WSBK: Opinion: Quality Prevails Over Quantity

On Friday, 11th of January, the provisional entry list for the 2019 FIM Motul Superbike World Championship was published. The biggest talking point was the number (or lack of) entrants. Only 18 riders are expected to contest the full championship.

At first glance, this could appear to be grim news for a championship that has been struggling to hold its own against its chief rival series – MotoGP. However, upon reflection, things may not be so bleak as they may have first seemed. The phrase ‘Quality of Quantity’ is easily applied when taking a closer look at who will contest the series.

For 2019 there will be a total of five different manufacturers supplying motorcycles to the grid – Kawasaki, Ducati, Yamaha, Honda and BMW respectively. Crucially, each manufacturer are offering full factory support to one team each. Throw in the matter of Ducati and BMW both bringing brand new and significantly more competitive machines to the party than in 2018, and the realisation that the field will be extremely close becomes very apparent.

Then there is the riders themselves, to consider. It may be a small grid, but the 18 men assembled are all proven front runners, race winners, and most have domestic and world titles to their names.

Much has been made of Alvaro Bautista moving across from MotoGP to WorldSBK, and the Spaniard has taken to the production class as naturally as a duck to water, with the Aruba.It team. On board the all new Ducati Panigale V4R, alongside the newly reconstructed Chaz Davies, the post-season test at Jerez produced nothing but positive feedback from the duo, with both hailing the new challenger as a serious step forward.

Kawasaki have not been idle, having updated their 2017 winning machine into the new ZX10-RR, which looks just as fast as ever. Although how big their advantage will be over the rest of the field is yet to be seen. The team will start the season as favourites, but they are fully expecting a serious fight for the championship. The fight could be as much an in-house affair as external. Fresh from securing the British Championship in 2018, Leon Haslam returns to the world stage and is expected to give teammate and defending champion Jonathan Rea a serious run for his money.

Yamaha and Honda, whilst not bringing brand new machines to the new season, now have factory support. Yamaha have, over the winter, set up a European test team to help develop both their MotoGP and WorldSBK machines. Whilst the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) have stepped in to oversee the running of their team.

Michael Van der Mark (Pata-Yamaha), Alex Lowes (Pata-Yamaha) and Leon Camier (Moriwaki-Althea Honda) have all retained their rides, whilst HRC have appointed veteran Japanese rider Ryuichi Kyonari to be Camier’s new teammate. At 36, the general consensus is that Kyonari has been signed due to his extensive working relationship with Honda. As such, he is employed more to help with the development of the Fireblade SP2 machine, than challenge for the championship.

We now cast our eyes on BMW-Motorrad. The German manufacturer is providing full factory support for the Shaun Muir Racing Team (SMR) in 2019, and both parties are pulling out the stops. BMW have brought their new S1000RR machine, which boasts the best part of 30bhp over the previous model, and favourable comparisons have been made with its bespoke ‘made to order’ HP4 model – so competitiveness is guaranteed. Additionally, SMR have employed the services of series veteran (and 2013 champion) Tom Sykes, alongside the highly accomplished German rider Markus Reiterberger. Both will be desperate for podium success from the start.

The competitiveness of the field does not stop there. The wealth of experience and pedigree is evident throughout the remaining ‘independent’ riders as well. The likes of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pucetti Kawasaki), Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Racing Ducati), Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing Kawasaki), Jordi Torres (Pedercini Kawasaki), Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha) and Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Honda) will all be eager to impress in 2019, and break through as an elite rider of the class.

The final two spots on the provisional grid are taken by Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty. Both riders can be described as being in the ‘last chance saloon’.

After two stunning performances at the season opener in Australia, Melandri’s 2018 campaign somewhat petered out into obscurity. Rumours went around of a fall out between himself and the Aruba.it Ducati team and, whilst no concrete evidence was ever revealed to support the rumours, there certainly appeared to be little remorse from either party when Melandri announced he would leave the team. The veteran Italian is expected to spearhead the GRT Yamaha efforts in 2019, and will want to send the rest of the competition a timely reminder of his talent.

Eugene Laverty will also need to dig deep this season, and can count himself fortunate to be on what is expected to be very competitive machinery with Team GoEleven Ducati. I say ‘fortunate’ due to the lateness when the deal was finally reached. The experienced Irishman endured an injury-riddled 2018, but did still show flashes of brilliance – most notably his pole position effort at the Portuguese round on a very temperamental Aprilia. Laverty has experience with Ducati machinery, albeit a rather volatile Desmosedici GP14 when he last raced in MotoGP back in 2016. Nevertheless, on his day he is still considered one of the toughest competitors to beat. He will be doing all he can in 2019 to return to the front of the championship battle.

So there we have it. Five manufacturers each with a factory supported team, and eighteen riders who will contest the 2019 Superbike World Championship. Of course, we will see regular wildcard entries at the majority of circuits the series visits so the grid will more than likely consist of around at least 20 riders at most meetings.

Crucially, everyone who has entered is in on merit – not a ‘pay rider’ in sight. Perhaps MotoGP should follow suit…