3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue 1 & 2 Jan - Apr 2 3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue | Page 91

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship (also known
as SBK) is the premier international superbike
Championship. The championship was founded
in 1988. It is regulated by the FIM and managed
and promoted by FGSport.
Once regarded as the poor cousin to the
more glamorous MotoGP championship, the
Superbike World Championship has grown into
a world-class professional racing series. Many
of the riders that competed in SBK over the
years are household names among motorcycle
racing fans. The most successful rider thus far
has been England’s Carl Fogarty, who won the
championship four times (1994–95, 1998–
99). Ducati has been the most successful
manufacturer in the series over the years,
accumulating 15 manufacturer championships.
Honda has won it 6 times, with Suzuki claiming
one championship. Australia’s Troy Bayliss won
the 2006 and 2008 titles riding for Xerox Ducati
and James Toseland, from the UK, was the winner
of the 2007 championship riding for Hannspree
Ten Kate Honda.
National Superbike Series
National Superbike series vary greatly in challenge
and popularity, the most popular being in Britain
and North America. Both Japan and Australia
have well supported national superbikes series,
though they only run for short, 10-race seasons.
distinguishes
Superbike
racing
from
MotoGP racing, which uses prototype machines
that bear little resemblance to production
machines. This is somewhat similar to the
distinction in car racing between sports cars and
Formula One cars, though the performance gap
between Superbike and MotoGP racing is much
smaller.
The world’s first ‘Superbike’ was built by
brothers Ross and Ralph Hannan in the
mid/late 1970s. First ridden successfully in
Australia and overseas, including the Suzuka 8
hour and the Bol d’Or 24-hour endurance races,
by Graeme Crosby who went on to international
success and was eventually inducted into the NZ
sports “Hall of Fame”.
Vol 4 | Issue 2 |Mar - Apr 2019
British Superbike Championship
The British Superbike championship (known to
most as “BSB”) is the leading motorcycle racing
championship in the United Kingdom. It is
managed and organised by MCRCB-Events.
The commercial and television rights have been
delegated to MotorSport Vision. Ducati,
Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha all have well
supported teams, while Honda has the only
HRC supported superbike team outside Japan.
Japanese rider Ryuichi Kiyonari won the 2006,
2007 and 2010 titles riding for HM Plant Honda.
Moto America Superbike Championship
(Previously AMA Superbike Championship)
Beginning in 2015 the US National Superbike
championship moved to a new organization,
MotoAmerica, after several years of decline. The
new championship is known as the MotoAmerica
Superbike Championship, and incorporates
classes similar to those operating at world
championship level, and other national series,
i.e. Superbike, Supersport, Superstock 1000,
Superstock and KTM Junior cup.
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