WORLDSBK VS MOTOGP LAP TIMES May’ s a big month for WorldSBK. Three rounds over five weekends takes us to the midpoint of the series. Things then slow down a little with one round in each of June and July and then a summer break that reaches to early September As we all know, Liberty media now owns MotoGP and WorldSBK and has already caused ripples in the space time continuum with the dumping of PI from the MotoGP calendar in favour of an Adelaide street circuit that may or may not yet be viable. That story has got a long way to run with some corners of the MotoGP media cohort now suggesting there never was a real intent to run MotoGP on the street circuit and the real endgame is for it to run at The Bend, an established circuit some two hours east of Adelaide. That story aside, what else might be significant in MotoGP 2027? This is when we’ ll see a new era with machines limited to 850cc, a capacity reduction of some 15 %. Technical advancements in WorldSBK mean lap times between the two classes have been narrowing for some time, although MotoGP clearly still
has the edge. It seems counterintuitive to suggest that production-based WorldSBK bikes could ever lay down quicker lap times than MotoGP bikes but is that a genuine possibility with 2027-spec MotoGP machines? You’ d have to think that this outcome wouldn’ t sit well with the need for MotoGP to be seen as the pinnacle of two-wheel track competition so could we perhaps see fuel flow restrictions for everyone in WorldSBK as a way of ensuring that MotoGP can retain its crown? Who knows? WorldSBK’ s future under Liberty is murky at best and perhaps changes to make It more‘ production’ and less‘ homologation special’ wouldn’ t necessarily be a bad thing and would get more teams on the grid. Only time will tell. Bulega extended his run of wins to 16 at WorldSBK Round 4, Balaton Park in Hungary. Iker Lecuona continued his run of form with three second place finishes but behind them, it was a chaotic round with unexpected performances, both good and not so good, crashes, penalties and red flags. Full report to follow.
38 KIWI RIDER