaki Racing Team in the WorldSBK Championship, we look forward to demonstrating our combined strengths to reach new heights together in the world of motorcycle racing.”

Back in 2020, the first pivotal point of the relationship between the red brand and the green team was the launch of the Kawasaki Lime Green Edition by Motul 10W-40. In order to further intensify our partnership Motul developed this bespoke motorcycle oil especially for the high performance standards and brand preferences of Kawasaki riders.

The oil is a 4-stroke engine oil based on Motul-Technosynthese® with ester technology, which has been further developed in conjunction with KRT and specially tailored to the needs of Kawasaki motorcycles. It ensures reliable protection of the engine and transmission system and provides smooth gear switching. On top it has the Kawasaki-Lime-Green colour and a matching lime fragrance.

“As a company with engineering at its core, Kawasaki continually strives for perfection,” commented Manabu Shinobu the Japanese manufacturer’s Senior Manager of Marketing. “For the best performance in our engines and ancillary systems such as brakes and drivetrains, we demand the very best lubricants and allied products as well as requiring consistency of quality on a global scale.

We are therefore delighted to have achieved this agreement with Motul that includes both core lubricants and also bike care products, ensuring that we will maintain the cutting-edge performance of the Kawasaki Racing Team” Recent commercial collaborations with Kawasaki in France and Spain add to the growing list of partnerships, joining other countries and areas such as Italy, Germany, Benelux, Indonesia, Malaysia, and more. Motul will be actively pushing the Partnership through the Kawasaki retail network encompassing the wide product range including m/c care products as well as via its on- line community reach.

The deepening and strengthening ties with Kawasaki are demonstrated with the sponsorship of the Factory Team in WorldSBK, showcasing our commitment to pushing the boundaries of technological expertise in developing increasingly high-performance products for the market.

Motul’s collaboration with the Kawasaki Racing Team as the Official Lubricant and Maintenance Partner is a testament to the shared commitment of both brands to excel at the highest level in the championship for production-based motorcycles.

Together, we celebrate our technological prowess and the continuous development of products that meet the evolving demands of the market.

KAWASAKI ALL CHANGE Alex Lowes steps up to fill Jonathan Rea’s title-winning boots, while Axel Bassani moves from an Italian V-four to a Japanese inline-four. Crew chiefs Pere Riba and Marcel Duinker weigh in on the metamorphosis at one of WorldSBK’s most successful teams

By Steve English Photos by Steve English

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he margin for error is now gone at Kawasaki. Jonathan Rea has moved on to Yamaha and suddenly, for the first time in more than 10 years, there are massive question marks hanging over the factory Kawasaki Racing Team.

The Ninja had its sword blunted in recent years. Whether it was by the progress on track by Ducati and Yamaha or a lack of the development of its own package, Kawasaki is no longer the reference with which to judge everyone else in WorldSBK. Team Green hasn’t been for years, and that’s ultimately what drove Rea to leave.

For a team that won seven titles over an eight-year period, it’s remarkable to acknowledge that, for 2024, KRT will be looking over its shoulder at the progress BMW has made. With Toprak Razgatlıoğlu on an M 1000 RR, riders Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani likely will be looking at the back end of at least one BMW this year.

What can Kawasaki do to improve their situation? A brand-new bike is a non-starter because of the sheer cost of developing a new road bike.

Kawasaki has a small racing department. and its success was, for a long time, based on its ability to maximise everything from the package week in and week out. The team structure was a MotoGP team operating in WorldSBK for a long time.

That gave them a significant advantage 10 years ago, but the field has now caught up.

Teamwork was its superpower, but the ZX-10RR was also a very strong package.

After Kawasaki pulled the plug on its MotoGP programme, the resources, knowledge, and team personnel was ploughed into the Superbike programme. In 2009, under the Hayate brand, Marco Melandri was able to finish on the rostrum and inside the top 10 in the standings. Kawasaki’s MotoGP bike had become competitive

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and that DNA was then developed into the WorldSBK machine.

From 2010 onward, Tom Sykes would become a focal point for the team, and he could easily have won three titles in a row from 2012 before Rea joined the team and won six titles. To have that much sustained success is unprecedented, but it also became easy for Kawasaki to rest on its laurels.

For 2024, the departure of Rea has led to wholesale changes within the pitbox.

The most obvious change is that Rea’s crew chief, Pere Riba, will stay with the team but now work with Alex Lowes. It will be a very interesting dynamic to follow as the season progresses.

“I’ve been very happy at Kawasaki since I joined in 2020,” said Lowes when asked about the changes.

“I’ve been here for four seasons working with Marcel, and I’ve always enjoyed it. We’ve won a race, had podiums, and I’ve always enjoyed my time working with the guys. I’m excited about this year, though, because over the winter, I’ve been able to focus on the sporting and riding side rather than the technical side. It’s been really interesting to do that, and I feel relaxed going into the season.”

For a long time during the Rea versus Sykes era, the biggest rivalry was actually said to be between their crew chiefs, Riba and Marcel Duinker. With Lowes switching crew chiefs, the debate over the merits of each engineer will come to the fore once again. Their approaches are very different from one to another with Riba, a former 500cc Grand Prix racer, bringing his experience as a racer to the fore. The Spaniard has a holistic approach to his job and building the riders confidence is key.

For Duinker, Kawasaki has always credited him with a lot of the hard graft in turning the Ninja into a dominant force. The former suspension technician brings a lot of attention to detail to the project. He also has an

Riba, a former 500cc Grand Prix racer, brings his experience as a racer to the fore.

The Spaniard has a holistic approach to his job and building the riders confidence is key.

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engineer’s brain, which can be a detriment, too. Duinker understands that the rider is the man on the bike, but it’s hard to not trust the numbers, too. His approach has always been data-driven.

This worked fantastically with Sykes when they were together. The Englishman regularly gushed about the genius of Marcel and his team. Some riders need that and others need an arm around their shoulder.

It will be interesting to see how Bassani fares this year.

The Italian has made steady progress over the past three years. From the top 10 in the standings, it has been linear progress to the top six last year. Armed with a Ducati V4 R, Bassani was able to show what he could do, but now, he is a factory rider. That means his feedback is critical and plays a key role in bike development. It’s a very different challenge and one that Bassani has earned.

“It’s been a real pleasure to work with Axel so far,” said Duinker when asked about his new charge. “From the first test, he’s been really professional. There’s a lot for him to adapt to because the Kawasaki is very different from the Ducati, but I’ve been

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impressed with his attitude and approach.

Throughout the winter tests, the main focus was to get used to the bike, and then we started to introduce new material. His feedback was good, and he could tell us a lot about the new parts.

“The tests have been good, and everyone is happy. Axel has a new approach for us, and he’s fresh to the team, and we can see value in this. Within KRT, there is a lot of experience with this bike, and it’s up to us to help him understand the bike and set it up and get it ready so that he can take advantage of his experience as a rider. He’s ridden a lot of bikes in the past, so he can give us a lot of feedback compared with those bikes.

“He’s young, but he has a lot of experience,” added Duinker. “We’ll take things one step at a time this year. There is very little pressure from Kawasaki so there isn’t much

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stress for us other than trying to improve every time we leave the pitbox, every time we’re on track, and every time we race. We all know what the goal is, and that’s what we’re working toward.”

Ultimately, Kawasaki’s fortunes are more likely to be paired with Lowes’ performances. He has the experience and the time on the bike. It will be interesting to see how he performs compared with the past. Now, as the team leader and working with Riba, we will get to see how the different engineering approaches mesh.

“This winter has been different to the past because, for nine years, I was with Jonathan, so our winter approach was about maximising performance,” commented Riba.

“We could work on our speed because we had the experience of working with each other for so long. I knew what he needed, and he knew what I needed.

“Now, we have a new approach to the winter because it is my first time working with Alex. I have a new rider this year, so I have approached it like I have always done with riders in the past. I have focused on taking the time to understand the needs of my new rider. I always need more time for this because it takes a long time to understand how a rider rides the bike, what he wants it to do, and also how he delivers his feedback.

This is the first thing you have to concentrate on with a new rider.”

Having been in the same garage and sitting in debriefs together, both Lowes and Riba had an idea of what to expect but nothing more. Now, after four tests, they have started building that relationship but, for Riba, it’s clear they’ve only scratched the surface.

“I spent a lot of time looking through the data and understanding why Alex has had difficulties in the past. For me, the trail braking into the corner and when you release the brake is the most critical area of the corner.

If you crash in this phase of the corner, it can be about understanding the limits of the bike in this phase. We’ve analysed the data and worked with a lot of technical items to try to give him the best understanding of the limits on corner entry. The Kawsaki is

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quite an old bike, but we have new parts and 500 more rpm this year, which is important.

We’ve focused on making the most from the bike and improving the base.”

Riba has long been credited as one of the best crew chiefs at maximising the human element. Having worked with Joan Lascorz and Loris Baz before Rea, he was able to help each find their best form. Lascorz’ time with Riba came to an awful ending with his injury at Imola, but Baz, the rawest rider imaginable, in 2012 was a diamond ready for MotoGP after Riba finished with him.

“You’re always nervous when there’s a change with your crew chief because it’s such an important relationship within the garage,” said Lowes. “We’ve had a very detailed plan throughout the winter for the areas of my riding that Pere wants me to focus on improving. He’s given me areas of the bike to focus on, too, and we’ve had a plan to do that.

[Chief mechanic] Arturo Marcet has been with Pere for a long time, and they’ve made me feel very welcome on that side of the garage. So far, so good, but I’m sure we’ll keep improving on it, too, and I’m looking forward to getting the season started.”

Crew chiefs have such a unique role in racing. They are part-time engineers, parttime psychologists, and part-time resource managers for the whole crew. Their job isn’t to immediately make the bike better, it’s to get the crew to work together and get the most out of everyone. There isn’t a crew chief in MotoGP or WorldSBK who can do everything, and they need to know when to delegate.

Delegation has long been one of the strengths that Riba is believed to have. His crew has been together for a long time for many reasons. The success of Rea was one reason to stick together, but so, too, was the atmosphere cultivated by Riba. Everyone’s opinion matters, and their goal is to win no matter what.

“We’re a team, and the team makes a difference,” said Riba. “The rider has to trust the whole team if we can be fast. Alex has to be confident that we are working well so that, when he’s on track, he doesn’t think about anything except riding. This is so important, so it’s my job to support him and for us to work together. We have to build the speed together, but I’ve been really pleased by how

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hard he is working and what we’ve been able to do so far. We are working on building the base and giving him the confidence to get faster and build his consistency.”

Lowes has now spent more time in the green of Kawasaki than he did in Yamaha blue, but finally, he’s back in a lead role with a team. Being the focal point is important for a rider, and now, he has the chance to prove himself. Alongside Rea, Lowes understood why Kawasaki focused its attention on the six-time champion. Now, Lowes has his chance.

Speed doesn’t always solve the problems because sometimes something unexpected can happen.

Being consistent is the most important part of racing.

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Building consistency and a plan into the race weekends will be important for Lowes. At one point during Rea’s run of titles, part of Riba’s plan was to do full-race simulations during practice. This was when Friday had an extra session, but it illustrated that Riba did his best to leave no stone unturned. Get-

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ting the most from every situation is critical, and it was one thing that Riba has long said about Lowes.

“Alex is fast,” he said. “There is very little between him and Johnny in terms of speed, but speed isn’t everything. In racing, you have to adapt. Speed doesn’t always solve the problems because sometimes something unexpected can happen. Being consistent is the most important part of racing. We are working on making sure we can manage as many situations as possible.

“How we approach Friday practice. How we approach qualifying. How we approach everything that we can control is important because, then, you have more capacity to control the unexpected things that happen in races.

This is a new chapter of my career, and I’m very excited by it. I can’t wait to get racing.”

With Bassani joining from an independent Ducati squad, the Italian still has a lot to learn. The onus is on Lowes, winless since Phillip Island 2020, and he’s hungry to get back to being at the sharp end.

The Englishman knows that now the Kawasaki is not the bike it was in the past, so the goal is to get the most out of the package every weekend. Regulation changes will help Kawasaki close the gap to their rivals.

A new crankshaft and an extra 500 rpm will help, but it won’t remove the deficit. It won’t be easy for the green machines in 2024, but nothing worth doing is easy.

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EUROPE’S HRC

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PART TWO Ducati Corse has capitalized on its single-minded determination and multi-generation engineering experience to achieve unprecedented worldwide racing success

By Gordon Ritchie Photos by Ducati Corse

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M

ore than 20 years ago, I wrote a long-form feature about visiting Ducati Corse. I had gone to Bologna to find out how the then relatively new offshoot of Ducati Motor Holding had swiftly become a kind of European version of Japan’s Honda Racing Corporation.

Given Ducati’s current domination of contemporary motorcycle road racing, however, “Europe’s HRC” is maybe not seen as a sincere compliment anymore but a significant underestimation of Ducati Corse’s current racing gravitas and ongoing potency. I dug deeper to find a clear answer.

Visiting the headquarters for Ducati’s MotoGP and WorldSBK programs all those years ago was an educational and moto-mind-expanding experience.

The burning ambition I saw in the eyes of Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali as he sat confidently behind his desk in Borgo Panigale remains a vivid memory. After conversations with several other key players, I realized the collective ambition and drive within Ducati was relentless.

At that time, Ducati Corse had reasons for its desmo-driven optimism. Loris Capirossi had just won a MotoGP race, the first for Ducati in the new fourstroke era. (One of the pistons from Capirossi’s winning bike was prominently displayed on Domenicali’s desk, if I remember correctly.)

Ducati was generally still the big WorldSBK ticket to beat, even if Honda and Colin Edwards had just done Ducati and Troy Bayliss over twice in three WorldSBK seasons with the factory V-twin VTR1000 SP1.

Honda left the perennial political and technical complications of WorldSBK after championship number two, but Ducati never did. Not fully, at least, even if the truly official efforts succumbed to the subsequent global financial crash and, from time to time, the voracious appetite of MotoGP’s cash-vacuuming nature.

But surely, sooner or later, those upstarts at Ducati would leave MotoGP and go back to WorldSBK and domestic championships with their tails between their legs, right? They would be out-resourced, if nothing else.

Well, there have been missteps, machinations, and failures over the past 20-odd years in MotoGP, but there also have been race wins and championship trophies.

Exponentially so, right now. Ducati Corse’s MotoGP hatchling not only survived, it thrived. Ducati has stayed in the prototype game no matter what, and now that single-minded determination is paying off in spades.

My original intention was to write this 20-year follow-up piece before the start of the 2023 season.

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I had spoken with many of the top Ducati figures at the glitzy team launches, held at the posh Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in Italy, a short time after the stunning 2022 MotoGP and WorldSBK double championships. I eventually ran down my last Ducati management quarry in mid-2023, but by then, other more pressing work got in the way.

I’m kind of glad now because my whole thesis— that Ducati Corse is replacing HRC as the company for whom racing means winning—has been vindicated.

Well, you can be the judge of that after reading this, eh?

Ducati Corse repeated both of its gold-standard world championships last season, had a successful first year as the sole MotoE supplier, won the newlook “Next Generation” WorldSSP title with Italian Nicolo Bulega and the 955cc Panigale V2. That victory was a first for Ducati in the middleweight category, despite strong campaigns in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Ducati also went one-two in British Superbike in 2023, won British Supersport, won in CIV Superbike, was second overall in MotoAmerica Superbike,

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Since day one, only one department head has not been a dyed-in-the-wool engineer, which is very “HRC,” at least it was in the past.

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won the MotoAmerica Supersport title, the Daytona 200, and even continued racing in EWC with strong front-running pace at times. To top it off, Ducati unveiled an all-new motocross bike, the Desmo450 MX, at this year’s celebration in the snow.

If I missed anything from that long and heavily gilded roll call, I can only apologise to Domenicali and company. My old memory has its limits, unlike Ducati Corse’s ambitions.

So, how did the most Italian of Italians do it? How did Ducati Corse become a byword for global racing success, like HRC some time ago?

I asked Domenicali how Ducati Corse achieved this domination. “Since our beginning,” he said, “we really had the idea of having a company within a company—a group of people very focused on racing and very committed. That was the spirit when we created Ducati Corse in 1999, so even before we entered MotoGP in 2003.”

In 2009, Ducati Corse once again became a business unit of Ducati, rather than being fully independent. Since day one, only one department head has not

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been a dyed-in-the-wool engineer, which is very “HRC,” at least it was in the past. Technological advances in computer design and race simulation also have helped Ducati’s MotoGP program.

“It took only four years for us to win a world championship in MotoGP,” said Domenicali. “From 2003 to 2007. It was super-quick, then things started to get not so good. More difficult, more complicated.”

This was especially so during the Valentino Rossi period, when both parties expected more performance. “We started rebuilding the whole team when Valentino left,” said Domenicali, “and it took a while.”

From the outside, the biggest “upgrade” Ducati Corse made was the appointment of General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna, who had proven himself in the hazy Aprilia two-stroke 250cc GP days and even more profoundly during the four-stroke RSV-4 WorldSBK era.

“It was a good change,” said Domenicali, “because Gigi took a lot of new energy and a strong passion for continuously developing the motorcycle in a very fast way. He was very good at creating a lot with the people already in the company. The most important people we have in Ducati Corse are the ones who were there before, and then, of course, a lot of new, young people.”

Dall’Igna’s immediate impact back then was finding out what the existing Ducati people were best at and letting them work on that, and then finding new specialists if

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needed. Winning was the only aim and exploring every avenue of how to do so.

Domenicali gave another insight into the required teamwork, from engineering desks to the boardroom, that had been another significant upgrade.

“It is a very young group,” he stated, “and Gigi keeps hiring new talent and young engineers. With me, as managing director since 2013, and being so close to racing, we can get the company to support the racing team a lot.

And Ducati Corse can have a lot of influence on the production bikes. So Ducati Corse and Ducati Product Development are very close now to develop production motorcycles.”

Ducati may be owned by VW/Audi, but the company is very much a self-governing two-wheel specialisation. Whenever you hear the term “production,” it pertains to the base of the race bikes for WorldSBK—the “other” world championship.

Historically the most successful WorldSBK manufacturer, Ducati has endured fallow spells by its own untouchable standards, although it challenged hard with the V2 Panigale against Jonathan Rea during his six championship-winning seasons with Kawasaki.

Ducati came back super-strong as soon as Dall’Igna and crew built a V-four—a Ducati V-four, not the engine Dall’Igna had co-designed and won with at Aprilia. Ducati still had to produce its own version and make it work.

Conveniently, there was a MotoGP V-four from which to kick-start the WorldSBK design.

“

Gigi took a lot of new energy and a strong passion for continuously developing the motorcycle in a very fast way. He was very good at creating a lot with the people already in the company.

”

With the Panigale V4 R largely dominating and almost winning the 2019 WorldSBK title with Álvaro Bautista, Ducati knew retaking its “birthright” title was only a matter of time. Returning prodigal son Bautista won in 2022, doubling up a year later.

Back across the great Dorna divide, Ducati has revolutionised the MotoGP class, taking aero and “devices” more seriously than others. Such is the same in WorldSBK in terms of beating the Japanese and supplying anyone with competitive bikes right out of the crate—with some help from the cost-capped accessibility regulations, of course.

Clearly, Ducati has to play all its cards and use virtually all its sponsor money and customer-bike fees to compete in MotoGP in any season. This has had knock-on and occasional knockout effects for a WorldSBK effort.

All of which means that Ducati and title partner aruba.it (a significant Italian web hosting and internet entity) are made for each other. Aruba is a sponsor, sure, but much more than that: It’s an integral part of the effort. Does Ducati need Aruba’s funds and PR/logistical input to operate at official WorldSBK level? “Yes, it is the way we try to make it feasible—more than a sponsor for sure,” said Domenicali. Aruba wanted its own privateer WorldSBK team, before realising it may as well go “halfers” inside an official setup.

This new symbiotic way of winning in WorldSBK is welcome, but continuity and trust in old partners has been key for Ducati Corse’s return to dominance. Feel Racing, for example, is the team-logistics and pit-box partner in WorldSBK and is still led

by Daniele Casolari, like it was in the long-ago past.

Way back, when I wrote the original Ducati Corse story, Davide Tardozzi was the WorldSBK team manager. Paolo Ciabatti was the director of the MotoGP programme. Serafino Foti, the current WorldSBK team manager, was Tardozzi’s protege and then successor. Former WorldSBK project chief Ernesto Marinelli is one notable new-era absentee, but in those higher positions, 20 years on from when MotoGP started for the Borgo Panigale company, almost all those key WorldSBK/MotoGP figures are still there.

Domenicali agreed that having many customer teams, as well as official ones, is another positive link to the past. Bikes and parts sold to those teams bring income for all the development work. Recent success has seen many teams, old and new, go for Ducati power in both global series. And don’t forget the domestic championships.

In so many ways, for Ducati, it’s just like the old days of winning on Sunday and selling on Monday. For street riders and race teams, of course. The really big difference, however, is that Ducati has become the contemporary masters of MotoGP, as well as regaining the WorldSBK super-heavyweight crown. Just the kind of things HRC used to do…

Paolo Ciabatti may be leaving the road-racing side of Ducati Corse for its fledgling motocross programme, but his reasons why Ducati Corse has reached its multiple zeniths are quite straightforward, if not easy.

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“I think it is just a natural evolution of hard work and full dedication from mainly the technical side,” said Ciabatti. “Gigi and his guys are working to try to make the best possible bikes in MotoGP and Superbike, and to be able to develop a good base for Supersport with the Panigale V2. Although, to be totally honest, that bike is not a factory bike. It is a programme decided by Aruba. it. It is a Ducati motorcycle but an aruba. it success. We have been working on some competitive kit parts for the WorldSSP bike to make it competitive for everyone.”

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In fairness, Althea Racing’s Federico Caricasulo won a WorldSSP race in 2023 as an independent, so the otherwise-dominant eventual champion Bulega was not the only person who could win on a Panigale V2.

In 2024, race grids around the world are once again going to be stuffed with fast Ducatis, and unlike the earliest Ducati Corse years, that means MotoGP grids, as well.

Ciabatti is going into the unknown with the new knobby-tyre motocross project, but it is no surprise that Ducati will replace its sporting director with an internal appointee, Mauro Grassilli. Ciabatti thinks this a good thing.

“If you have the right competence inside the company,” he said, “the best way is always to give the chance to someone who has been within the company and knows the system. Then, he is a more natural choice.

Sometimes, you need to hire somebody from outside because you do not have that specific competence inside. But in Ducati, we prefer to give opportunities to people within our company.”

I touched on this idea earlier, but “Europe’s HRC” is too archaic and oddly shaped a template for the overall achievements and forward-looking momentum that Ducati Corse has built to its current level in 2024.

Ducati Corse is its own fully formed Italian racing structure, not a pale copy of another company or an engineering culture.

RETURNING

TO FORM The Once And Future Sam Lowes

By Steve English Photos by Steve English

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“

At 33 years old, (Sam) Lowes is no longer the cheeky youngster who burst on the scene.

He’s a seasoned rider who now has the chance to prove his worth again.

”

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W

ith 193 yards to the flag on the 17th hole at the challenging Monte Rei golf course close to the Algarve International Autodrome, Sam Lowes turned and said, “I’m gonna put this to 5 feet and then we’ll have an easy birdie to knock in.” Having to bend the ball around a dogleg and with bunkers protecting the green, he had total faith in the shot. After nailing it, he laughed and said, “That’s how it’s done!”

Approaching his racing with a similar swagger will be critical for Lowes in 2024 as he embarks on his rookie WorldSBK campaign. Injuries robbed him of his fitness and confidence for a couple of years, but now he’s ready and raring to go.

“My injuries were very tough to deal with,” admitted the 2013 WorldSSP champion. “I think that’s why winning in Jerez last year meant so much to me. To get back on

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the top step reminded everyone of what I can do. It felt good to prove myself again, and then the talk of coming to WorldSBK started and I’m excited to be here.

“I left the Superbike paddock in 2013, and [twin brother] Alex came in the next year. I’ve watched every session unless I was on track at the same time. We’re so close that we talk about everything with each other. We’ve always talked about the bikes, tyres, and the weekend format because I’ve always tried to help him, and he did the same for me in Moto2. I’m lucky to have him to learn from.”

It’s been a crazy ride for Lowes. He made his Grand Prix debut just three years into his professional career. Before that, he worked alongside his brother laying electrical cables in cold, wet English quarries for their father.

That experience has given both Lowes a sense of perspective, and Sam has never been afraid to take stock of the career he’s had.

He’s also never been afraid to aim for more.

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“Let’s be honest, every rider wants to be the MotoGP world champion,” said Lowes.

“That’s the ultimate goal, but all those riders would also love to win the Superbike world champion. When I won the Supersport championship, I knew that I always wanted to race a Superbike at some point. I knew, though, that I had a chance to go to Grand Prix, and I had to take that. It would have been a lot easier to stay in Superbikes and become a factory rider in 2014.

“I had offers on the table, but my ambition was to win a Grand Prix. I wanted to prove myself there, too, and that’s why I left.

I spent 10 years over there, and I’m proud of my wins and my success. I’m ready to come to Superbikes, though. I want to race here and win. The biggest reason is that you can see how good the class is now.

“The depth of field here now is incredible,” he added. “I know I can be at the front of the field this year, but I also know that there’ll be some days where just being in the top 10 will be difficult. There are so many great riders and bikes now. It’s really exciting, and everyone has been excited about this project.”

The project is the latest challenge for the MarcVDS team. Having been a dominant force in Moto2, with titles for Tito Rabat, Franco Morbidelli, and Alex Marquez, the team has now set up a new Superbike team.

The move to the class was kept quiet for most of last year until midsummer when, suddenly, the news broke that MarcVDS was courting a move to Superbike. A frenzy of rumours were immediately set into action.

Would the team stay in Moto2 or focus on Superbike?

A cursory look into the garage gives you the answer. Only Lowes has moved over from the Grand Prix paddock. This is a whole new operation with a lot to learn and limited time to learn it. Even so, the approach has been exactly what’s needed for WorldSBK. Leasing Ducati machinery and being able to learn, and learn from the factory, is key.

Crew chief Giovanni Crupi has a wealth of experience. The Italian was instrumental in leading the development of the V4 R and won the British Superbike Championship with Scott Redding before moving with the Englishman to WorldSBK the following year.

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A title challenge fell short, but Crupi is very highly regarded and respected.

Over the years, MarcVDS became a watchword of success in Moto2. No stone is left unturned in how the team strives for success. Budget and finance are always talked about, but it’s people not money that win titles in racing. Taking care of the small details means that big details are not fretted about.

“The biggest advantage for MarcVDS isn’t anything about finances,” said Lowes.

“It’s about the attitude they have for racing.

Everything that the rider needs, they try and give us. Whether it’s training or travel or hotels, the rider is made to feel like everything that can be done is being done. As a rookie, I’ve got so much to learn because the tyres are new, the weekend format is new, and I’ve got to learn about my crew, too.

“

I just love riding a bike on a track. Give me any bike, and I want to get on it. It’s so much fun, and that’s the biggest thing for me.

”

“My crew chief, Giovanni, has that experience, so I’ll be relying on him at first. I think we’ve a lot to learn, but the expectation from everyone is that MarcVDS will be at the front. I think that’s one thing that the team is really proud of; there’s an expectation for us to perform, and we want to deliver. When I left to go to Moto2, nobody knew me or wanted to talk to me.

“I had to prove myself just to get noticed,” he added. “It’s so great to come to WorldSBK and back to this paddock with Ducati and MarcVDS because people want to know what’s happening. They’re interested in us and what we’re doing.”

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What they’ve been doing up to this point is testing. Four days on the bike in January is the sum total of the team’s experience heading to Phillip Island. A December test with the Ducati Test Team was a shakedown in bad conditions, but now there’s nowhere to hide. Results will matter in just a few days, and Lowes is ready for that challenge. One thing that has really helped him throughout the winter is how data is shared amongst all the Ducati riders.

There are no secrets. What tyres was Álvaro Bautista using on his long run? How many qualifying tyres has someone used in testing? How is their bike working differently to ours? The devil is in the details, and the details are in the data.

“I think the way Ducati shares the data and how they approach WorldSBK is by giving the information to everyone,” said Lowes.

“For a rookie, it’s a great chance to perform better, but for every rider on the bike, it lets

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you learn so much. The information from Ducati, even after four days riding the bike in January, gives me so much to compare to and find improvement. Being able to learn from the other bikes means that you can shortcut a lot of the lessons. I’ve a lot to learn, so this is the best situation to jump into.

“I’m not scared to say that the Ducati is the best bike on the grid. I’m happy to say that it’s the best bike. There’s six of us on the bike, and it’s up to us to get the best results.

It’s up to me to prove myself on a Superbike.

I’ve always been fast and at the front of other classes, so I’m expected to do the same now.

Winning races or being on the podium takes a lot of things to be right, but I expect to be near the front on certain weekends. I expect there’ll be tough weekends, too, but that’s where you need to learn and improve on.”

At 33 years old, Lowes is no longer the cheeky youngster who burst on the scene.

He’s a seasoned rider who now has the

chance to prove his worth again. Anyone with 10 wins and 20 pole positions to his name in Grand Prix will command respect, but for Lowes, there was something even more important: the chance to ride. Having seen MotoGP gain more track time at the expense of Moto2 and Moto3, Lowes was ready to leave the hectic schedule behind him.

“I just love riding a bike on a track,” he said. “Give me any bike, and I want to get on it. It’s so much fun, and that’s the biggest thing for me. I had the option to stay in Moto2, where I could travel more and ride less, or I could come to WorldSBK and travel less and ride more. It was a no-brainer to come here.

I’ve got a new challenge, and I love it so much.

It’s so important to get out and spin laps because, if you still have that love, why would you not want to be out on track? I can’t wait to sit on the grid and get started.”

As the rookie gears up for his debut, is he preparing for a “hole in one,” perhaps?

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HONDA RACES,

HONDA

Another bright, red dawn for Honda in WorldSBK, powerful and well-resourced, with a revamped and more focused CBR1000RR-R. Will success soon follow?

By Gordon Ritchie Photos by Steve English

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WINS?

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“

Despite having a fast engine, the Honda has only scooped up a couple of podiums and one Superpole win since the youth of Vierge and Lecuona took on the Honda challenge.

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F

or the fifth consecutive season, Honda has an official Honda Racing Corporation-supported, two-rider effort in WorldSBK. Based on preseason testing, however, this may be another tough year for the one of the championship’s biggest and, historically speaking, most successful Japanese manufacturers.

From its first appearance in 2020 through the ’23 season, the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade has only five podium finishes, none of which were victories.

This can only be seen as the opposite of success, given that Honda has 392 total podiums going all the way back to the beginning of the series, despite not having been an official entrant every year.

Honda used to be a byword for WorldSBK success.

American Fred Merkel won back-to-back titles in 1988 and ’89 on an Oscar Rumi-led RC30. A full-factory HRC squad arrived in 1994, based out of the U.K., campaigning the brand-new RC45 in Castrol colours.

John Kocinski, another American, won the title in 1997 on the heavily developed V-four.

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In the early 2000s, tired of getting beaten too regularly by the bigger V-twins from Italy, the Japanese in general went through a phase of building and racing liter-class V-twins. Honda, as it did in those days, led the way with the RC51 and took two crowns in three years, 2000 and ’02, thanks both times to a third American, Colin Edwards.

Then, in high dudgeon, Honda up and left. And officially, the factory stayed away, with kit-parts rules cancelled, air restrictors on a new generation of 1,000cc inline-fours scrapped, and finally, a swap for all to Pirelli tyres. With new MotoGP prototypes and rock-star riders to finance, the Japanese manufacturers delegated their racing budgets to the new four-stroke prototype class.

Dutch privateer Ten Kate performed a minor miracle in 2007, taking the WorldSBK title with James Toseland and the CBR1000RR. After MIE Racing ran the old CBR1000RR for a year, HRC came back to WorldSBK in 2020, having persuaded Álvaro Bautista to leave Ducati to ride the all-new CBR1000RR-R SP. Podium fireworks were expected, maybe even regularly. With the super-experienced Leon Haslama as the second rider, all the ingredients appeared to be in place for a refrain of the old ballad, “Honda Races, Honda Wins.” Why not? It’s HRC, after all. Right back in it again, with a kind of MotoGP offshoot team based in Spain, overseen by none other than Alberto Puig.

Long-term WorldSBK personnel understood what the Honda wing and the HRC initialism meant, and they were delighted to see both of them in the paddock. Proud, even. It was an official notification to a much larger motorcycling community than the one inhabited by the series regulars: WorldSBK matters.

The 2020 CBR1000RR-SP looked ordinary on the outside, but it had lots of MotoGP style and internal touches, like short intakes with the throttle butterflies almost kissing the valve gear and a big 81mm cylinder bore. So far, however, the HRC comeback has largely been a triumph of commitment and scale over race-weekend substance.

Why? We should examine that before looking at how things should or could shape up for Honda in 2024. It is easy to say now with the advantage of hindsight, but bringing a bunch of MotoGP personnel, including inaugural Team Manager Jaume Colom, to run the show was a strategic error. Nothing personal, but WorldSBK is not MotoGP. Bautista and Haslam suffered many crashes in years one and two of the modern HRC era. In fairness, the all-new, production-derived Honda couldn’t get out of development second gear, as it arrived in a COVID-ravaged world, with Japanese engineers

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banned from testing and travel. It was “Zoom” for technical meetings and doom for race pace.

Even Bautista, who had dominated the first two-thirds of his rookie 2019 WorldSBK season on a factory Ducati Panigale V4 R, seemed to slip off every time he tried to go fast on the Honda. Haslam, who had finished in the top three at least one time on every WorldSBK bike he had ridden, including the “old” Honda, didn’t even get the occasional podium.

HRC took stock of the situation and doubled down. Older, proven riders were replaced with a pair of WorldSBK rookies, Spaniards Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona. Combining one experienced rider with a younger talent is a classic performance-enhancing cocktail: The older rider leads development, while the younger one rides what he has for all he’s worth.

When Bautista moved back to Ducati, won two championships on the bounce, and became the “winningest” Ducati rider in history, the idea that the old HRC riders were too slow, too stuck in their ways, or just not extracting all that could be taken from the Fireblade was as blunted as the Fireblade’s performance in most races.

HRC made a slightly left field but wise choice earlier in “The Great WorldSBK Return” to appoint former rider Leon Camier as team manager. Camier was the king of the middle men, translating what the riders really meant to the engineers. Not so much a translator as a “verifier,” a trusted voice on both sides.

Even with this sensible decision to gain real long-term WorldSBK understanding inside a still MotoGP-subservient setup, the plan didn’t quite work out. Despite having a fast engine, the Honda has only scooped up a couple of podiums and one Superpole win since the youth of Lecuona and Vierge took on the Honda challenge.

At the end of the 2022 season, Honda was forced to ask WorldSBK organisers for special dispensation to make fundamental changes to the bike, including softening the chassis and more extreme headstock and pivot-point adjustments. The former has been a no-no in WorldSBK from day one, year one. Teams have done it, but they were, well, cheating.

Even with the changes, the results were not enough. Then, Honda announced Camier was leaving at the end of the 2023 season. Lecuona’s crew chief, Pete “PJ” Jennings, was out, as well. José Manuel Escámez is the new team manager, and Tom Jojic is Lecuona’s crew chief. Both come from MotoGP. On the heels of these changes, Honda announced a new bike, the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. Are we finally approaching the lavish court of the new crimson kings, with Honda having made all the right moves to at last create a true WorldSBK winner? Back

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to the days of Merkel maelstroms, Kocinski thunder, and Edwards lightning?

Having seen HRC Honda come, go, and come back again, and to see how Honda Europe and Ten Kate kept fighting and even sometimes winning, I am heartened to see any talk of Honda exiting WorldSBK due to a lack of results turn out to be just that—talk. This is fake news, a real bogey man that proved just to be a big kid out trick-or-treating.

The new Honda, complete with revised MotoGP-like wings and bodywork, plus a lot of changes under the skin, is a clear commitment to WorldSBK. A new split throttle is a big change (listen for the engine “twinning” into and out of slower corners before screaming its four-cylinder lungs out as the revs rise). The bike comes with uprated standard and race electronics.

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The results of 2024 winter testing with the combination of a new bike, some personnel changes, and the same riding lineup for a third consecutive year have not been spectacular. The riders were disgruntled in some of their pronouncements. But—and it is an extremely positive but— Honda seems as committed as ever to WorldSBK and its place in the show.

A vote of confidence in WorldSBK aside, why is Honda still competing in this championship, and with an all-new bike, no less? Why is Honda still in the ring, despite being punched repeatedly in the face more often than it has punched any of its opponents? Because, in all likelihood, Honda probably has to be there.

When HRC left WorldSBK after the 2002 season, it did so from a mountain top surveying its success. Honda had won its

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second WorldSBK crown with a V-twin that had out-twinned Ducati—again. Been there and done that. On to MotoGP and greater technical freedom. Four-stroke racing prototypes? Soichiro-san would have been “NR-gised” out of sight.

If Honda exited WorldSBK now, with nothing remotely like that level of previous success to hang its hat on, the proud company and its hordes of engineers would lose so much face the special request a couple years

MotoGP, so if Honda can compete, win, and take titles here, the base bike should work in the Endurance World Championship, British Superbike, MotoAmerica, among other series. So, spending on WorldSBK has benefits all over, once Honda gets the maximum out of its technical package.

We will have to wait for a few rounds to see how far Honda can go with yet another set of backroom changes and a new bike.

After signing Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, fellow

“

Are we finally approaching the lavish court of the new crimson kings, with Honda having made all the right moves to at last create a true WorldSBK winner?

ago for super concessions would appear to be little more than a press-relations victory.

The other thing that screams out—if rose-tinted, MotoGP-is-all goggles are removed—is that every other major form of motorcycle road racing is production-derived. That is, Superbike, Supersport, etc.

Think of it this way: Every form of road racing outside MotoGP is based on production motorcycles.

WorldSBK is the highest, hardest, and most wide-ranging championship behind

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”

series strugglers BMW looks like potential race winners and maybe even title challengers. Honda—HRC—cannot contemplate being also-rans.

If BMW joins recent champions and proven race winners Ducati, Kawasaki, and Yamaha on a higher plane of week-by-week existence in WorldSBK competition, well, that really would be the worst response imaginable to the current question that used to be a bold company statement: Honda enters, Honda wins?

WorldSBK 2024 • C A L E N D A R • No.

ROUND

CIRCUIT

DATE

01

Australian Round

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit

23 - 25 FEB

02

Catalunya Round

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

22 - 24 MAR

03

Dutch Round

TT Circuit Assen

19 - 21 APR

04

Emilia-Romagna Round

Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli

14 - 16 JUN

05

UK Round

Donington Park

12 - 14 JUL

06

Czech Round

Autodrom Most

19 - 21 JUL

07

Portuguese Round

Algarve International Circuit

09 - 11 AUG

08

Hungarian Round

Balaton Park Circuit

23 - 25 AUG

09

French Round

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours

06 - 08 SEP

10

Prometeon Italian

Cremona Circuit

20-22 SEP

11

Aragón Round

MotorLand Aragón

27-29 SEP

12

Spanish Round

Circuito de Jerez

18 - 20 OCT

The goal of the Paddock Pass Podcast has always been to give fans inside access.

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