News

The 2021 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship is shaping up to be a fantastic year of action with 42 full-time riders on the grid as well as a battle between a trio of Champions. With another tweak to the format of each Round in WorldSSP300, as well as the Championship visiting new circuits for the first time, 2021 is a season that will be full of drama, action, tension and excitement.

Three Champions chasing their second crown

WorldSSP300 in 2021 features three World Champions on the grid as Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300), Marc Garcia (2R Racing) and Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) all chase their second crown in WorldSSP300. Buis will be looking to defend his Championship he fought so hard to win in 2020, while Garcia, who claimed the first ever WorldSSP300 Championship in 2017, and 2018 Champion Carrasco will be looking to reclaim the titles they won previously.

There’s a new weekend format again in 2021…

Like their WorldSSP counterparts, WorldSSP300 riders will have to adapt to a new format in 2021 with the removal of the third free practice session on Saturday mornings. Further to this, the previous groups structure has also gone meaning the 42 riders will be out on track at the same time throughout every session and with all riders making the two races. This is a change from having Groups A and B, where 30 riders would qualify directly for the two races while other competitors would fight to be in the top six of the Last Chance Race to make Race 1 and Race 2.

New venue, new challenges

There is a new circuit on the WorldSSP300 calendar for this season as the Autodrom Most takes its place on the calendar for the first time. With track time reduced with the removal of Free Practice 3, and no form guide to follow at the Czech circuit, the potential is there for the title battle to be thrown up in the air.

Can Yamaha take the fight to Kawasaki again?

In the first ever season of WorldSSP300 back in 2017, Yamaha claimed both the Riders’ and Manufacturers’ Championships in WorldSSP300, but the titles have dried up since then with Kawasaki taking titles in 2018, 2019 and 2020 for both the Riders’ and Manufacturers’ standings. The gap between the two manufacturers has increased since 2018, going from 61 points in Kawasaki’s first Championship to 108 last year – albeit with the caveat that there were more races in 2020 than any other campaign. Will this be the season that Yamaha start to challenge for the Manufacturers’ and Riders’ Championship again?

Unpredictable racing will be the norm

Despite the presence of three World Champions on the grid this season, the racing will remain as unpredictable as ever. Two races in 2020 were decided on the line with less than half-a-tenth separating first and second, while there were also two races that feature in the top ten all-time records for most riders within a second at the line with Catalunya Race 2 and Teruel Race 1 featuring eight and seven respectively. It was tight in Tissot Superpole, too, with four different circuits featuring in the top ten closest gaps between first and second in Superpole. Often last season, the lead would change multiple times in a lap with a group of riders fighting it out for victory

Watch all the action from WorldSSP300 in 2021 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!