As WorldSBK’s calendar grows ever more Europe-heavy, one cherished pillar of its identity is under threat
It does not take any kind of genius to understand that WorldSBK is having a bit of a hard time right now finding race venues that meet two important characteristics.
One – they are not in Europe and actively want to have a WSBK round.
Two – they have the guaranteed funds to pay-for-play, in the current rights owner’s way of doing things.
In a 12-round championship with ‘world’ in the title, there is only one extra-European SBK round on the calendar again in 2026 – and it may well be that way next year. It has been that way for quite some time.
And yet, until we lost both the Indonesian Mandalika round and the San Juan Round in Argentina, WSBK had a decent spread of ‘long hauls’, with Australia, Asia and South America all present and correct. Unfortunately, the Argentinian and Indonesian tracks dumped their rounds despite having agreements in place to continue.
In fairness, it was nothing really to do with WSBK itself that saw the loss of those flyaway rounds. Populist politics in Argentina killed that one, and somebody in Indonesia suddenly realised that building a brand-new circuit on an island, with limited hotels and travel options, really was a financial no-go.
Something had to give at Mandalika – WSBK or MotoGP – and you can guess which one got the flick.
In a post-Covid, MotoGP-obsessed world, the job of netting new long-hauls by WSBK under its own power has been impossible of late.
In fairness, Dorna has at times used its influence to not only have WSBK races at Buriram and Mandalika before MotoGP – not just to iron out any wrinkles, but also to ‘force’ some far-away tracks to host a WSBK event. Take WSBK first, then MotoGP. But WSBK is now seemingly less attractive for long-haul races and Dorna has to take some of the blame.
After decades of telling people to run MotoGP, rather than WSBK, and building up MotoGP to a 20-plus round championship that encompasses most of the globe, the fans, money and focus – old and new – started to follow Rossi-mania and the hyper-noisy prototype four-stroke MotoGP bikes. The result was many people all but forgot about WSBK, even in the many years since Dorna has owned the biggest production-derived championship of all.
The upshot even inside Europe is that WSBK now races at Cremona, not Imola, Balaton, not the Nurburgring.
There is some talk of WSBK going back to America next year. China seems logical, of course. And a return to Thailand is still a buzzy rumour. But as things stand, the golden thread holding onto WorldSBK’s true global presence has just one shining strand: the annual season opener at Phillip Island.
But not for long, of course; not at that venue.
The whole PI Test/Race week is super-special for us Northern Hemisphere types. It was like a happy, sleep-deprived Midwinter Night’s Dream for frozen Europeans, especially as we got into magnificent racing again after a long winter of increasingly bugger-all-doing decent winter sessions in ‘climate change’ Spain and Portugal.
We are surely going to have many of those kinds of experiences at The Bend, of course, but we already know – or at least presume – that it won’t be the same as PI.
Let’s try and forget that we won’t be at PI after 2027, just for a minute. The general WSBK paddock opinion about going to The Bend in 2028 is one of uncertainty, but it was almost impossible to find someone in the whole Donington paddock who will not miss PI like a long-lost family member.
Paul Denning, Team Manager of Crescent Racing Yamaha, expressed the feelings of many when he was asked about it. “It’s really hard to make a comment about what it is going to be like racing at a new circuit, because I don’t know anything about it,” said Paul, who has run top-level teams in BSB, MotoGP and WSBK. “It is easier to comment on not racing at PI than it is commenting on racing on a new circuit.”
The Bend is one of WSBK’s new realities, and one that Denning seems ready for if it helps the overall WSBK scene. “Changes are constant, sport develops, and nothing stays the same… From a sporting development and a commercial development point of view, change happens, and I’m sure it’s the right thing. But what anyone who loves motorcycle racing will always regret is not going to PI. I cannot say anything negative about going to a different circuit if it helps the championship to develop.”
The Bend does seem to have its own positive attractions, from what we hear from trusted sources. That said, it has big asphalt boots to fill to rival WSBK’s collective affection for Phillip Island after happy decades of Oceanside racing.
Here’s hoping that Murray River-side racing at The Bend delivers in the way its backers say it will, and provides WSBK with a happy new flyaway home-from-home, for a week or two each year, at least.
