The 2024 World Superbike season is full of new features, not only from the riders' point of view but also in terms of the championship. The introduction of the women's championship within the event enriches the weekend, but, to make room for women too, some measures must be found. For this reason, the Superbike Commission today issued a series of changes that affect all classes, from timetables to the more technical aspects.
The women's world championship will kick off on Friday, preceding the Supersport300, while the last to take to the track will be the Supersport. These three categories will only have one free practice session available, with qualifying brought forward to Friday. Nothing changes for Superbike, which will instead continue to have FP1 and FP2 on the first day of the weekend. The warm up of the three classes is brought forward to Saturday morning, immediately after the SBK FP3, which will go from 30 minutes in 2023 to 20 minutes this year. All the first races of the weekend will take place on Saturday afternoon. Sunday opens with the Superbike warm up (shortened to 10 minutes compared to 15 last year), followed by a second warm up for the other classes. The first race of the day will be the Superpole Race, followed by the second heat of all the other classes. No timetable changes for the premier class.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The departure
The big change that Superbike will see concerns the penalties for engine allocation. The statement reads: “In the event of an engine allocation violation (before the race), the driver will start the next two races (Race 1 and 2, excluding Superpole) from the back of the grid and will receive two Long Lap Penalties (previously the driver had to start from the pit lane exit after the green light came on). This penalty seemed fairer in relation to the different lengths of the pit lanes.”
An important theme is certainly that of sustainability. Therefore, even in Superbike we try to pay attention to consumption to make the sport more eco-friendly. Starting from 2025, in fact, it will be mandatory to use a fuel flow control system and, to start recording data and understand which direction to take, every motorcycle on the grid will have to fit a fuel flow meter in 2024.
Fuel is also a topic that is particularly close to our hearts and, as already happens in MotoGP, the introduction of sustainable fuel for the Superbike and Supersport classes is also confirmed in Superbike. Starting from 2024, they will have to have a minimum sustainable fuel content of 40%, compliant with MotoGP specifications (E40 fuel).
Not only technical and logistical innovations, but also championship innovations: the SBK Commission introduces the “Team Championship”, therefore a license has been created for teams of all classes. The decision to obtain this license is up to the team, which is not obliged to obtain it to participate in the Championship. In the absence of a license, the team will not get points.
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