PRODUCTION VERSUS PROTOTYPE
Why does a $250,000 World Superbike machine lap a racetrack very nearly as fast as a $2.5 million MotoGP bike?
There are two main reasons. First, modern Superbikes are incredible pieces of machinery – basically MotoGP bikes for the road. Showroom offerings like Ducati’s Panigale V4 R and Kawasaki’s ZX-10RR are way closer to a MotoGP bike than any supercar or touring car is to a Formula 1 machine.
“F1 and World Touring Car is the same philosophy as MotoGP and World Superbike,” says reigning WorldSBK king Jonathan Rea.
“But the gap between a hand-built F1 car and any car you can buy in a showroom and turn into a WTC car is way bigger than the gap between MotoGP and us. That proves that all the motorcycle manufacturers, both those that compete in MotoGP and those that don’t, put all the latest technologies into the bikes they sell. You can even see it with showroom models – some of the manufacturers send their riders out on standard bikes in testing to post amazing lap times, which is a huge marketing tool.”
Second, tyres are the ultimate limiting factor in the performance of a racing motorcycle. And motorcycle tyres are very much limited in size, which dictates the size of the contact patch, which in turn dictates grip.
But, of course, it’s not as simple as that. Last year the MotoGP and World Superbike championships shared seven racetracks: Aragon, Assen, Buriram, Jerez, Losail, Misano and Phillip Island.
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