2020 WorldSBK Calendar - 13 Rounds, Qatar Moved, Oschersleben Returns

By David Emmett | Thu, 21/11/2019 - 15:28

The FIM has announced the 2020 WorldSBK Calendar today. The series will hold 13 rounds in 10 different countries, starting at the end of February in Phillip Island, and ending on 11th October in Argentina.

The calendar sees a certain amount of reshuffling. The Qatar round of WorldSBK has been moved from the final race of the year to be second, and takes place a week after the opening MotoGP round at the Losail circuit. Qatar takes the place of the disappearing Thai round at Buriram, which has dropped WorldSBK in favor of MotoGP.

Oschersleben returns to the calendar, bringing WorldSBK back to Germany, with that race being held at the end of July. And Barcelona is to host both MotoGP and WorldSBK, the Superbike round to be held from 18th-20th September next year.

The calendar sees just one clash with MotoGP:  the races in Assen are to be held on the same weekend as the Argentina round of MotoGP from 17th-19th of April. Given the snow that fell during the 2019 round of WorldSBK, that is a risky proposition. Mid-April can either be sunny and 20°C, or windy and sub-zero temperatures.

The 2020 calendar:

Date Country Circuit WorldSBK WorldSSP WorldSSP300
28 Feb – 1 March Australia Phillip Island  X X  
13 – 15 March Qatar Losail X X  
27 - 29 March Spain Jerez X X X
17 - 19 April The Netherlands Assen X X X
8 - 10 May Italy Imola X X X
22 - 24 May Spain MotorLand Aragón X X X
12 - 14 June Italy Misano X X X
3 - 5 July United Kingdom Donington Park X X X
31 July - 2 August Germany Oschersleben X X X
4 - 6 September Portugal Portimao X X X
18 - 20 September Spain Barcelona X X X
25 - 27 September France Magny-Cours X X X
9 – 11 October Argentina San Juan Villicum X X  

2020 OFFICIAL TESTS

  • 24 - 25 February, Australia, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (WorldSBK and WorldSSP)
  • TBA, Official Mid-season test
     
Assen, The Netherlands
Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
Jerez, Spain
Losail, Qatar
Misano, Italy
Motorland Aragon, Spain
Phillip Island, Australia
Donington, Great Britain
Imola, Italy
Magny-Cours, France
Portimao, Portugal
San Juan Villicum, Argentina
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Comments

About bloody time Dorna.

Thanks David I was looking for this information

Time to update my plans for 2020.

Oschersleben looks good for me. Saw a good photo of the German circuit. Very green area around the track. I can use my 40 years old schoolboy German danke dir.

Maybe Finland will fit with my plans as well. Italy, Finland then Germany could be the go in 2020.

Thanks again David & all at motomatters.

I'm not surprised, given Dorna's approach to the US over the past decade (withdraw, avoid, ignore). 3 MotoGP races in a year was one too many for ANY country (cough cough Spain), but they've overcorrected by dropping to a single event. Having just 1 WSBK race per year was more baffling to me. Sportbike sales are suffering everywhere, but the US remains a monster of a market for these bikes, and we have more disposable income per-capita to spend on them than anyone. One round in California was already pretty limiting... so why would you abandon us completely? Even if the events aren't as popular or profitable as they are in other countries, you'd think the factories and sponsors would be infuriated to lose the exposure.

But then again... look at the calendar and rider line up. This isn't a world championship. It's a veterans class for BSB. 10 of 13 rounds are in Europe. One token round in South America - hey, that covers the western hemisphere, right? A good chunk of blood-stained money from the folks in the middle east buys them a completely non-attended round. Does the excuse that they pay freight for the other two non-Euro rounds justify their presence like it does (for some people) in GP? If Phillip Island weren't Phillip Island, it'd be gone like Laguna. But maybe that's 2021's "reshuffling". So much money could be saved by moving that round to Valencia! And there are likely going to be some incoming GP refugees that will need a 4th Spanish round to feel truly at home.

Oschersleben is one of my favorite circuits anywhere in the world.  The trees around the circuit, the circuit layout, it was a favorite.  I still have fond memories of Colin Edwards taking the SP1/SP2 around the place going like stink.  Signing up for the 2020 WSBK pass now.

Dorna may be taking a miss on Laguna Seca this year in part because of management issues at the track itself. A contract for operations and promotion of racing at the track - which has been managed for Monterey County by the homegrown but highly dedicated SCRAMP organization for 62 years - was awarded today, Nov. 21, to a hotelier with no racing or track management experience, no staff, and no real game plan. Racer has the rundown: https://racer.com/2019/11/19/insight-monterey-county-sham/

I have to guess that Dorna foresaw legal and logistical complications looming in Laguna Seca

John Merlin Williams  - Motospecta

 

This saga has been long running and it's always been apparent that the county's end goal was to shut down the race track. Sounds like they are well on their way to that milestone. Now they've hired a guy to run it with zero qualifications AND an axe to grind following personal tragedy. You can't make this stuff up!

For anyone wanting a bit more context for the excellent Racer article Merlin linked:

https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/opinion/local_spin/supes-pick-a-connected-pal-to-manage-laguna-seca-despite/article_6155866a-0c01-11ea-aa1b-cb8e0f6f7adf.html

https://www.montereyherald.com/2019/11/02/monterey-county-scramp-at-odds-again-as-new-contract-sought-for-laguna-seca-raceway/

https://www.montereyherald.com/2019/09/21/successes-challenges-at-laguna-seca-raceway/

https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/how-hackers-missing-cash-and-other-worries-have-plagued-laguna/article_8b6d895e-f5f2-11e9-9f8c-6b93276b0744.html 

(sorry for linking the above article repeatedly, but it's full of revelations)

https://www.superbikeplanet.com/scramp-out-at-laguna-seca-raceway/

Still... Laguna is not the only race track in the US. And we now have 7 stops in Spain between SBK and GP.

The races at Laguna this year weren't great. Partly that was down to Bautista having a nightmare round, but also there just isn't the US talent there anymore. Bostrum and Edwards  always lit up Laguna, and you could count on some wildcard action at the front as well. AMA superbike needs to produce someone worthy of a factory WSB ride. Maybe that person exists and I just haven't seen them. I have to admit that since the days of Hayden, Mladin, B Boz and E Boz,  Gobert, Duhammel and Spies I haven't paid much attention to AMA superbike.

Next season we will have Garrett Gerloff to root for, who took a famous win from pole at Laguna this year in MotoAmerica.  Shame he won't have the chance to race on home soil! 

I think it's always in FIM/WSBK/MotoGP's best interest to have Americans on the grid, but that will become more difficult if they don't bring a round somewhere here stateside.  There's tracks to choose from, and not like they don't have room in the calendar with only 13 rounds.  What gives Dorna???

Dorna have people lining up to be WSBK to MotoGP test tracks. Then a track that gets more leeway than a scabby old cat, is being run by a one man band in a state were realistically motor racing has had its day. It's like an episode of Blackadder, but we're all 40yrs older. Hmm

While I love Laguna, you are correct. The track's issues go beyond just safety: https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/how-hackers-missing-cash-and-other-worries-have-plagued-laguna/article_8b6d895e-f5f2-11e9-9f8c-6b93276b0744.html

However, Laguna Seca is just one of many tracks we have in the US. Indy is hosting a MotoAmerica round and they would love to add a "world" championship series. Austin hosts GP. Miller/UMC is a stellar track in a terrible location but served up a great WSBK experience when they previously hosted. Road America, Barber, and VIR would all be capable - and if Imola qualifies for WSBK safety-wise, surely they do as well.

Scabby old cat should be the name for T1 in Austin.

2strokes4mostfolks, that was one of the best lines I have ever read on this site. I live in California and have been to Laguna Seca many times for both MotoGp and SBK. I will always hold Jeremy Burgess in contempt for calling it a "shitty little track". It's a great track with a rich history. I hate to see us losing another race track. Hell, I still mourn the loss of Ascot. I guess our only chance for SBK in the USA is Austin. Same weekend as MotoGp? Back to back weekends? Just when we get an american in the series, it goes away. Race on Sunday, sell on Monday? Ya, the Middle East is a real mecca for street bikes. Dorna, you're a whore.

As others have stated, though it's the newest & is fully homolgated, it obviously comes with it's own issues. I feel Indy is the most likely candidate for a new venue, especially if the Motoamerica event goes off well. However I'm still hoping that 'ol George Barber decides he'd like WSBK race someday and makes the needed upgrades as that's a great circuit. Not only a great rider/driver circuit (like Laguna or Sears Point) but one that also provides for good racing. 

Yes, I am selfishly mourning the loss of one of the most beautiful tracks in the world, only a few hours from my home. But I also wonder about Dorna's strategy. WSBK will now be a European championship, with PI and Argentina tacked onto either end. Not very different from BSB.

Hey, maybe BSB can run a round at Laguna!

 

European superbike championship.

3 in Spain, two in Italy.

Nothing in Africa, nought in north America.

One in south America that's almost but not quite impossible to get to.

Two events at Qatar MotoGp & SBK, a week apart. I guess those that go to one will go to both. So the total crowd for six days would be similar to a rainy Friday at Phillip island.

Is Dorna trying to destroy WSBK or what?