5 ways to Make WSBK Great… AGAIN

2.) Make some heroes and villains…

When you look back through the history of World Superbikes, one recognisable trend is that main title rivals didn’t always get on; teammates and fellow countrymen did not always get on. But that made for some great on track drama when those riders were together. Carl Fogarty and John Kocinski at the A1 Ring in Austria in 1997, Hodgson and Slight at Sugo in 1998, even as recent Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga – none of them were shy in hiding away from their dislike for one and other at certain points.

Only now are we seeing the likes of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea really begin to fall out, we know they’ve not always been best of friends but they have publicly started to hate each other – which is good! There needs to be much more focus on it in the media, even if they have not fallen out as much as what is believed. The Chaz Davies/Jonathan Rea fall out of 2017 at Assen was good, it played out on air, you got the feeling that you was witnessing the birth of some much needed animosity – but then they crashed out at Misano and have been friends ever since.

You could look at Jonathan Rea as being a villain, as he is the one that everyone is saying needs beating to make it interesting – seeing as his dominance has apparently made it ‘boring’. You could take Chaz Davies as the hero, with him being the only rider that has given Jonathan Rea a hard time consistently over the last few years, as well the underdog. Other riders like Toprak Razgatlioglu should be really celebrated for being a sole nation’s representative in the class – more emphasis on him doing a country proud gives him a little more of a fan base as he is the only rider putting the nation on the world stage of motorcycle racing, especially now that Kenan Sofuoglu has retired.

Heroes and villains make for interesting dynamics and that is something that pulls in people to watch it. Just look at how good MotoGP has been since Marquez and Rossi started their rivalry. Partisan crowds do add to an atmosphere and that is something that should be welcomed and not turned away in WSBK.