Circuit, spectator pressures led to World Superbike format switches

World Superbike boss Daniel Carrera says circuit and spectator feedback triggered the change to three races per round from 2019 to increase track action on Sunday but concedes key sporting regulations remain unconfirmed.

During the build-up to the new Argentina World Superbike round, championship organisers announced a shake-up in the World Superbike round schedule with the introduction of a new sprint race on Sunday morning while retaining the full distance races on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Looking to inject fresh interest in the series, WorldSBK chief Carrera says following an evaluation from its previous overhaul - moving race one to Saturday - it was clear there was a demand for more races on Sunday which has created the necessity for a new third race.

“It is our priority to offer the best package available to our fans especially for those spectators attending the race tracks,” Carrera said. “If we go back three years ago when we had the last big change to the race weekend format and we moved one of the races to Saturday and then we made an evaluation. The conclusions, talking to all our partners, was that this was a good move and this is why we want to continue to have a Saturday race.

“But at the same time it is also true that circuits getting direct input from spectators meant there was a general comment from many comparing the existing format we have to the traditional format with two races on Sunday.

“They were missing a bit of action from our top category on Sunday. With all this input we started to work with the teams and people involved in that decision.”

But Carrera admits questions still remain unanswered regarding a number of sporting rules including qualifying formats for both Sunday’s races, the points structure for the new sprint race and the full programme schedule.

“Right now we are still working on the final time schedule, we need to define the rest of the categories and also the top category,” he said. “We will have a qualifying session on Saturday morning for the grid formation for the Saturday race.

“But we need to see how many points will be awarded for the sprint race on Sunday morning and the qualifying system for the two races on Sunday.”

Following the three-race announcement the new sprint race has been given an 11:00 Sunday start time for European rounds with flyaway race schedules to be announced in the coming weeks.

World Superbike organisers had planned to trial the three-race format at selected rounds in 2018, Donington Park and Portimao, but the attempts were abandoned due to the late request for a schedule change.

“This year we tried to test out the format but we were not able to go ahead because it was a late notice,” Carrera added. “Since then we’ve continued working. We’re pleased to announce we’ve put everything together to come back with this new weekend format which I think will be very welcomed by the fans.”