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World Superbike
WSBK: Don’t Have To Live Like A Refugee
The GP refugees have returned and taken the Superbike World Championship by force. Who will be the next to invade? Who should be?
Aprilia Alitalia's Max Biaggi and Yamaha World Superbike's Marco Melandri (Photo: Aprilia Racing)
The 2011 Superbike World Championship has been dominated by three men who stand well clear atop the points order. A quick examination of their teams and equipment -- a private-turned-satellite outfit armed with a V-twin, an officially-backed importer squad fielding an inline four, and a full works operation with a trick V-four -- immediately makes it obvious that they couldn't be much more different in their backing.
However, when you look to the riders manning the controls of these disparate racebikes, you'll notice they are of shockingly similar makeup.
Points leader Carlos Checa, reigning champion Max Biaggi, and top rookie Marco Melandri -- all former 500GP/MotoGP race winners -- are the series' new breed of GP refugees and they've taken the championship by storm.
'GP refugee' was originally a derogatory term -- a stigma -- coined to brand the fledgling World Superbike series' motley collection of riders in the late '80s and early '90s. The new production bike championship included a large delegate of riders who couldn't hack it in Grand Prix racing -- either former heroes long since past their sell-by dates or 'never weres' whose time in the middle of the GP pack still managed to lend them some degree of credibility on this fresh battleground.
Guys like Stephane Mertens, Roger Burnett, Ramond Roche, and Marco Lucchinelli made waves in the championship's inaugural season. A bit further down the road, Italian Pierfrancesco Chili came to epitomize the career transformation possible for the prospective GP refugee, rewriting his career while going from long-time 500GP midpacker to beloved Superbike icon.
The scene gradually changed as the combined passport/250-derived-riding-style era of racing hit Grand Prix and talented native English speakers found it increasingly difficult to locate an opening into 500GP. World Superbike was a huge beneficiary of this trend and, with a few notable exceptions, largely turned to grooming its own talent, plucked up from the various leading national Superbike championships. Around the turn of the century, Grand Prix-caliber riders such as Carl Fogarty, Colin Edwards, and Troy Bayliss gave WSBK a grid arguably on par in terms of overall talent with that found in 500GP -- and also a more relatable one, fielded by a greater diversity of factory efforts.
World Superbike was a genuine threat to Grand Prix racing for that brief time, but all that changed with the MotoGP four-stroke revolution. Ever since, manufacturer budgets and rider aspirations have been firmly directed to the revitalized GP series. There is no longer any lingering questions concerning the true pinnacle of the sport.
However, when you look to the riders manning the controls of these disparate racebikes, you'll notice they are of shockingly similar makeup.
Points leader Carlos Checa, reigning champion Max Biaggi, and top rookie Marco Melandri -- all former 500GP/MotoGP race winners -- are the series' new breed of GP refugees and they've taken the championship by storm.
'GP refugee' was originally a derogatory term -- a stigma -- coined to brand the fledgling World Superbike series' motley collection of riders in the late '80s and early '90s. The new production bike championship included a large delegate of riders who couldn't hack it in Grand Prix racing -- either former heroes long since past their sell-by dates or 'never weres' whose time in the middle of the GP pack still managed to lend them some degree of credibility on this fresh battleground.
Guys like Stephane Mertens, Roger Burnett, Ramond Roche, and Marco Lucchinelli made waves in the championship's inaugural season. A bit further down the road, Italian Pierfrancesco Chili came to epitomize the career transformation possible for the prospective GP refugee, rewriting his career while going from long-time 500GP midpacker to beloved Superbike icon.
The scene gradually changed as the combined passport/250-derived-riding-style era of racing hit Grand Prix and talented native English speakers found it increasingly difficult to locate an opening into 500GP. World Superbike was a huge beneficiary of this trend and, with a few notable exceptions, largely turned to grooming its own talent, plucked up from the various leading national Superbike championships. Around the turn of the century, Grand Prix-caliber riders such as Carl Fogarty, Colin Edwards, and Troy Bayliss gave WSBK a grid arguably on par in terms of overall talent with that found in 500GP -- and also a more relatable one, fielded by a greater diversity of factory efforts.
World Superbike was a genuine threat to Grand Prix racing for that brief time, but all that changed with the MotoGP four-stroke revolution. Ever since, manufacturer budgets and rider aspirations have been firmly directed to the revitalized GP series. There is no longer any lingering questions concerning the true pinnacle of the sport.
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