WSBK starts countdown to 2021 season

The Motul FIM Superbike World Championship is just under a month away from starting its 2021 season, which remains subject to COVID-19 conditions.

Due to COVID-19, WSBK has already committed to a season front-loaded with European rounds, while the flyaways – including the Australian round – have been pushed to later in the year and subject to numerous conditions.

The 2021 calendar has already been subject to several changes - including a removal and reinstatement of the Estoril round - and will almost certainly change again.

As it stands, WSBK season 2021 is due to get underway at Aragon, Spain, on 21 – 23 May, where six-time champion Jonathan Rea will almost certainly achieve the 100th WSBK career race win that eluded him last year. He’ll have strong competition from several corners, led by Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Scott Redding.

In his WSBK debut last year, Redding pushed Rea hard, taking five wins and nine other podiums to finish as the championship runner-up. Now, with a season’s experience in the category, Redding will be primed to break Rea’s stranglehold on the championship, aided by a new team mate in Michael Ruben Rinaldi. The 25-year-old Italian scored his debut WSBK race win last year – at Aragon – on a privateer Panigale V4 R and will be expected to do more in 2021 on the factory Ducati.

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and new team mate Andrea Locatelli will be Yamaha’s primary challengers, supported by the satellite GRT Yamaha WorldSBK team made up of Kohta Nozane and the rapidly-improving Garrett Gerloff.

BMW Motorrad WorldSBK will be aiming to improve on their poor 2020 results, with new signing Michael van der Mark joining the vastly experienced Tom Sykes on the new-for-2021 M 1000 RR.

There will also be a satellite BMW presence this year in the form of Bonovo MGM Racing, who arrive with former MotoGP rider Jonas Folger, while RC Squadra Corse have signed veteran Eugene Laverty.

Teams have been busy testing new and improved additions to their bike over the off-season, led by Team HRC, who have added a torque sensor and new swingarm to the Honda CBR 1000RR-R, while BMW have been testing aero winglets on their M 1000 RR.

Kawasaki also have a new ZX-10RR for 2021, while Yamaha and Ducati have both brought new parts and modifications to the YZF R1 and Panigale V4 R.

At time of writing, the Australian round of the 2021 WSBK season remains unconfirmed, in a ‘TBD’ position at the end of the calendar, following confirmed flyaways in Argentina and Indonesia.

A decision on the Australian round is expected by June, but in finalising a date, Dorna’s World Superbike Organisation will need to be conscious of avoiding a clash with the Australian MotoGP round, which is scheduled for 22-24 October at Phillip Island.