The state of World Superbikes

[Slacker24seve...]

We Brits have a monopoly on the WSB podium this year like the Spanish do in MotoGP. Race 1 today was won by 0.05s. So why does nobody seem to give a shit about it?

In the 90s and early 00s, Superbikes were verging on mainstream and genuinely popular. Nowadays it seems like not even bikers or racing fans are interested. Personally, in order of how much I care, it goes GP>Road Racing>BSB>WSB and that doesn't seem right.

So, what is wrong with WSB, and how would you go about fixing it?
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[BrownTrousers]

For me it's just a case of accessibility.

MotoGP is easy to watch on Tv (I have btsport) and Bsb is easy To go and see live at least a couple of times a year without riding more than a couple hours.

I'd like to watch more wsb and especially road racing but it's just less convenient And therefore i don't follow it as closely.

Spose it's a viscious cycle tho; not as widely covered in media so not as popular so not covered very widely in media etc.
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[Al]

The racing is good but I think they need to build up the pre race hype a little and focus on the rivalries between the riders. Bring out the characters a little more. I know people will say they're only interested in the racing ect but that's clearly not the case, people love a little bit of handbags.

Also the ultimate prize of winning the championship doesn't seem to hold much weight, Guintoli won last year and instead of being rewarded with a lucrative deal on a top factory bike he ends up on an ancient honda that none of the other top riders wanted.
Torres and Terol have been good additions as they are fast young rider that could have well ended up in MotoGP but have come to WSBK to ride competitive bikes.

BSB really needs some new blood as well, the whole Shakey vs Kiyo thing is getting a little old and all the decent young riders head to WSBK as soon as they win a few races.
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Better TV coverage would be a good start. Since ITV4 took the BSB highlights, that's got a lot more interesting. Likewise with the BBC (and now BT Sport) and Moto GP.

The racing is close, the bikes are trick, they look and sound good. There's little not to like really. There are a few characters in there for sure.

All of that said last time WSBK was at a high point, 500s were at a low with Doohan dominating everything, so perhaps it just goes in cycles, and WSBK will be back in 5 years when people get bored of constant rule changes and Spaniards saying "I push", "Me and the team make a good race"
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[RedPanda]

I think the quality of field is lower. An Aaron Slight or Troy Corser would trash everyone. GPs are the be all and end all now, and there’s more money to be made finishing 18th in GPs than there is challenging in WSB. There aren’t the characters of yesteryear either - if Anthony Gobert was riding now then more people would watch. Even the tracks were more exciting then.

From a British perspective I sort of think losing Brands Hatch hasn’t helped either, that was a centrepiece for the series and would get people tuning in in advance. You’d then get 120k turning up. That doesn’t affect Italian or Spanish fans exactly, but they were into GPs more anyway.

As an aside, I’ve been rewatching 90s WSB lately. John Kocincki was greatly dislikeable but Jesus Christ he was smooth. What an amazing riding style.
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[bEN_]

I watch WSBK more than BSB as BSB is just the same old names year after year and lets face it, is becoming the WSBK / Motogp reject championship.

The coverage on WSBK definitely could do with improving, who the fuck wants to sit and watch Matt roberts with the same old 2 or 3 guests, sat in a studio somewhere talking for ages with barely anything else to fill the time with.
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[tony_d123]

My preference is WSB then BSB then MotoGP. WSB has closer racing, more overtaking and bigger fields than GP and competitive Brits, what's not to like? Aragon was a perfect example, Chat Davies on an uncompetitive bike still won, because he rode the wheels off it. MotoGP you can pretty much predict the winner after the the first lap.
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[RedPanda]