WorldSBK Podium 2009 in Kyalami with from left Michel Fabrizio, “Nitro Nori” Haga (both Ducati Xerox) and Jonathan Rea (then Hannspree Honda) – today the man on the right in the picture on Kawasaki is the measure of all things and the Italian on the left is celebrating a comeback in the WSSP 600. For more about the earlier years, see our ever-growing and richly illustrated history.

The Dorna disappoints with strange decisions in the WSBK

Not only many fans, but of course we as a portal recently extended the WorldSBK video pass. Since then, we have received a few letters that indicate increasing anger among fans of the near-series World Cup. We, too, do not always make sense of Dorna’s strange strategy. No sooner had the majority of the existing subscriptions been automatically or manually renewed than people are again making lots of free content available on their portal. It is easy to understand that this causes the paying customers to feel confused. The company that holds the marketing rights for MotoGP and WSBK is walking a fine line.

Scott Redding howling in the Aruba.it Ducati Box – the reason for this, however, was not due to dubious decisions by Dorna, but rather to a fall he was responsible for shortly before that in Aragon, which threw him far back in the fight for the title. After winning the first race, he was still bubbling with confidence at the WSBK’s only double event and said in an interview that he would like to win the next 5 races right away. As you can see in this picture, this did not work.

Complaints and suggestions for improvement seem to be of no use
We even wrote to the Spanish company last year after they had already done it in the first Corona year. However, we never received an answer. The same applies to a specific proposal, which would bring enormous improvements for fans in times of the pandemic. It was about broadcasting more of the weekend than just the races on TV, for example on Eurosport. The main thing is likely to be the calendar for 2021.

Panorama shot (in the front of the picture is the start-finish straight, which makes a curve as a result) of the so-called Dernière in BuriRam for WorldSBK, taken by us on March 16, 2019. After MotoGP had also made a guest appearance here from 2018, this “cannibalized” the number of visitors to the near-series World Cup and the “Destination of Speed” in Thailand for 2020 was dropped from the calendar. We always wondered where the audience had all stayed, as there are only a handful of hotels within an hour’s drive and camping is definitely less fun here than in Europe.

The calendar problem and the uncertainty that goes with it

Anyone who went on a vacation on a trip to Asia was often amazed at the sometimes quite cheap flight prices. For the teams, however, it looks different with their travel expenses, freight costs and overnight stays for all team members. Traveling to exotic places like the Mandalika Resort sounds much less tempting to them than to racing tourists or vacationers. In addition to the subtropical temperatures, such destinations also place a heavy burden on their budget. Sometimes this can mean that, using the example of Thomas Gradinger, a driver can only afford the European season. Everyone should answer for themselves whether this can be in the interests of sport. In any case, it’s tough for the Austrian and his obviously financially weak team.

Kiefer Racing team presentation at the end of 2019 in front of a Yamaha R6 with Lukas Tulovid, Jochen Kiefer and Thomas Gradinger from the left – since, as we criticized early on, attempts were made to get this going way too late, this WorldSSP 600 project turned out to be in the end as a castle in the air.

The questionability in times of the corona pandemic
At that time, we were practically the only news portal that had legitimate criticism of the first version of the MotoGP calendar from November 6, 2020. The same goes for the planning of tests in Sepang, which, in view of the travel restrictions, looked just as questionable as a second round in Argentina and then on to Texas. Unsurprisingly, we should be right with this and one after the other there were cancellations and postponements. If a team like Ten Kate (we didn’t choose the 2009 picture with Jonathan Rea by chance, he drove for the Dutch) can’t afford a WorldSBK season, the series has a serious problem. To exacerbate this with 3 threatening overseas appointments caused some frowns even among financially strong teams. Apart from that, of course, the fact that the Covid-19 problem should hardly have vanished into thin air by autumn and this was predicted by experts.

Photographed by us on site at the 2020 WorldSBK season opener in Phillip Island (Australia) on March 1st – a sensational season opener with incredibly spectacular and exciting races. Here the leading “Magic Michael” van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) with Jonathan Rea hidden behind him and next to him with the 22nd Alex Lowes (both Kawasaki). From Europe, according to the nice people in the accreditation office, we were the only reporters who traveled “Down Under” at the time.

The current and very questionable WSBK calendar for 2021

A new date has now been found for Estoril in the latest version. This means that the WorldSBK team will be heading to Portugal just one week after the season opener. This is the good news, while after that there are countless question marks. Apart from the races overseas, the pandemic-related restrictions pose a strong threat at many events. From a complete ban on individual events to absolute ghost races without spectators, anything is possible at the moment. Similar to MotoGP, there are currently practically no advance ticket sales with a few exceptions. However, the lack of income makes such events a financial tightrope walk for the organizers and Dorna. It will also be exciting to see whether the Mandalika Circuit will really be up and running by October. Regardless of the travel problem, we do not believe in timely completion due to the last pictures seen. As of the beginning of April, the course was not yet completely paved and not a single building in the pit area was under construction at that time.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) at the Aragon Test on April 21, 2021 – the defending champion and 6-time world champion from Northern Ireland is ready according to his own statements, see our report on this page In less than a month we’ll see which of his opponents pose the greatest challenge for him (© Kawasaki Racing Team).

Unless otherwise mentioned, applies to all images (© WorldSBK).