World Superbikes, RIP.

A lot of people suspected, but now it's happening, Dorna are killing WSB.

Essentially turning WSB and WSS into superstock, and droping the superstock classes and replacing them with some bizarre 250cc class... sound familiar?

Correct me if Im wrong but I only know of one 250cc road bike in mass production, the Kawasaki, so where are all these 250s coming from?

Read it and weep.

Hmmm..
Not sure that turning WSB and WSS regs into Superstock will kill it, it might make it cheaper or it might lead to Homologation specials.
It may also mean that national series riders would be more competitive in WSB if they get a wild card when it comes to town, but that's nothing new either..

So if you are dumping superstock, you need other classes to fill the afternoons timetable. Moto3 looked to be aces this season, and I can see the idea of promoting national and European classes for it. just can't see how it would fit, (regs wise) as a feeder into the MotoGP Moto3 class if its also global..

Its Italian media reporting it though......

I think now that WSB bikes need to go back to what they began as.

Being a bit slower, and cheaper, won't affect the racing.

Any changes are always predicted to be the death of racing.

Originally Posted by Yorick

I think now that WSB bikes need to go back to what they began as.

Being a bit slower, and cheaper, won't affect the racing.

Exactamundo. I'd say this is a great move, but then I would as I predicted it when I heard Dorna had taken them over . Street bikes have become more and more capable and today I'd challenge anyone to tell the difference at a glance (especially a trackside one) between a superbike and a superstock. The racing is no less exciting, if anything it's better as the big-money boys don't have an inbuilt advantage.

Meanwhile in GP the overlap between CRT (always a pointless class IMO) anfd Superbikes need no longer exist, the CRT bikes can become true GP machines, but based on road kit rather than 100% prototype (this too goes back to the origins of GP where privateers could buy clubman machines to compete in GP). It's a lower cost way in for private teams who also don't need to be hamstrung by forced into slow CRT rules.

As for the new 250 class that ties in well with the new 47bhp driving licence rule and should hopefully do away with the rubbish about everybody having to flock to buy a 600 they can't use properly straight after their test.

If it moves the emphasis onto the rider's ability, and not who has the biggest budget and can spend the most on developing trick bits for the bike, I can't see the problem.

even if they all finished up C90 racing.

Originally Posted by Dingbat

If it moves the emphasis onto the rider's ability, and not who has the biggest budget and can spend the most on developing trick bits for the bike, I can't see the problem.

even if they all finished up C90 racing.

And that's a problem why??

To me, if this is true, it's a f##king shame.

I've preferred WSB racing over GP or whatever the idiots in charge call it, since they banned the 2 strokes. To me, other than Rossi and even he seems to just be collecting a paycheck lately, there is no passion in MotoGP. It's all about money and thats why I won't pvr/tape a race of it. It's becoome and not just recently, exactly like F1 car racing was. Everyone is too concerned about, points, keeping the sponsor's bike flashing it's sign, lap after lap and just holding ther position so scoreboard could show a brand X Ducati/ Honda etc

And that brings me back to what I used to love and even get called in to do pit work for. Grass roots racing on a competitive club level can be way more exciting than any "Pro" race.

Both my wife and I frequently go to the Flat Track races in Bellingham Wa just to watch the kids race! No fear and they look like Aliens with their gear and big helmets on!!!!! Of course the Big Boys play and that area is full of Farmers.....so no prisoners are taken!!

I reallly want to see some BSB races, especially the track with that leap in it.

Originally Posted by Dirtybill

I reallly want to see some BSB races, especially the track with that leap in it.

Cadwell Park.... "The Mountain" is right outside the bar/clubhouse

Originally Posted by Danny_Two

A lot of people suspected, but now it's happening, Dorna are killing WSB.

Essentially turning WSB and WSS into superstock, and droping the superstock classes and replacing them with some bizarre 250cc class... sound familiar?

Correct me if Im wrong but I only know of one 250cc road bike in mass production, the Kawasaki, so where are all these 250s coming from?

Read it and weep.

Honda do a cbr250, the Kawasaki is now a 300 iirc?. Ktm might have a 250 now (or soon) to capitalise on their moto3 success and I think Yamaha have just released pics of a yzr250 last week.

World Superbike and its developmental series will have a drastically different look in 2014, based on details starting to trickle from a meeting in December between Dorna and representatives of World Superbike and World Supersport teams.

Porsonally I take this with a pinch of salt. Until we get the rule changes for 2014 then I dont really beliave anything. We all knew once DORNA got involved in SBK there were going to be changes and possibly loosing SBK all togeather. BSB is too strong a championship to loose at the moment. Plus all the big 4 are all for using BSB to show what they can do. Besides far too much politics in both BSB, SBK and MotoGP.

Romours for 2013 was BSB going to two overseas races this year. Again politics stopped it. Next year we MIGHT end up in Italy as SBK support race.

SBK is too big to drop, plus as many have said it's been the source of a lot of exciting racing and draws huge crowds. It's inevitable that the bpublic will enjoy seeing bikes like the ones they can buy racing, and IMO bringing the race bikes closer to road spec can only help that. I have no doubts about the continuing viability of WSB and BSB, if nothing else because if Dorna/Flammini didn't run them somebody else would.

Dorna owning both championships is the worse thing that can happen to bike racing, there should of been some sort of monopolies commission to stop it.

Dorna are only interested in moto gp, which is fast becoming a bloated corpse, they could see that WSB could take over as a more viable and sustainable option for anyone wanting to run a team, so they bought it to dumb it down into some sort of touring car non event. Moto GP will eventually disappear out to the new economies/oil states chasing money like F1 has.

So what are the options now for aspiring racers? Either go for moto gp, the championship where only four bikes are ever capable of winning a race, or race a stock bike.

Superstock racing may be good to watch, but I can't see sponsors and TV companies tripping over themselves to pay for shop bike racing, which is what it is no matter what angle you look at it.

Originally Posted by Danny_Two

Dorna owning both championships is the worse thing that can happen to bike racing, there should of been some sort of monopolies commission to stop it.

.

Lots of people seems to think this, but I can't, buy into that school of thought at all. Why would they want to push a single championship at the cost of another? If you were the promoter wouldn't you want two healthy championships to attract punters to? Remember many fans would go to both if both were interesting enough, and I can't imagine anyone deliberately dumbing one down just because the other isn't good enough.

The more I think about this the more I think that a single promoter could be a good thing. That said I do wonder about Dorna's competance given their track record.

Here's a different perspective then.

GP continues as a pure race bikes class, and SBK runs as a production based system. As you say this would be similar to the F1/Touring Cars we see elsewhere, very successfully I should add. Domestic championships can run not only with SBK style machinery (1000/600/250) but will increasingly be able to feature Moto3 and Moto2 GP bikes as privateer versions become available. Thus the up and coming youngsters will for the first time in decades be able to choose between production based and pure racing bikes.

Internationally WSB will focus on proddy bikes, looking and sounding exactly like the current Superbikes, lapping no more than a second or so slower than they did in versions costing 10 times as much, and teams will enjoy the benefits of cheaper machines.

In GP grids will be overflowing with the new affordable privateer M3 and M2 machines, with new manufacturers encouraged to use the modular technology to dip a toe in the hot water of MotoGP. Small teams using fully-tuned road-based engines will compete with their purpose-built own chassis and we could see the privateers finally having a chance to mix it with the works boys.

Far from being the death of the sport I see this as the start of a new golden age.