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Last week, the debate over the role of rider weight was reignited by a post on Instagram by BMW WorldSBK rider Scott Redding, comparing his own weight to that of Aruba.it Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista, and asking whether there needs to be a minimum combined rider/bike weight in WorldSBK.

To back up his claim, he posted some video clips and sector analysis from the San Juan Villicum circuit in Argentina. “I just think it should be as fair as possible for all of the riders,” Redding wrote.

Though the sentiment is admirable, the thing about motorcycle racing is it is fundamentally unfair.

Somebody else’s bike will always be better than yours. Some other rider will be lighter, stronger, have it easier than you in one way or another. That is of little comfort to those racing in a particular class at a specific event, but it remains true nonetheless.

The way this has traditionally been dealt with is through what is usually called “the package”. The combination of bike, team, and rider is different for each competitor, and rule makers have attempted to create space in each class to allow riders and teams to find multiple ways to be competitive.

Episode 276 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one has Steve English and Gordon Ritchie on the mics, talking about the WorldSBK action from Assen.

The guys kick off with a debate over who, if anyone, was to blame in the clash between Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu which blew Race 2 wide open.

Next, they talk about how Alvaro Bautista has taken charge of the championship, in part thanks to his penalty in the Superpole race and the win in Race 2.

The show then discusses where the rest of the field stand after Assen, starting with Honda. Steve and Gordo discuss how well Iker Lecuona has made the transformation from the MotoGP paddock to WorldSBK, then they look at how Yamaha are faring, and they discuss the situation at BMW.

Lastly, Steve and Gordo take a look ahead at the Estoril round, coming up on the weekend of May 22nd.

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Source: SoundCloud

Yamaha Motor Europe is making the most out of Toprak Razgatlıoğlu’s WorldSBK Championship title (along with the tuning fork brand taking the triple crown in the World Superbike series), and they have something special for 21 lucky buyers.

Making a limited-edition replica of Toprak Razgatlıoğlu’s Yamaha YZF-R1, the PATA Yamaha squad is making the bikes in Crescent Racing workshop.

The WorldSBK championship is to look a little different in 2022. Though the length will stay the same as in 2021 – 13 rounds – the order is to be reshuffled a little, with the intriguing prospect of a possible race at Istanbul Park in Turkey during the season.

The season kicks off later than usual, with Phillip Island likely to be moved to the end of the year, possibly as the season finale held after the Indonesian round at Mandalika Circuit.

Racing starts at the Motorland Aragon circuit, before heading north to Assen for the Dutch round of WorldSBK, which returns to its more normal date. After a four-week break, the series reconvences in Portugal for a race at Estoril.

The WorldSBK calendar heads east to Italy after that, for a race at Misano in June, before having a month off between the UK round at Donington Park. Two weeks later, the series travels to the Czech Republic to visit Most for the second time.

The summer break will be six weeks long, with the WorldSBK circus reconvening at Magny-Cours for the French round, then heading to Barcelona for the Catalonian round, and then back to Portugual, but this time to Portimão.

After Portimão, WorldSBK starts its sequence of flyaways, traveling first to Argentina, then to Indonesia. The championship will then most likely head to Australia for the final round at Phillip Island.

The thirteenth round is down as To Be Announced, but there have been very strong rumors circulating that WorldSBK is to head to Turkey and Istanbul Park.

Both Dorna and the circuit are keen to host a round, especially now that Toprak Razgatlioglu has become the first ever Turkish World Champion.

Confirmation of this could take some time, with details still to be confirmed. It is most likely that the race will be slotted in one of the larger gaps in the calendar, in June or August.

There are four calendar clashes with MotoGP, though only in remotely the same time zone.

Aragon WorldSBK is on the same weekend as MotoGP in Austin, Barcelona WorldSBK will take place several hours after the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, and Argentina WorldSBK will be half a day or so after the MotoGP race at Sepang.

WorldSBK Race 2 at Assen would normally happen at the same time as the MotoGP race at Portimão in Portugal, but there is a chance the WorldSBK race will be rescheduled for a later time.

The provisional calendar, and a statement from Gregorio Lavilla, WorldSBK Executive Director, appear below:

Provisional 2022 WorldSBK Championship Calendar:

DATE COUNTRY CIRCUIT WorldSBK WorldSSP WorldSSP300
April 8-10 Spain MotorLand Aragón X X X
April 22-24  The Netherlands TT Circuit Assen X X X
May 20-22  Portugal Circuito Estoril X X X
June 10-12 Italy Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” X X X
July 15-17 United Kingdom Donington Park X X  
July 29-31 Czech Republic Autodrom Most X X X
September 9-11 France Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours X X X
September 23-25 Spain Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya X X X
October 7-9 Portugal Autódromo Internacional do Algarve X X X
October 21-23 Argentina Circuito San Juan Villicum X X  
November 11-13 Indonesia Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit X X  
TBA Australia Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit X X  
TBA TBA TBA      

*All dates, events and the attendance of spectators are subject to the evolution of the global pandemic and the approval of the corresponding governments and authorities.

At last weekend’s Argentinian round for the WorldSBK Championship, the Kawasaki Racing Team had something special in mind for Race 1.

It wasn’t a new race strategy; they didn’t find 10hp extra in the ZX-10RR motor; nor did they make any major chassis changes.

What the team did do though was dig into the 125 years of Kawasaki history, and run with two special throw-back liveries for Saturday’s race.

American racing legend Nicky Hayden has been inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, as part of its 2021 class of inductees. A nod to his racing number of 69, Hayden is the 269th inductee to the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

In 2018, Hayden was posthumously inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, one of the motorcycling world’s top recognitions, but today’s announcement honors Hayden’s feats from a more mainstream perspective, as the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America recognizes those from the automotive, motorcycling, powerboats, and aviation sports.