News

Every year brings regulation changes for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship and the 2022 season is no different. There are plenty of changes that will impact on all three Championships within the WorldSBK paddock, a change to the minimum qualifying percent, minimum Tissot Superpole Race distances and more.

NEW GENERATION OF WorldSSP BEGINS…

2022 will be the start of the new generation of WorldSSP, with the technical rules allowing more bikes to be homologated for the Championship. The Ducati Panigale V2, MV Agusta F3 800 and the Triumph ST765RS will be used in 2022 as new bikes, while the Kawasaki ZX-6R and Yamaha YZF-R6 return. Other homologated bikes include the Honda CBR600RR, MV Agusta F3, MV Agusta F3 Superveloce, Suzuki GSX-R600, Suzuki GSX-R750, and the Triumph 675R.

RESTARTED SUPERPOLE RACES

If a Tissot Superpole Race is restarted and less than three laps were completed in the original race, the new race distance shall be eight laps. In 2021 and before, as seen at the Catalunya Round, the restarted race may have been five laps, but the Superbike Commission decided to change this for the 2022 season.

CONCESSIONS AND TESTING RULES

To harmonise the performance of the different bikes competing in WorldSBK, it was agreed to grant manufacturers additional development sessions according to the number of concession points allocated. Additionally, the number of half-day test days has been reduced for 2022 down to four and will be reduced further in 2023 to two. For 2022, Honda and BMW will be given an additional six days of testing, but this can be changed once they hit nine concession points. The concession points will be three points for a win, two for second place and one for third.

105% RULE

Previously, riders in all three classes needed to set a lap time in Tissot Superpole sessions that was no more than 107% of the time set by the fastest rider. For 2022, that will change and be reduced to 105% of the fastest time. Should the fastest time in Superpole be 1’00.000s exactly, the minimum time required would be 1’03.000s to qualify for the race. The rules do allow some discretion from Race Direction for this if a rider met the 105% rule in any Free Practice session or related to a rider participating from FP3 onwards in WorldSBK or Superpole onwards in WorldSSP and WorldSSP300.

NEW FLAG MEANINGS

A couple of flags used in WorldSBK have had a slight tweak to their meaning for the 2022 season. A Yellow and Red Striped Flag now means that the track surface could be affected by anything other than rain, such as oil, gravel, grass or other debris. A white flag with a diagonal red cross means drops of rain in that section of the circuit including rain affecting the track surface.

AGE LIMITS AND GRID SIZES

New age limits have come into force for the 2022 season, across all three classes. A rider must now be at least 16 years old to compete in WorldSSP300, although there are exceptions in place for riders who started the 2021 WorldSSP300 season at 15 to continue this season. On top of the new age limits rule, grid sizes in WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 will be limited to 30 riders on the permanently provisional entry list plus two wildcard riders.

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