2027 represents an important year for MotoGP, which will see the new regulations come into force. This will be an important revolution for the championship, given that holeshots will disappear (which have caused so much discussion in the past) and aerodynamics and displacement will be reduced. But the premier class of the world championship is not the only one to undergo changes in the future, because Superbike is also in the crosshairs.
The World Championship of production derivatives, still under the control of Dorna (and then of Liberty Media), has implemented various regulatory changes for some time now and the latest change arrived in 2024, with the introduction of the minimum weight between motorbike and rider. But that’s not all, because a new regulation change was announced at the press conference held in Le Mans on the occasion of the French Grand Prix.
The reason why the World Superbike regulations will undergo further changes is to continue to maintain distances between the two championships managed by Dorna, MotoGP and SBK. Jorge Viegas, President of the FIM, reported this during the conference held today on the iconic French track. Carlos Ezpeleta, in response, was keen to underline that the distance between the two realities will not affect the nature of the production derivatives: “The Superbike will live in the same ecosystem in which it currently finds itself. We are already doing several things with the championship, which is led by the FIM.”
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO Dorna Sports, Jorge Viegas
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Jorge Viegas explained more fully what the change planned for Superbike will consist of, who does not hide the fact that he wants to continue to keep the premier class of prototypes at the top of the pyramid and claims that he wants to define everything by 2026: “Obviously we want to have MotoGP at the top. Superbike was designed as a stock motorcycle category, with some changes. We already started implementing them two years ago with the change in regulations.”
In this sense, the BSB will be very helpful. The British national championship, among the most renowned in the Superbike panorama, will be used as an experiment for the regulatory changes that will be proposed in the world championship: “Clearly, we try to maintain a certain distance between MotoGP and Superbike. We are talking to the different manufacturers, we have a few more in Superbike than in MotoGP, but it is also a great job done in terms of solutions. We are also working on the next generation of Supersport 300. Let’s use the BSB a bit as a test to see how these rules apply. But I hope that in 2026 the new generation will be defined,” Viegas clarified.
