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Motorsport is based on sponsors who want to associate their brand with the sporting exploits of riders, teams and motorbikes. It needs investments from the manufacturers without a doubt, but it also needs those who then pay to have visibility in the championship and ensure the survival of the teams, economic autonomy and the guarantee of being able to carry out an entire season.
The SBK World Championship has always been a perfect stage for 'showcasing’ because the concept behind the championship is the proximity between the bikes that race and the series product and this concerns both the bikes and everything that revolves around them. Just think about technical suppliers, those who produce tyres, those who supply lubricants and fuel. Then there are those who aim for the glamour aspect, the fascination of a championship that has a history of great champions, from Fogarty to Bayliss, passing through Biaggi, Toseland, Rea and Bautista, without obviously forgetting Toprak, the Turkish phenomenon who has character in abundance and he is a very popular figure among many colleagues who race in MotoGP.
SBK is an asset that deserves more value
But all these assets must be valorised, those who hold the reins of the championship need to work to fuel the flame of passion and motivate investors to continue to believe in this format. Elements which, however, seem to be disappearing year after year, so much so as to convince a group of very influential sponsors to meet in Jerez to send a common message addressed to Dorna: things are not going well, a change is needed.
It's not just a calendar that has many weak points, offering only one intercontinental trip and with dates that are scattered almost without sense from February to October. The crux of the issue is even deeper and concerns the 360° management of a championship which in its golden period was able to overshadow the MotoGP World Championship, but which today is suffering constant blows to the heart which do not seem random, or at least not at all.
A shame especially considering that the SBK paddock offers some of the best experiences possible for an enthusiast. Accessibility for fans is far greater than MotoGP, it is very easy to meet your favourite and observe the bikes up close. Victory Lane is enjoyed, and the Paddock Show offers continuous entertainment throughout the race weekend.
From this awareness has come the idea of a meeting between the main sponsors who together are studying a strategy to communicate to Dorna both their disappointment and a series of specific ideas to be implemented to avoid a loss of interest on the part of fans towards SBK which is very dangerous in the medium term. Dorna has MotoGP and SBK in its hands, and this alone would give the organizer weapons to force the hand of some tracks and guarantee the presence of the two championships on different tracks.
There was also the idea of taking both championships to some tracks on the same race weekend, a way to create synergy and give further visibility to the world championship intended for the production-derived bikes which certainly does not skimp on spectacle on the track. In 2024 there will be many topics of interest, from Andrea Iannone's return to racing with Go Eleven, to Toprak's move to BMW, without forgetting Rea's arrival at Yamaha and Bulega's debut in Ducati Aruba.
All points destined to make a championship even more interesting but which at this stage of its life seems like a beautiful story in search of a good author.
