WorldSSP300

2024 Provisional WorldSBK Calendar - 12 Rounds, 11 In Europe, Hungary And Cremona Added

By David Emmett |

The FIM have announced the provisional calendar for the 2024 WorldSBK season. They have provided a press release explaining the calendar below, but it is worth highlighting a couple of features of the calendar.

Firstly, the WorldSBK championship is now almost entirely held in Europe. After the season opener at Phillip Island, the rest of the championship is within Europe. Mandalika is off the calendar, the Indonesian track not having the budget to pay for WorldSBK. Argentina is also not rejoining the calendar, and neither is Qatar. There is apparently neither the income nor the political will to cover the cost of hosting WorldSBK.

Secondly, there are some very big gaps in the calendar, especially in the first half of the season. A month between Phillip Island and Barcelona, then another month between Barcelona and Assen, then two months between Assen and Misano.  The second half of the season is a little more evenly spaced.

From WorldSBK To Moto2 - Giorgio Barbier And Philipp Öttl On The Hows And Whys Of Pirelli Taking Over In Moto2 And Moto3

By David Emmett |

The news that Pirelli is to take over as official tire supplier in Moto2 and Moto3 from 2024 came as something as a something of a surprise. Dunlop has been the sole supplier in Moto2 and Moto3 since the start of those classes, and were the de facto sole supplier in the 125 and 250 classes pretty much from the turn of the century.

It is an expansion of Pirelli's racing activities. The Italian tire maker has been the official tire supplier to the World Superbike championship since 2004, and is also the official tire for the F1 car racing series. Pirelli has no plans to leave the World Superbike championship, but is keen to expand into the grand prix paddock.

So Pirelli's move into Moto2 and Moto3 a lot of questions as to how they will be approaching it. For the Paddock Pass Podcast, Steve English spoke to Pirelli Racing Manager Giorgio to get more insight into the hows and whys of their decision to enter the grand prix paddock.

Broadening their reach

Barbier pointed out that this is not so much a new venture, as an expansion on their project with Ohvale and Dorna to supply the MiniGP series, which was itself the first step on the path to much more. "We're actually following the path that we started two years ago with MiniGP. For our intention is to follow Dorna into the project of Road to MotoGP, giving young riders all over the world the opportunity to start their career riding bikes with Pirelli tires," Pirelli's Racing Manager said.

Dorna Hires Former NBA Executive To Replace Manel Arroyo As Chief Commercial Officer

By David Emmett |

Dorna Sports has announced that they have hired former NBA executive Dan Rossomondo to the position of Chief Commercial Officer. The American will replace Manel Arroyo, who stepped down from the post earlier this year. Rossomondo will be in charge of negotiating, managing, and growing the commercial side of the business, including broadcasting rights, sponsorship, and other commercial tie-ins.

The move is a radical break from the past for Dorna. Previously, pretty much all of the senior executive posts were held either by the original group who set up Dorna to take on the commercial rights for grand prix motorcycle racing back in 1992, or by family members. They have rarely fished outside of that talent pool for senior positions, and never outside of Spain, or even Catalonia.

2023 WorldSBK Calendar Expands To 12 Rounds As Imola Added In Mid-July

By David Emmett |

The WorldSBK series has filled in the blank left on last year's provisional calendar. The round which was previously marked TBA (to be announced) has been assigned to the iconic Imola circuit, between Bologna and Misano.

The announcement had been expected, with talk inside the WorldSBK paddock being that Imola would be the extra race. Finalizing the round had taken longer than expected, however. The World Superbike, World Supersport, and WorldSSP300 series will compete in Italy.

This brings the full WorldSBK season up to 12 rounds, starting in Phillip Island and Mandalika and ending in Argentina in mid-October.

The press release from the WorldSBK series appears below:

2023 calendar update: WorldSBK returns to Imola for the first time since 2019

Provisional 2023 WorldSBK Calendar Released: 11 Rounds Confirmed, 1 Still To Be Announced

By David Emmett |

The FIM have released the provisional calendar for the 2023 WorldSBK season. A total of twelve rounds are planned, with one round still to be confirmed.

The season kicks off in its traditional location of Phillip Island on February 26th, with a test in the week before the opening round. It then heads to Mandalika, before returning to Europe and the TT Circuit in Assen. Barcelona follows, then Misano, Donington, Most, Magny-Cours, Aragon, and Portimão, before the season ends in Argentina at the San Juan Villicum circuit.

The WorldSSP300 class is set to race at all of the European rounds bar Donington Park.

The calendar appears below:

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