British Superbike
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The British Superbike series is the leading motorsport motorcycle racing championship in the United Kingdom.
The Series, known to most as "BSB" is managed and organised by MCRCB-Events. The commercial and television rights have been delegated to DORNA UK Limited, part of the wider DORNA Sports group which is the commercial and television rights holder of MotoGP.
The Series and Race Director is Stuart Higgs.
In 2006 it features 13 meetings, including a single overseas event at Mondello Park in Ireland, each featuring 2 races. Races are covered live by ITV and Sky Sports, with sponsorship from Bennett's bike insurance. The grids usually consist of more than 30 riders, consisting of production bikes from Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Most teams use Dunlop tyres, although Pirelli and Michelin also feature.
A Cup class exists for riders using year-old bikes; past champions of this include Shane Byrne in 2001 and James Ellison in 2004. There is also a manufacturer's championships, in which the top bike from each constructor scores.
In 2005 the overall championship was won by Spanish rider Gregorio Lavilla on a Ducati, ahead of Hondas ridden by Japanese rider Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Rutter. 2004 champion John Reynolds endured an injury-hit season, after which the veteran (he also won the 1992 and 2001 championships) announced his retirement from racing. The 2003 champion Shaky Byrne returned to the series for 2006 on the Suzuki Reynolds vacated.
The 2006 British Superbike season was won by Ryuichi Kiyonari at the final round in Brands Hatch in front of a capacity crowd and a reported 1.5 million Live TV viewers. Second was Leon Haslam with Gregorio Lavilla third. In addition to the motorcycle factory sponsors for 2006 other major sponsors in the series included the Airwaves line of chewing gum, Vivaldi Potatoes, and Rizla.
Niall Mackenzie was the most successful rider of the 1990s, with three titles. Other past champions include Neil Hodgson, Australian Troy Bayliss and Steve Hislop. Chris Walker has finished as runner up 4 times. Many riders from the series have gone on to race in World Superbikes or MotoGP.
Marshals in the British Superbike championship are provided by Racesafe Marshals Association
