Byrne calls for Superbike rules unification

Shane Byrne feels the ‘chest bumping and cock waving’ needs to end and the likes of the FIM, Dorna and heads of national championships must come together to thrash out unified Superbike rules in order to stop the current uncertainty surrounding the future of production-based racing.

The five-time and defending MCE British Superbike champion has long grown frustrated at the different technical specifications used between Superbike championships, both at national and world level, which he feels is key to breathing new life into production racing.

Currently, the major national Superbike series (Great Britain’s BSB, Germany’s IDM, USA’s MotoAmerica and Japan’s All-Japan Road Race) and the World Superbike championship run different technical specifications or different tyre suppliers making any straightforward comparisons or transitions difficult.

Throughout 2017 speculation has circled around the World Superbike championship and shaking up its rules to make the series more competitive. A strong suggestion has been to enforce unified electronics which would peg back the dominant Kawasaki and Ducati squads to a level-playing field.

The single ECU rule, which is currently credited as part of BSB’s success in recent seasons, is expected to get a final decision from the governing bodies for an introduction to WorldSBK ‘within weeks’ but Byrne believes all the major championships need to work closer together to improve the situation.

“I think the fundamental problem with production racing at the moment is a Superbike in BSB is different to a Superbike in WorldSBK, which is different to a Superbike in IDM championship with is different to a Superbike in the Japanese championship which is different to a Superbike in MotoAmerica and so on,” Byrne told Crash.net. “How can anyone say we all race Superbikes when there are no clearly defined Superbike technical regulations.

“You could argue the World Superbike regulations should be top and everyone should follow, but you could look at the results in World Superbike championship and ask what is the point following that as it would only have two Ducatis and two Kawasakis winning.

“For me, all of the bosses of all of the championships need to sit down together. There is a lot of chest bumping and cock waving that goes on but who can argue that BSB racing isn’t close? Nobody. I’m not saying the FIM or Dorna should adopt the MoTeC ECU but what I am saying is they need to all sit down together and figure it out.”