We photographed the almost empty spectator seats after the double Curva Rivazza, one of the key points of the Autodromo Dino e Enzo Ferrari, a traditional route, shortly before the start of the 2019 race in Imola.

Horrible WorldSBK ticket prices are a deterrent

We still remember the situation in Imola when, after a price increase compared to 2018, there was a drastic decline in visitors the following year. Obviously not everyone learned from this. In any case, the organizer is now completely over the top with the WSBK event near Cremona, which has been added to the calendar. The northern Italians, who according to some of our readers may be surrounded by madness, are charging a whopping 31 euros more for a three-day ticket with at least 140 euros (and this 8 months before the race weekend) than the organizers of Mugello in MotoGP at the beginning of June. Imola had completely speculated on the 2019 season, as our example below shows. After that, most of the “regulars” never came anymore and that’s probably why the organizer ultimately gave up as far as WSBK was concerned.

Our photo from 2019 in Donington Park, one of the most beautiful routes in Europe and exemplary in terms of organization and parking options, as well as prices. It rained on Saturday, but the first run was still very exciting and on Sunday it was postcard weather anyway. England, like Ireland, is always worth a visit and we can only warmly recommend a visit here to every WSBK fan.

Price development in Italy runs counter to Cremona usury
As we predicted four and a half years ago, Italian ticket prices fell significantly after the resignation of national hero Valentino Rossi. This applies at least to the grandstand tickets, which were up to around 50 percent more expensive in 2019 than they are now for the coming season. Perhaps those responsible in Cremona are apparently dreaming of a Ducati suction effect. But if Bautista’s opponents’ calculations work out, this season his effortless victories, which caused a lot of boredom in the last two years, are likely to come to an end thanks to the new minimum weight introduced in 2024. The almost insane prices of Cremona are completely alone compared to Misano and even the overpriced event in Most (see the comparison with Barcelona below, for example) seems downright cheap in comparison. Although there are 3-day tickets for the event in Cremona for 140 euros, the paddock is not included and, as usual in the land of pizza, there are also hefty daily parking fees, as is often the case in Misano and Mugello (for MotoGP), as well as Imola already experienced by us.

While the prices for Aragon, the new Balaton Park Circuit and Jerez have not yet been determined, this is the provisional compilation. * = Advance sale price / # = Parking costs extra (right column included in €) / ? = unclear e.g. regarding paddock. We have listed the prices for 3 days and paddock access because this is already included in some events. The prices for Aragon and Jerez are likely to be moderate, while for Balaton the same can be expected in the Czech Republic (i.e. too expensive in relation to the purchasing power of the local population). Be careful in Hungary, here you will be cheated for the first time in the exchange office at the airport and in Budapest numerous restaurants try to cheat tourists!
The result of the price doubling for the 2019 season compared to the previous year in Imola – numerous free spectators on mostly expensive two-wheelers Imola Sunday morning shortly before the WSBK sprint race. We took this photo almost 30 minutes before the start near the famous Curva Tosa. It had a separate visitor entrance and we hoped that the person second from the right would be able to see some of the racing action afterwards, but at least he saved himself the extremely expensive entrance fee.

Previous article on the vexed topic

Our statistics from 2019 with the prices at that time in comparison, including both MotoGP and WorldSBK. Incidentally, in Italy there is usually a hefty surcharge for parking, which was usually free in many countries such as Spain or the Netherlands, at least during the World Championship.

Fortunately, there are also positive examples

Anyone who goes to Assen is usually in the right place, at least for the WSBK events. With a good atmosphere and great food, you can usually have a good time here and save a lot of money with must compared to Italy and the Czech Republic, for example. The “Brotje-Gesond” or the ones with “lecker Benham” (hopefully spelled halfway correctly, at least that’s how it sounded to us) were always a highlight during the breaks. In contrast to MotoGP, there is no such crowding at WorldSBK in Assen as on MotoGP Sundays, when walking around the circuit often felt like a landfill, as far too many visitors simply carelessly threw away so much rubbish. Of course, Donington also has to be positively mentioned, with one of the most beautiful routes ever, as well as Philipp Island in Australia. For us in both cases the only thing that was inadequate was the food, but that’s probably a matter of taste and it’s still better than back in Losail (Qatar), although the prices there were very moderate.

Our shot from the Paddock Show 2020 in Phillipp Island (Australia) after the first race on Saturday, with from left Tom Sykes (BMW), Scott Redding (Ducati), Kawa newcomer Alex Lowes, Toprak and Loris Baz (both Yamaha) and Record world champion Johnny Rea (then Kawasaki, new for 2024 Yamaha). The Northern Irishman fell while catching up after his former team-mate Sykes pushed him off the track very roughly at the start.

Other recommended WorldSBK events
Magny-Cours and the events in Spain are definitely among those with stable and reputable admission prices. At Aragon there are at most compromises in terms of overnight accommodation there, at least for those who camping is not an option. In any case, Spain is one of our favorite destinations for the Superbike World Championship and even MotoGP, especially when it comes to cheap prices when it comes to food and hotels. Jerez de la Frontera and Barcelona are at the top of the wish list. As a precaution, we booked for all events, including Australia, where we were able to experience the last “normal” race for a long time in 2020, shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic. Afterwards, we voluntarily went into in-house quarantine due to a stopover in Singapore, although we would have been compulsorily isolated anyway for the flight we had already booked to the MotoGP in Qatar (as stop over on the way to Asia). Unfortunately, we subsequently lost the money for this, just like the money for the scoundrels from the Spanish Iberia subsidiary for the flight to South America (WSBK Argentina), which was canceled due to Covid. Fortunately, today you can travel freely again, but we may miss out on Cremona, while in 2024 we will probably travel to Misano, near the Adriatic holiday mecca Rimini.

Snow in Assen, photographed by us in front of the hotel near the track on the WorldSBK weekend in 2019. For this reason, one race even had to be canceled and there were only two races, in the freezing cold on Sunday. The newly introduced Superpole Race was therefore canceled. By the way, the year before that there was wonderful April weather with around 20 degrees Celsius and sunshine (no sprint race back then).
Photographed by us on Saturday in Assen before the Superpole 2018, with temperatures on the weekend in mid-April of up to almost 25 degrees Celsius, the strong contrast to the year after (see previous photo).

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