At the launch of Aruba.it Racing Ducati Team, the team owner Stefano Cecconi said: “I can’t wait to fly to Australia!”. This phrase perfectly represents not only the thoughts of the CEO of Aruba.it, but also the high hopes motorsport fans have for 2019 Superbike World Championship, whose start will take place from 22nd to 24th February at Phillip Island. It seems like finally, after much criticism about the new regulation and lack of excitement, people have fallen in love with World Superbike again.
IT’S NOT REA’S FAULT – In addition to Ducati bringing the new Panigale V4 R on the field, 2019 will see the return to WorldSBK of BMW (lining up a brand new version of BMW S1000RR) and HRC Honda, as the latter comes back to the series after a 16-year absence. People have stopped seeing four times World Champion Jonathan Rea as the cause of WorldSBK decadence. Now, the Northern Irish has become an important incentive for his opponents, as they will try their best to defeat him. Marc Márquez has won 4 MotoGP championship titles in the last 5 years, like Rea did in World Superbike, but he’s never been considered as a murderer. By contrast, Rea was seen like that. However, it’s not his fault: simply, nobody was fast enough to reach him…
WORLDSBK IS GREAT AGAIN – The fact Ducati, BMW and Honda have decided to go all-in on World Superbike is a great reason to be excited. The level of the championship has gone to the stars again and the much-criticised changes introduced recently have acquired a different meaning. For example, the new Superpole Race scheduled on Sunday may be risky for riders and teams, but it’s great for the audience, as the fans can’t wait to see what these riders can do during just 10 laps.
WHAT IF REA KEEPS WINNING? – Rea’s dominance was a good excuse for those who couldn’t beat him and they often spoke phrases like “Kawasaki wins because they don’t race in MotoGP”. Well, in 2019 it will be different: Ducati needs to be back in first place (as they’ve not won for eight years), BMW is investing a lot of money and HRC Honda must cancel the terrible performance made by CBR-RR machines in the past few years. Furthermore, Yamaha R1 is getting closer and closer to Kawasaki, as we could see during this winter’s testing. Rea and Kawasaki may be dominating after just few rounds, like last year, but now we can’t say he has no opponent. Dear fans, enjoy the show…
Translated by Alessandro Palma