Countdown to Phillip Island: 2009 World Superbike Championship Preview
2009 is shaping up to be one of the most eagerly anticipated seasons since the series began 21 years ago. The loss of the extremely popular reigning champion, Troy Bayliss, should see the championship reeling. Instead, just as Bayliss himself filled the vacuum for Ducati and the entire series following Carl Fogarty’s retirement in 2000, this years new teams, manufacturers and riders will inject a whole new tension into what is probably the best motorcycle road racing spectacle in the world today. In this preview, let’s take a look at the biggest news concerning the riders, the machines and the rules.
The Riders
For Ducati fans the big news is the signing of the sultan of slide, Japan’s Noriyuki Haga, for the factory Xerox team but he is not the only rider who will try to defend the manufacturers title. The entry list includes 7 Ducati riders, 3 of whom who have won Superbike races before on a Ducati, and a new comer to the series, Australian Brendan Roberts, who won the Superstock title for Ducati last year on a 1098R.
A lot of interest surrounds the signing of American, Ben Spies to the Yamaha Italy team. Spies joins the circus from the AMA where he successfully defended his AMA Superbike title for Yoshimura Suzuki defeating 6-time champion Mat Mladlin for the 3rd year in a row. In pre-season testing, Spies and the new Yamaha have been on the pace.
Reigning British Superbike champion, Shane (Shakey) Byrne will join the championship for the first time for a full season with the Sterilgarda Ducati team. Shakey has a had a shaky run over the past few years but has regrouped with his BSB championship victory and is a past winner in World Superbikes as a wild-card. He, too, has been fast in pre-season testing.
Another newcomer on a competitive bike is Jonathan Rea, who steps up from his 2nd place last year in the World Supersport Championship to the premium class on his Ten Kate Honda Fireblade. Rea debuted in the Superbike class last year at Portimao finishing a creditable 4th. In pre-season testing, Rea has been on fire, allegedly posting the fastest, lap record matching time at the just completed Phillip testing.
Shinya Nakano provides special interest as he joins the series after a career in 250GP, 500GP and MotoGP. He will partner Max Biaggi on the new Aprilia RSV4. Nakano has won 6 250GP’s and hit the podium on the problematic Kawasaki MotoGP machine. He has also been quite fast on the all new Aprilia.
This year is looking like an English invasion with other series newcomers including, Tom Sykes, who will be Ben Spies teammate for Yamaha Italy, Leon Haslam on a Stiggy Racing Honda Fireblade and Tommy Hill on the HANNspree Althea Honda.
As well as the newcomers we welcome back fast racers on new machines. Max Biaggi will be on the new Aprilia, whereas Troy Corser and Rueben Xaus will debut the new BMW. Régis Laconi moves back to Ducati on the DFX. Max Neukirchner stays with Team Alstare and the revised Suzuki.
The New Machines
Two manufacturers join the series this year, BMW for the first time whilst Aprilia returns but this time with a V-4 rather than a V-twin. In addition, Yamaha has upped the ante by taking its MotoGP technology to the street with it’s new, heavily revised R1.
The BMW S1000RR on the surface seems to indicate the capitulation of the German factory to the conformity of the universal Japanese motorcycle specification with a seemingly conventional inline 4. However it is not entirely clear what lies beneath. There is sufficient mystery surrounding the bike that indicate it may be hiding some exciting technologies. The fact that the engine is so radically over square, with a bore / stroke ratio of 1.6:1, with the consequent development of peak power at an extremely high (for a 1,000cc engine) 14,000 rpm may mean the engine has some system to encourage a broader spread of power such as variable valve timing etc…
The brand new Aprilia RSV4 shows that the factory is deadly serious in their return to 4-stroke racing. The World Superbike championship begun with 2 years of V-4 dominance so the high tech, 65 degree V-4 is eagerly anticipated. The engine revs to 13,500 rpm and in late 2008 was already producing 207 bhp. It still seems strange to me to see a V-4 in competition for it not to be a Honda!
The new Yamaha R1 features a cross-plane crank design just like the M1 MotoGP machine. Designed to improve power delivery and rear traction, the bike has been quick in pre-season testing. Last year the Yamaha in the hands of Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga was very competitive, so it will be interesting to see if finally a four cylinder machine can take it to Ducati on a regular basis. One thing is for sure, it is going to be fun watching them try.
The Rules
This year, the Superpole rules have changed. The top 16 riders will no longer go out one at a time for a single hot lap to determine the final grid order. Instead fans will be robbed of the opportunity to hear a booming Duke or a wailing multi (or a growling Aprilia!). The new system is based on 3 sessions of 13 minutes each for the top 20 riders. The process whittles riders down to a final 8 who have their grid position determined by their best time in the last 13 minute session.
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