Magny-Cours, France

After already having staged the first race, the World Superbike calendar has finally been updated and lost its provisional status. Today, the FIM issued an official, finalized version of the 2013 World Superbike calendar, confirming the changes we reported on yesterday.

The Silverstone race has been confirmed, and the Subject To Contract status has been removed from the Portimao and Imola rounds. The round originally scheduled for June 23rd has been scrapped, and a new round scheduled for Istanbul Park on September 15th. The replacement of Istanbul Park for the 23rd June round, for which Brno had originally been penciled in, means that the Superstock calendar is reduced by one round, from 10 races to just 9, while the World Superbike calendar now has 15 rounds planned, including two races in the UK, at Donington and Silverstone, and a trip across the Atlantic to Laguna Seca.

Below is the official press release issued by the FIM containing the updated and finalized calendar:

FIM Superbike, Supersport World Championships & FIM Superstock 1000cc Cup

New round on the 2013 calendar

The FIM today issued a press release confirming the news that the Indian round of World Superbikes has been moved to November 17th, as we reported earlier today. Below is the official press release:

FIM Superbike, Supersport World Championships & FIM Superstock 1000cc Cup

2013 Provisional calendar, updated 15 January (Change in bold)

The World Superbike race in India has been moved from the 10 March to the 17 November due to an insufficient period of time to properly finalise the training of the marshals and medical staff around the racetrack. FIM representatives will be at the Indian track on 19, 20 and 21 this January, in order to carry out the final racetrack homologation and provide the relevant seminars about the different aspects involved in the sporting organisation of the event.

FIM Superbike, Supersport World Championships & FIM Superstock 1000cc Cup

New round on the 2013 calendar

A new round will be included in the FIM Superbike & Supersport World Championships. It will be held on the circuit of Intercity Istanbul Park near Istanbul (Turkey) on September 15, 2013. The 2013 updated calendar is the following:

After the bombshell announcement that Bridgepoint was putting Dorna in charge of both the MotoGP and World Superbike series, the media were keen to get a reaction from either of the Flammini brothers, the two men who had helped to grow the series into the success it is today, and who currently run WSBK. After an initial deafening silence, Paolo Flammini finally made an appearance at Magny-Cours on Sunday morning, to explain his, and Infront's, point of view. Our friends at the Italian website InfoMotoGP.com were present to record the press conference on video.

Flammini did not say much - indeed, he started his speech with the words "I don't have much to add to what is written in the press release," - but what he did say helped clarify the situation a little. Starting off with an understatement - "This step represents a very big moment in the history of World Superbikes", Flammini told the assembled media - the Italian was at pains to make clear that World Superbikes would face few changes for 2013. "Many people are worried for the 2013 season, but nothing special will happen," he said, emphasizing that his aim was to keep stability in the series.  

Press releases from the World Superbike finale on Sunday from Magny-Cours:

The last weekend of World Superbikes in 2012 gave us tense action throughout the day, as the championship resisted all efforts of being straight-forward. In Supersport, a pantomime villain twirled his waxed moustache while in Superbike, a lantern jawed Englishman stood for victory and fair play in the field of sports while duelling with a skull and crossbones pirate.

As the title was settled last time out, the fight for third place and the manufacturers title were still to be decided.

The physical track of Magny Cours was wet for the first World Superbike. Two of the title contenders were at the front, with the third on the third row.

Sunday is going to be a big day for World Superbikes at Magny-Cours. Not just because the 2012 title is to be settled in what could be a fascinating showdown, helped in no small part by the weather, but perhaps most of all because on Sunday morning at 9am local time, Infront Motor Sports CEO will speak to the media for the first time since the announcement that Bridgepoint, the private equity firm which owns both Infront and MotoGP rights owners Dorna, has decided to bring both series under a single umbrella, and that umbrella is to be Dorna.

That news has sent a shockwave through the motorcycle racing world. The World Superbike paddock is hardest hit of all: the mood there is somber, with everyone from Infront staff to team mechanics fearing the outcome of what amounts to a coup by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. Optimists are few, especially as Ezpeleta is one of the most reviled characters among denizens of the WSBK paddock, because of what he represents: the perceived arrogance of the Grand Prix paddock, and a culture which is anathema to everything which World Superbikes stand for. MotoGP is truly the Beatles to WSBK's Rolling Stones.

There is some justification to their fears. WSBK, in the person of Paolo Flammini, has been holding out on requests from MotoGP's organizers to impose further restrictions on development of the WSBK machines, bringing them much more in line with the Superstock-style regulations proposed by FIM to harmonize regulations at the national level. He does so with good reason: the manufacturers currently racing in World Superbikes have made it very clear that they have no desire to see any further restrictions on tuning and bike modification put into place. Given WSBK's increasing reliance on manufacturer teams - though blessed with six different manufacturers, teams without some form of manufacturer backing are finding it increasingly hard to survive, leading to shrinking grids and gaps opening between the factory-backed and privateer squads - keeping the factories happy is becoming ever more important. WSBK does at least have the freedom to change the rules without factory interference, something which was until recently unthinkable in MotoGP.

Press releases from the World Superbike and World Supersport teams after qualifying for the WSBK season finale at Magny-Cours:

The last Superpole of 2012 held a few surprises with a small error of a tenth of a second or two having potential consequences for what remains of the season.

The rain stayed away all day, ensuring the World Supersport qualifying would be unhampered by weather. 

The last Superpole of 2012 was a dry session.