The History of Superbike World Championship at Rhythm of Fast Lap

By Charles Sanz

DO YOU WANT TO TRAVEL BACK IN TIME AT THE SPEED OF A SUPERBIKE AND ENJOY THE HISTORY OF THE ULTIMATE MOTORCYCLE RACING SERIES?

 

For many motorcycling fans, there is only one category that maintains the purity of the sport: superbikes. In this discipline, riders compete on mass-produced motorcycles, which have not been strictly unadulterated for competition. It is a real privilege to be able to see models that we can see on the streets, or that we ourselves can buy and ride, fighting on the track. And that feeling, that closeness, is what has led a championship like WorldSBK to success.

 

The FIA made its bet with a World Superbike Championship mainly on European soil in 1988, and despite its difficulties, it developed an exciting tournament that is now more than 30 years old, where brands such as Ducati, Kawasaki, Honda, Aprilia or Yamaha sought glory, creating the legends of riders like Fred Merkel, Doug Polen, Carl Fogarty, James Toseland, Max Biaggi or Jonathan Rea...

 

In these pages you will discover or remember the history of this competition in the form of simple keys so you can walk through its past and thus increase the passion for this wonderful sport and enjoy more of its present.

 

In this book you will find:

- The origin of the FIA world competition based on mass produced motorcycles and its early years.

- The rivalry between prototype and commercial motorcycle racing.

- Davide Tardozzi, the first race winner and the failure of the initial scoring system

- The various champion motorcycles and their technological innovations

- The initial success of Fred Merkel and Honda

- The dominance of Doug Polen and the rise of Ducati

- The glory era of Carl Fogarty

- The thrilling duel between Carl Fogarty and Scott Russell

- Colin Edwards and the return of Honda

- The Edwards-Bayliss rivalry and the most exciting season in history

- James Toseland and the battle between Ducati and the Japanese marques

- The glory of Max Biaggi and Aprilia

- Jonathan Rea and the glory of Kawasaki

- All the riders who managed to win at least one WorldSBK race

 

And much more in a book that will take you through the evolution of the championship so that you can enjoy every race even more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles Sanz
• Release date: Mar 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224502059

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

For many motorcycling fans, there is only one category that maintains the purity of the sport: superbikes. In this discipline, the pilots compete with motorcycles manufactured in series, which have not been adulterated strictly for competition.

It is a real privilege to be able to see models fighting on the track that we can see on the streets, or that we ourselves can buy and drive. And that feeling, that closeness, is what has led a championship like WorldSBK to success.

Precisely this distinction between series-produced street bikes and prototypes designed for competition is what led to the split of the Motorcycle World Championship, with the appearance of new championships based on superbikes. The FIA ​​made its bet with a superbike world championship mainly on European soil, and despite its difficulties, an exciting tournament was held that is already more than 30 years old where wonderful moments have been experienced that are intended to be remembered in this book.

The success of Honda and Fred Merkel at the origin of the championship, the dominance of Doug Polen and the rise of Ducati, the glory days of Carl Fogarty, Colin Edwards and the return of Honda, James Toseland, the evolution of Japanese brands, the fight between Max Biaggi and Aprilia, the construction of the legend of Jonathan Rea together with Kawasaki...

In these pages you will discover or remember the history of this competition in the form of simple keys so that you can take a walk through its past and thus increase your passion for this wonderful sport and enjoy its present more.

I hope you enjoy and be to your liking.

The origin of SBK: motorcycles produced in series

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The World Superbike Championship is mainly characterized by the use of mass-produced motorcycles, available for purchase and use by the general public, instead of using prototype motorcycles designed exclusively for competition.

It is precisely this differentiation between commercial street bikes and competition bikes that has marked the origin of this category.

The first motorcycle races in history were with mass-produced motorcycles, for the simple reason that there were no development teams dedicated to building motorcycles exclusively for racing. The participants, in fact, often competed with the motorcycle that they later used throughout the week to commute or go to work.

Often, in the early 20th century, participants would gather at a given circuit to compete against each other, thus giving rise to the first amateur races. These races, as they became popular and spread, gave rise to the TT (Tourist Trophy) category, which referred to those tourists who congregated with their own standard motorcycle to compete in more or less organized conditions.

It was in 1949 that the International Motorcycling Federation finally decided to officially manage and organize a series of races and originate the Motorcycling World Championship, the oldest motor competition in history.

MotoGP: Гран При Каталонии. Анонс гонок 7-го этапа

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Until the 1970s, only mass-produced motorcycles were used in the world championship, but the arrival of the two-stroke engine through Japanese brands altered this dynamic.

The two-stroke engine was a new and effective way of competing and little by little it became popular in the world championship, giving rise to a lighter type of motorcycle. This did not interest the North American commercial brands, who saw how their robust four-stroke series models were left behind at the popular level, losing prestige, while a new type of motorcycle, less noisy and not so bulky, was very different from those sold by their stores. began to take the glory and fame of the competition.

For this reason, the American Motorcycling Association decided to create its own commercial series motorcycle championship in 1976, the AMA Road Racing Superbike Championship, which was quickly joined by brands such as Kawasaki, Honda, Ducati or BMW. In parallel, a British series motorcycle championship had also been created in the United Kingdom in 1973. The division between series motorcycle competitions and motorcycles with exclusive competition technology was beginning to be created and intensified.

Seeing that superbike competitions were not something isolated, but that they had a great interest, the International Motorcycling Federation also decided to create its own championship of this type, hoping that its prestige as an organization would be enough to create the most important championship motorcycles in series and take advantage of the interest that had been generated around them.

However, the FIM's attempts to create an alternative world championship with four-stroke series bikes turned out to be a disaster, with the marques in Europe preferring to entrench themselves in the already established world championship of two-stroke prototypes, and being unable to compete. with the AMA in North American territory. In 1975 a 750 cc championship was created that could only be maintained until 1979 due to its limited success. It wasn't until 1988 that the FIM once again had the intention of re-creating a series four-stroke motorcycle world championship, focused primarily on the European region to please brands selling motorcycles beyond the United States.

With this new attempt to create a world series motorcycle competition, the Superbike World Championship appeared and on April 3, 1988, the motorcycles began to roll in Donington Park, with