World Superbike makes small free practice schedule change
The 2018 World Superbike championship will welcome a small tweak to its free practice schedule with three practice sessions run on Friday plus a new fourth session on Saturday morning before Superpole qualifying.
In recent seasons the World Superbike grid has had two one-hour free practice session on Friday with the top lap times used to determine the order for Superpole 1 and 2 on Saturday. For the new season, WSBK will run three 40-minute free practice sessions on Friday with the same rule of the combined best lap times sorting the Superpole order.
The 2018 World Superbike championship will welcome a small tweak to its free practice schedule with three practice sessions run on Friday plus a new fourth session on Saturday morning before Superpole qualifying.
In recent seasons the World Superbike grid has had two one-hour free practice session on Friday with the top lap times used to determine the order for Superpole 1 and 2 on Saturday. For the new season, WSBK will run three 40-minute free practice sessions on Friday with the same rule of the combined best lap times sorting the Superpole order.
A new fourth free practice session held on Saturday morning will not impact the Superpole order and in effect be the same as last year’s short free practice three session.
According to the current World Superbike sporting regulations, race one will continue to be held on Saturday with race two on Sunday despite reports pointing towards a special three race schedule for the Donington Park and Misano rounds. If the three race round is introduced, race one will remain on Saturday and races two and three held on Sunday in a similar schedule used before the Saturday changes.
The 2018 World Superbike championship gets underway at the season opener at Phillip Island in Australia on the 23-25th February. Teams are currently testing in Portimao this weekend (28-29th January) before travelling to Australia for a final two-day test at Phillip Island before the first round.
