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WorldSBK is… Where Technology Meets Racing!

Friday, 22 February 2019 08:37 GMT

The World Superbike Championship is at the forefront of innovative technology for production-based motorcycles, and when this combines with racing, it is a formidable force!

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship will welcome the arrival of the some of the newest technology in motorcycle development, which will be fashioned at high speeds in the world´s fastest production-based and action-fueled championship.

Let´s start with one of the most anticipated arrivals in many years, from Italy. The Ducati factory in Bologna have been working hard with cutting-edge technology to deliver the brand-new Ducati Panigale V4. Having taken an astonishing 341 wins and 890 podiums, the new model Panigale will seek to make it 18 riders´ and manufacturers´ championships. With a top speed of 315kmh (195mph), the Ducati Panigale V4 will certainly be a weapon in the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship.

All Ducati models have great memories and the Panigale V4 will be no different. Some of the manufacturers´ best include taking two victories in front of a capacity crowd in Monza, 2001, after a hair-raising, elbow-bashing battle between eventual champion Troy Bayliss and defending champion, Colin Edwards. On top of this, Neil Hodgson´s sheer dominance in 2003 aboard the 999 F03, James Toseland´s first WorldSBK crown a year later and Carlos Checa´s only World Championship in 2011 on the 1098R have all been etched in Ducati memory. What does the future hold for Chaz Davies and Alvaro Bautista and their glistening four-cylinder machinery.

The second manufacturer to field an entirely revamped Superbike for the 2019 FIM Motul Superbike World Championship is BMW, who return with great anticipation as a works team for the first time since 2013. Whilst only a short history in the WorldSBK championship, it is a decorated one and the German constructor will be looking for an emphatic return to the top with two of the fastest Superbike riders. 2013 WorldSBK champion Tom Sykes moves to the team alongside reigning FIM European Superstock 1000 champion, Markus Reiterberger – who returns to WorldSBK for 2019.

In 2009, Troy Corser set the fastest lap of BMW´s first EVER WorldSBK race, at home in Phillip Island. It was the perfect way for BMW to enter the world´s fastest production-based championship and set the tone for BMW in the championship. By the end of the factory support in 2013, BMW had achieved 12 race wins and 40 podiums – their podium count still climbing by the time of their withdrawal. A return to the WorldSBK grid will see them flourish once again and continue their quest to become WorldSBK champions, both in the riders´ and in the constructors´ championship. Will their brand-new S1000RR be able to conquer the season and shock the established teams as a forced to be reckoned with?

With these two new Superbike models, the WorldSBK championship will come alive with countless battles between both man and machine. Watch every second of the race, completely uninterrupted with the WorldSBK VideoPass!