Honda & BMW back in a big way
Major manufacturers get back into series in a big way
Struggling series gets massive boost
‘BMW are to forgo a title sponsor’
The World Superbike championship looks set for a major shake-up in 2019 following news that two key manufacturers are returning to the series with full factory efforts.
As well as Ducati releasing their MotoGP-inspired V4 R, a bike that produces a staggering 234bhp with a race exhaust in road trim, BMW Motorrad and Honda Racing Corporation have confirmed they’ll both be officially returning to the series next year.
World Superbikes has been crying out for more manufacturers in recent years with the full factory involvement from Kawasaki and Ducati placing the two marques a cut above the rest of the field, Kawasaki have won the last four world titles with Jonathan Rea and while the Northern Irishman has shown his class, he’s almost made it look too easy, leading to claims that the championship is boring. But with renewed efforts from Ducati, BMW and Honda as well as Yamaha’s resurgence this year, things are looking brighter for WSB as it gets a much-needed shake-up ahead of the 2019 season.
HRC’s shock return
The biggest shock is that Honda Racing Corporation will return to the series for the first time in 17 years as they look to atone for the dismal effort the Honda team has become in recent years.
Since the arrival of the new Fireblade in 2017, things have gone from bad to worse for Honda as they struggled to get to grips with the new machine. Further setbacks including the tragic death of Nicky Hayden and this year Leon Camier suffering numerous injuries didn’t help the cause. Moving away from the longstanding partnership with Ten Kate, a new, HRC-backed effort will be run by Moriwaki using the logistics of the current Althea BMW team. Camier will remain an official rider and is joined by Honda stalwart Ryuichi Kiyonari in an effort to speed up development by having a Japanese rider in the squad. Little is yet known about how the team will be run, but with HRC involved it’s unlikely to be halfhearted. Sources say the factory are embarrassed by recent results and are coming back to win, but it’ll take some time to find their feet.
BMW back with a bang
The other manufacturer returning in 2019 is BMW Motorrad, who have joined forces with the Shaun Muir Racing team to run their most prominent effort in the series since the factory Goldbet BMW squad was disbanded in 2013. Running in official BMW
M Sport colours, the team will be known as BMW Motorrad WorldSBK and the squad have signed up 2013 World Superbike Champion Tom Sykes to front their charge alongside BMW golden boy Markus Reiterberger.
The renewed effort from the Bavarian factory comes as they release a radically new S1000RR superbike; the bike’s first comprehensive overhaul since its original launch in 2009.
In recent years, BMW have run a ‘customer support’ programme which involved the factory providing engines and electronics packages to teams, but next year they will take care of the full development of the bike including engines, electronics, chassis and aerodynamics while the day-to-day logistics and running of the team is done by SMR.
A sign of how serious they are is that BMW told SMR to forgo working with a potential title sponsor and that they’d cover the cost, hence the bike running in an official BMW colour scheme.
Bonkers new Ducati
While Ducati have been Kawasaki’s closest challenger in recent years, they haven’t quite been able to take it to the combination of the green machine and Jonathan Rea. That could change in 2019 as the Italian firm releases the longawaited Panigale V4 R, a highrevving, high powered machine inspired by their race-winning Desmosedici MotoGP bike.
But not only have Ducati unveiled a weapon of a bike, their vastly experienced test riders Michele Pirro and Lorenzo Zanetti have been testing the V4 version for the last 18 months at various tracks across Europe, with sources revealing to MCN that the V4 is already significantly quicker than the twin. With Alvaro Bautista joining Chaz Davies from MotoGP next year, we’d expect Ducati to remain as Kawasaki’s closest title-rivals while the other, newer outfits begin to find their feet.