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The Challenges Facing MotoGP & WorldSBK in 2020 and Beyond

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No news is good news, at least as far as the current outbreak of COVID-19, or the coronavirus is concerned.

And for thirteen days – nearly two whole weeks – we went without a change to the calendars of either the WorldSBK and MotoGP calendars (ironically, that changed this morning).

Given the speed at which the world has changed over the past two weeks, that is almost an eternity in normal time. The same could not be said for other motorsport disciplines. For two weeks, we have been inundated with cancellations and postponements.

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WSBK

Assen WorldSBK Round Postponed Until August, But More Calendar Changes Still to Come

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The COVID-19 outbreak has caused further delay in the WorldSBK calendar. Today, it was announced that the Dutch round of WorldSBK, due to be held at Assen on the weekend of April 19th, has been postponed, and pushed back to August.

The postponement of the Assen round became inevitable on Monday night, after the Dutch government extended its ban on public events until June 1st, and tightened restrictions on travel and gatherings.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #136 – The Engines of WorldSBK

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https://soundcloud.com/the-paddock-pass-podcast/episode-136

Episode 136 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one comes to us from the WorldSBK paddock, as Steve English and Gordon Ritchie give us a more technical look at what is going on in the production-class paddock.

Accordingly, this show takes a deep dive on the differences between the inline-four engines and V4 engines in the World Superbike Championship.

Helping us understand this two unique engine types are Leon Haslam, Eugene Laverty, and Michael Laverty, who provide some experienced insights into riding these two types of bikes.

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Racing

What the Coronavirus Has Done to Motorcycle Racing, What Happens Next, And Why

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The outbreak of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has wreaked havoc on many things: public health, international transport, the global economy, and much more.

But as we are website about motorcycles and motorcycle road racing, we are primarily concerned on the effect it has had on the MotoGP and WorldSBK seasons.

As of Friday, March 13th 2020, Dorna and the FIM had postponed the Buriram, Austin, and Argentina rounds of MotoGP, and the Jerez round of WorldSBK, and were forced to cancel the MotoGP class at the season opener at Qatar.

Things have changed so fast over the past two weeks that it is almost impossible to keep up. As Twitter racing wit SofaRacer put it, “A month ago, the state of Marc Márquez’ shoulder was the big talking point of the season. Halcyon days.”

Since then, a small, contained outbreak of a new flu-like disease has gone from a curiosity in a remote location far from any traditional racetracks to a global pandemic, sweeping through the racing heartlands of Italy and Spain.

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Racing

Talking with Ana Carrasco About Becoming a Champion

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Ana Carrasco World Champion

In part one of our feature with former WorldSSP300 world champion Ana Carrasco, based on interviews with Carrasco by Israeli journalist and TV commentator Tammy Gorali, Carrasco spoke at some length about how becoming the first female rider to win an individual motorcycle road racing world championship had changed her life, and the effect it had on the wider world, both inside and outside of motorcycle racing.

She discussed at great length with Tammy Gorali about what it means to be a woman racer, and a woman winning a championship.

In the second part of the feature, Ana Carrasco talks about her career as a rider, what her plans are, and what she would like to do in the future.

She discusses her relationship with the team, and the bond she has developed with reigning five-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea.

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WSBK

2020 WorldSBK Calendar Reshuffled Because of the Coronavirus

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The novel coronavirus outbreak is touching all forms of motorcycle racing. After MotoGP had to change its calendar twice in the past two days, the WorldSBK series has also had to change its plans. With the Spanish round at Jerez scheduled for the end of the month, that became untenable.

So the Jerez round of WorldSBK has been pushed back to the end of the year, and is due to be held on the weekend of October 25th.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #133 – WorldSBK Phillip Island

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Episode 133 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one comes to us again from the WorldSBK paddock, as Steve English and Gordon Ritchie talk about the season-opening round at Phillip Island.

A special early episode (we’ll have another show for you on Thursday, of course), the guys talk about the exciting racing action from Australia, which saw some surprise finishes and promises good things for the season ahead.

The show also includes snippets of audio from riders, including Alex Lowes, Scott Redding, and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu.

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WSBK

WorldSBK at Qatar Postponed Because of Coronavirus Restrictions

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After the news regarding the cancelation of the MotoGP races in Qatar, it was perhaps only a matter of time before Dorna realized that it has another series headed to the Gulf state, which would have to deal with the new Qatari travel restrictions.

Accordingly, it is not surprising that the FIM and Dorna have announced that the Qatar WorldSBK round, which was slated to take place in two weeks’ time (March 13th thru 15th), has been postponed until further notice.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #132 – WorldSBK Phillip Island Preview

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Episode 132 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one comes to us from the WorldSBK paddock, as Steve English and Gordon Ritchie join us from Phillip Island, just ahead of the season-opening round.

As you would expect, the duo catches us up on the pre-season happenings in the production class, and give us a preview of things to come from the Australian round.

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WSBK

WorldSBK Releases Rev Limits for the 2020 Season

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To balance performance and make the championship more interesting, the rule makers at the WorldSBK series set maximum rev limits for all the entered bikes at the beginning of the season.

This usually isn’t much of a newsworthy event, but with the recent crop of superbikes hitting stratospheric numbers in their homologated street form, it is causing some interesting issues in the WorldSBK Championship.

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