If the rumours are anything to go by, the production racing scene could be set for a big shake-up within the next few years.
Throughout the most recent World and British superbike rounds, there was mention of superbikes eventually being dropped in favour of supersport-spec machines.
Since introducing the new generation supersport rules, the class has seen a new lease of life by replacing its 600cc bikes with 750’s up 1000cc – meaning grids now aren’t too disimilar to how superbike racing used to be in the late 90s and early 00s.
With the bike market seemingly drifting further away from road-going sports bikes, factories may eventually drop building conventional superbikes as we know them altogether.
Whilst sports bikes have always been produced with racing in mind, current superbikes are track bikes that some people may choose to ride on the road. For instance, the Ducati V4 in its road spec form makes 216bhp – clearly something designed for the track rather than a windy Italian road.
Modern sportsbikes are becoming less popular with road users, who opt to use multistradas and tourer-type machinery instead of the race replicas of years gone by. Whilst their popularity has dropped with the average road user, the bikes are getting faster and more powerful. As such, there is the risk that superbikes will eventually outgrow the circuits within the next few years. There is a particular risk of this in Britain, with circuits such as Cadwell Park becoming at risk of not being fit for purpose should superbikes increase anymore in speed.
In contrast, the supersport classes (as they currently are) are more or less the perfect fit for most modern race circuits. For instance, Yamaha’s new R9 reportedly makes somewhere in the ballpark of 117bhp, whilst the R1-M makes 197bhp.
MotoGP is reducing the engine capacity specification for the 2027 season for similar reasons – reducing speed and improving safety. Superbikes and MotoGP are not worlds apart regarding lap times, which further hints at the potential need for change in production racing.
Power aside, the cost of current 1000cc motorcycles is ever increasing, partly due to electronics becoming more prevalent. Gone are the days when you could buy a brand new Yamaha or Honda for a couple of thousand pounds – now you will be hard-pressed to find a superbike under twenty thousand pounds.
The cost of racing, in general, has increased massively over the years, and there is no sign of it decreasing anytime soon. The expenses of road-going machines have been reflected in racing and magnified. Whilst domestic racing still presents opportunities for privateer entries to compete, private teams are all but gone from the World Superbike championship. Even former long-standing privateers, such as Pedercini Racing, have had to leave the championship after decades of competing.
By comparison, the World Supersport class has a healthy amount of privateer teams filling up its grid. Supersport is quickly presenting itself as one of the most sustainable ways to go racing, and with sustainability being a focus for the future, the middleweight category could be the class to tick that box.
Switching to a more modest engine spec would come with several benefits. For one, supersport bikes are generally cheaper than superbikes, meaning that grids tend to be more filled out. Less horsepower means less stress on the bike and engine, meaning that running and maintenance costs tend to be cheaper. Furthermore, there wouldn’t be as much of a requirement for the myriad sets of tyres currently needed.
A potential move away from superbikes to a more supersport-focused grid would move racing in a more sustainable and cost-effective direction.
In its current guise, racing is becoming less and less affordable for even the most professionally run and well-equipped outfits. Although production racing isn’t quite yet at MotoGP levels of money, top-level superbike racing is becoming unattainable for most riders without a significant amount of money behind them.
By contrast, World and British Supersport boast the most extensive grids in both paddocks, suggesting that affordability isn’t too out of reach in each class.
The new generation rules revitalised what was once a dying class in supersport, and they could now become the future of premier class production racing.
