Tom Sykes, the 2013 World Superbike Champion2014 World SBK Provisional CalendarUPDATE – April 12, 2014 – the Russian round of World Superbike at Moscow Raceway set for September 21 has been canceled.
The 2014 World Superbike provisional calendar was released this week. The schedule features 14 rounds – down one from 2013 – and many revisions.The newest circuits on the 2014 World SBK calendar, which are Subject to Contract, are Sepang in Malaysia and Phakisa in South Africa; Sepang continues to be on the MotoGP schedule, and Phakisa, once on the MotoGP calendar.Missing from the 2014 calendar are Silverstone in the UK, Nurburgring in Germany, Istanbul Park in Turkey and Monza in Italy. Returning after a one-year absence, though, is Monza in Italy.Once again, the schedule will begin at Phillip Island in Australia (Feb. 23). As for the concluding round on Nov. 2, it is yet to be determined. The FIM states the final round will occur outside of Europe.Kawasaki Racing’s Tom Sykes won the 2013 title, but will have additional challenges in 2014, including newcomers Jules Cluzel and Vladimir Leonov aboard the MV Agusta F4 RR superbikes.With the return of MV Agusta and the additional of Erik Buell Racing (EBR), there will now be eight manufacturers competing in World Superbike – Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki.2014 World Superbike Provisional Calendar:
February 23: Australia – Phillip Island GP Circuit
April 13: Spain – MotorLand Aragón
April 21: The Netherlands – TT Assen
May 11: Italy – Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola
May 25: UK – Donington Park
June 8: Malaysia – Sepang International Circuit (STC)
June 22: Italy – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
July 6: Portugal – Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
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This week, in the first segment Editor Don Williams talks to us about the new Kawasaki Versys 650 LT. It’s the middleweight ADV style machine that uses the same 650 parallel twin motor as the Ninja 650, so it’s an excellent performer in a user-friendly, good looking package.
In the second segment, I chat with one of my dearest industry friends—now retired Honda PR executive, Jon Seidel. Jon’s fascinating career spans some 30 years with Big Red, and gave him some great experiences with some incredible machines. I was fortunate enough to be invited on many of the press launches that he organized. His new project is documenting and saving many of the old archives from years gone by—and incidentally, if you have anything that may be of value to the project, please contact us by email at producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and we’ll pass it all on to Jon.
So on that note, from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
