FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

W O R D S: B E E J P I C S: D U C A T I, A N G E L N I E T O T E A M

Will Sykes be on a Red Bull Honda in 2019?

Michael van der Mark has taken a brace of wins on the R1 so far in 2018.

It could very well be that WSB bosses Dorna will keep changing and tweaking WSB until they ‘get it right’, and we’re to expect a raft of new initiatives for 2019 and beyond – except right now, nobody has a clue what they really are.

There has been talk of holding three races per weekend, rather than just one each on Saturday and Sunday. Global TV audiences for the Saturday race have, according to Dorna, been fairly impressive and far outstrip those from when Superpole was the only televised action on that day. So, that’s something that they’ll want to hold on to.

While the split race format hasn’t gone down well in the UK when it comes to feet on the ground at Donington, it has in fact increased weekend attendances in many places around the world, which will be another reason to keep something spicy going on after qualifying. A sprint race of the current distance on the Saturday, with a far longer WSB race including pit-stops on the Sunday is one idea, as is retaining the Saturday race and having two more on the Sunday in the traditional format.