The first round of the World SBK is on us and we look at a pre event media activity and some Superbike news leading up, all accompanied by some great photos by Leonard Smith
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WorldSBK and WorldSSP riders today attended a pre-event in Cowes on Phillip Island ahead of the opening Round of the 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, trying their luck at sandcastle building (quite successful) and paddle boarding (more questionable).
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Rea, Hayden, Davies, Camier, De Angelis, Brookes, Guintoli, Epis, Sofuoglu and Krummenacher each joined forces with two local children to take on the challenge of two halves, first consisting of building a sand fort and then followed by a relay and paddle board race.
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Team Rea ended the first half with a well-designed and professional sandcastle, but competition was stiff from the likes of Hayden and Brookes. Hayden’s soft toy penguin on his castle, an homage to Phillip Island, seemed like the winning detail until he was pipped at the flag by Australia’s own Josh Brookes. Brookes, in the dying seconds, swept through to victory by virtue of a small-scale erupting sand volcano, wowing the judges and sealing the win.
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Part 2 saw the junior teammates of each rider tag them as part of a relay and set the riders running into the water to paddle board to a buoy (and back). Leon Camier, by virtue of a stunning start, took an early lead that would prove decisive. Nicky Hayden, after an incredible podium placement in the sandcastle challenge, sadly encountered problems off the line and failed to complete the lap. Later admitting to having refused to fully immerse himself in the ocean, the Kentucky Kid threw away a chance at victory as he watched Lachlan Epis challenge Camier for the lead. Young WorldSSP rider Epis then made a startling error and attempted to turn the wrong way round the buoy at the half way point, the confusion resulting in a collision between Chaz Davies and Kenan Sofuoglu that the Welsh Ducati rider was adamant about taking to Race Direction.
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Camier, once back on land, could not be stopped and blasted over the line to take a well-fought victory, setting himself up perfectly for the weekend of racing that kicks off tomorrow at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.
Race 1: Sandcastle
Champion – Josh Brookes, Milwaukee BMW
Runner Up – Nicky Hayden, Honda World Superbike Team
Race 2: Paddle Board Relay
Champion – Leon Camier, MV Agusta Reparto Corse
Runner Up – Randy Krummenacher, Puccetti Racing Team
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Dorna WSBK Organisation and Fox Sports are thrilled to announce the extension of their contract, confirming Fox Sports as the home of WorldSBK in Australia once again. The contract extension will ensure fans can see the WorldSBK and WorldSSP races shown live across the country, including live coverage of the WorldSBK Tissot-Superpole qualifying shootout.
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Dorna Sports are thrilled to announce beIN SPORTS as the home of two-wheeled racing in the US and Canada, with a new exclusive deal that sees the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship join the MOTUL FIM WorldSBK Championship on beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español and beIN SPORTS CONNECT. North American viewers will have unrivalled access to every lap of the world’s premier motorcycle roadracing championships, as well as complementary original programming to bring fans all the action from the heart of the paddock.
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Eurosport and Dorna WSBK Organisation today announce the early extension of their long-term rights agreement for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. The announcement comes as Eurosport prepares to fuel the passion of motorsports fans throughout the 2016 WorldSBK season, starting February 26.
The renewal will see the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, including its support classes, broadcast live across Europe on Eurosport. With exclusivity continuing in the UK from the current deal, a Eurosport production team will be present at all rounds of the championships to enhance and customise the British coverage with additional features, live rider interviews and real-time reaction.
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FAST FACTS ON 2016 FIELD:
Most wins: Jonathan Rea – 29
Most podiums: Jonathan Rea – 65
Most poles: Tom Sykes – 30
Most fastest laps: Tom Sykes – 28
Most race starts: Tom Sykes – 184
Oldest rider: Nicky Hayden – 34
Youngest rider: Markus Reiterberger – 21
Number of WorldSBK Champions: 3 – Sykes, Guintoli and Rea
Yet to start a WorldSBK race: 5 – Abraham, Al Sulaiti, Hook, Menghi and Schmitter
Nationalities: 12 (5 – UK, 3 – Spain, 2 – Australia, France, Hungary, Italy, 1 – Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Qatar, Switzerland, USA)
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The new Pirelli SC3 tyre adds to the existing range as the hardest of the available solutions and has been specifically developed for endurance races and situations where good resistance and lasting performance are needed. This means that this compound could appear in action in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as a front tyre option.
The weekend of 27-28 February will mark the début of the WorldSBK season at Phillip Island, one of the many competitions that prove a laboratory for developing and testing Pirelli tyres with some of the best riders in the world; the same tyres which are then marketed and supplied to motorcyclists all over the world.
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Yamaha Financial Services (YFS) will be the Event Main Sponsor for the World Superbike Championship event in Australia. The sponsorship will see the insurance and finance group sponsor the inaugural race meeting of 2016, set to take place at Phillip Island on the 26th-28th of February.
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship will ensure that Yamaha Financial Services’ continued expansion gains the widest audience possible through WorldSBK’s globally evolving TV broadcast network, which will provide world-leading and wide-ranging exposure in both domestic and international markets.
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