After the start of the WSBK race in Brno in 2005 – the Superbike World Championship staged a total of eleven times on the famous track in the Czech Republic and the last two winners were Kawasaki ace Jonathan Rea (on Saturday) and Alex Lowes (on Sunday), back then Yamaha. Now there is a comeback for WorldSBK, but with some background noise.

WorldSBK in Most – greed for money obviously knows no bounds

We had been regular visitors to the Czech Grand Prix for almost two decades, and over the years we had been amazed at how little was done there for the visitors. At some point, the organizers were cheeky to charge a surcharge for the dilapidated underpass at the main grandstand, which was also in need of renovation. However, this was almost a must for us and many other spectators for access to the so-called infield of the track. Otherwise, you had to find your way through the undergrowth and bushes on beaten paths to get to the lower part of the course. At about the same time, there was the bad habit of placing provocatively dressed women from the horizontal trade to the left of the main entrance. Apparently the lords of creation could try to have fun with one of them for exorbitant prices with a completely overpriced glass of champagne. Ugh, it just went through our heads.

Photographed by us in June 2018 before the start of the WorldSBK race in Brno, with the dilapidated main grandstand in the background, in front of which there is an urgently needed pedestrian underpass in the middle, for the use of which MotoGP even charged a steep surcharge. It was the last WorldSBK event in the Czech Republic, and two years later the so-called Dernière also came for MotoGP.

Autodrom Most – the next rip-off after the end of the Brno race?
This probably went through the minds of many interested parties when they saw the prices for the new WorldSBK event from the beginning of August. Two years ago we published statistics in which you could see the extreme price differences of various MotoGP and WSBK events in comparison. At that time, Imola had almost doubled the ticket prices for the near-series World Cup compared to the previous year. Similar to Brno, this route is in great need of renovation, with numerous obstacles and annoyances for visitors. Even parking cost 10 euros a day, and we couldn’t get away with the bike without paying. According to our observation, hardly half of the visitors came promptly compared to 2018, even if the official figures wanted to pretend otherwise. While the prices for Assen have risen significantly for 2021 after two years, the Czech organizer is now knocking out the bottom.

The effects of Imola’s price doubling in May 2019 photographed by us near the Curva Tosa just before the start of the Superpole Race. To the left of this there were also three bikers on their companions, none of whom looked particularly cheap and were even quite new.

The questionable pricing of the organizer of Most is surprising

From two years ago, Assen has only a moderate surcharge of almost ten percent for a weekend ticket from 63 euros to 69 euros. Because paddock access is no longer possible due to the corona pandemic, this could become an inhibition threshold for some visitors. In addition, of course, the 3G rule, which is completely pointless in principle. Anyone who can present a negative Covid-19 test or is vaccinated can still be known to be virus carriers because they may have become infected at some point afterwards. Below are the high entry prices for the new WorldSBK event in Most of almost 100 euros compared to the WSBK 2019 prices, at which only Imola and Misano stood out at the time. The surcharge for the paddock would have to be deducted today. There will certainly be a paddock show again in 2022 at the earliest.

Wochenend-Ticket = Weekend ticket / Haupttribüne = Grandstand. According to our experience from Brno, parking fees should still be expected for Most. From the small town, however, we will definitely take the short distance on foot, as is often the case in Assen and at other events. With ticket prices more than twice as high as in Jerez 2019, Most has clearly exceeded the limits of decency for a country like the Czech Republic to our liking.
Faustro Gresini († 2021, left in the picture) with his driver Nicolò Bulega was one of Imola’s most famous sons – coming from a humble background, the little Italian was naturally one of the critics of the high prices for visitors.

Very special track layout of the Autodrom Most

Criticism from this year’s IDM run gives additional food for thought

There were various critical voices after the international German championship was hosted in Most (in German Brüx) from June 11th to 13th. Quite a few drivers then stated that WorldSBK would experience another blue miracle there. Apparently, according to the critics, there is a clear lack of fall spaces in some places and in some cases the surface is much too bumpy for a championship, let alone a World Championship run. The route is also rather questionable, which is why it will be very curious to see how the WSBK stars will take the matter.

The autodrome of Most from a bird’s eye view with the town in the upper right corner of the picture, in which there are various accommodation offers. Of course, we made reservations early, but the ticket prices also made us think when we heard and read about it.

Navarre is also considered to be controversial
The Circuito de Navarra in the famous Rioja region of Spain, which is also newly added to the calendar, gave rise to discussions. In particular, the many first gear passages and various bumps on the route led to critical comments from some drivers. Johnny Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu saw most of it positively, while Michael van der Mark found few good words about this course. After Assen, Most will be the next stop, and we are excited to see how this event will be received by drivers and spectators and, above all, whether the prices will not have a somewhat deterrent effect on the visitors.

Sketch of the Circuito de Navarra in Spain – two weeks after the Most event in the calendar and, just like the Czech track, a first edition for WorldSBK.

The still provisional WorldSBK calendar

The overseas dates of San Juan and Mandalika are considered unrealistic and are therefore currently highly questionable.

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