Technical - Rules

The various legislation governing the British Superbike Championship are fully detailed in the MCRCB Technical, Sporting and General regulations, and while this information is available on the MSVR website and in the Annual Yearbook, this section offers the answers to frequently asked questions. While it is factual, this commentary does not have any judicial standing.

SUPERBIKE

Pirelli will supply each registered rider participating in the championship event, with tyres for each rider for each Championship Event.

The minimum assortment available to each rider to be as follows:
DRY FRONT - three different solutions (A-B-C) for a minimum of 6 each
DRY REAR - four different solutions (A-B-C-D) for a minimum of 6 each
INTERMEDIATE: one solution (front and rear) for a minimum of 4 sets
WET: two different solutions (A-B front and rear) for a minimum of 6 sets

Teams will be confined to these selection volumes.  Across the 3 x Free Practices and 1 x Qualifying Practice: Tyre use restricted to: 6 x fronts and 9 x rears. For the warm up and the race(s), the number of tyres is unrestricted and provision must be made for COMPETITORS spare motorcycles, all from within stock purchased at the EVENT.

SUPERSPORT

Pirelli will supply each registered rider participating the championship event, with tyres for each rider for each Championship Event.

The minimum assortment available to each rider to be as follows:
DRY FRONT - two different solutions (A-B) for a minimum of 5 each
DRY REAR - three different solutions (A-B-C) for a minimum of 5 each
INTERMEDIATE: one solution (front and rear) for a minimum of 3 sets.
WET: two different solutions (A-B front and rear) for a minimum of 5 sets.

Teams will be confined to these selection volumes.  Across the 2 x Free Practices 2 x Qualifying Practice and the race day warm-up: Tyre use restricted to: 5 x fronts and 8 x rears. For the race, the number of tyres is unrestricted and provision must be made for COMPETITORS spare motorcycles, all from within stock purchased at the EVENT.

It is re-started as quickly as practicable and run for the duration of the time remaining at the point of the stoppage.

A period of wet free practice, of discretionary duration, will be held.

A ride through penalty is imposed - the speed limit in the pit-lane is rigidly enforced at 60km/h. At circuits where the pit-lane is not suitable for a ride through penalty to be imposed, a time penalty is given to the rider(s) concerned and this is relayed via the timing system and start-line signals.

The race is stopped. If the race leader has not completed three laps at this point, it is re-started over the full race distance. If the race leader has completed two thirds distance, rounded down to the nearest whole number of laps, the race result will be declared with normal championship points awarded. If the race is stopped at a point between three laps and two thirds distance, then it will be declared a two part race. The positions of the riders at the point of stoppage will be used to determine the starting grid for the second part. The duration of the second part will be the number of laps remaining, or five laps, whichever is greater. The finishing positions at the end of the second par will be declared the race result with normal championship points awarded. (n.b. In a two part race, the result is not determined on aggregate time.)

Once this decision has been made, the race will not be stopped in the case of falling rain, unless race officials consider that conditions have deteriorated to such a point that safety is a concern. On declaration of a wet race, riders are expected to have chosen suitable tyres for the prevailing conditions.

Exactly the same procedure as in the case of a stoppage caused by rain.

The Safety Car is used to control the race only when officials expect the incident on circuit to be cleared within the time taken to complete two or three laps. The Safety Car is sent out at such a point to 'pick-up' the race leader, with all other riders following on behind but holding their positions.

The Safety Car is equipped with two rear facing green lights which, if switched on allow the rider immediately behind it to pass - in this way, if the car enters the circuit in front of any rider, other than the race leader, the rider can pass, and move with care around the circuit, to take up his position at the end of the queue following the Safety Car. This will ensure that before the end of the intervention period, the race leader is always the rider immediately behind the Safety Car. The use of lights on the Safety Car indicates to the riders the duration of its use and at what point it will pull off the circuit.

The laps run under the control of the Safety Car count to the race distance, unless, in the case of the Superbikes the intervention to neutralise the race comes at any point when the race leader has completed two thirds (rounded down) of the original race distance. In this scenario, the first three laps of the Safety Car deployment will not count as race laps. At the point that the Safety Car is called in, the new actual laps remaining to the end of the race will be displayed on timing screens to the teams and also displayed on the start-finish line, counting down from the last five laps of the race.

An example of this is that leader is always the rider immediately behind the Safety Car. The use of lights on the Safety Car indicates to the riders the duration of its use and at what point it will pull off the circuit. The laps run under the control of the Safety Car count to the race distance, unless, in the case of the Superbikes the intervention to neutralise the race comes at any point when the race leader has completed two thirds (rounded down) of the original race distance. In this scenario, the first three laps of the Safety Car deployment will not count as race laps. At the point that the Safety Car is called in, the new actual laps remaining to the end of the race will be displayed on timing screens to the teams and also displayed on the start-finish line, counting down from the last five laps of the race. An example of this is that in a scheduled 18 lap race, the Safety Car is deployed on lap 14 (two thirds distance is 12 laps). The Safety Car comes in at the end of lap 16. Three laps would be added to the actual race distance, making it 21 laps, with the five laps to go board shown as the riders begin their seventeenth lap.

A ride through penalty is imposed - the speed limit in the pit-lane is rigidly enforced at 60km/h. At circuits where it is not practical to operate a ride through penalty, a time penalty is enforced. Copies of the MCRCB Yearbook, detailing all of the rules and regulations, are available from the Championship Media Delegate.

For Superbikes the grid for Race 1 is derived from the Swan Combi Roll for Pole qualifying session, held on the afternoon prior to the races. The riders have already had three free practice sessions to achieve optimum settings for their machines before taking part in the grid decider.

All riders first take to the track for Q1 over 20 minutes.  The field is then whittled down to 20 riders in Q2 over 12 minutes, and then the final 8 minutes shoot-out for pole position by the top 10 riders in Q3.    

The Race 2 grid is established by the order of the riders best lap times set during Race 1.  This will give a greater reward to riders making a charge through the field, perhaps as a result of a bad qualifying performance or a bad start.  Significantly all the riders will be on race rubber, rather than softer tyres that favour certain qualifying specialists.

The new qualifying regulations are sensitive to riders who unfortunately suffer a crash or mechanical failure before the end of the first lap in Race 1.  Their bad fortune is not compounded further as the rider can line up for Race 2 in their Race 1 starting grid position plus 8 "penalty places", emphasising the necessity for a good initial qualifying position.   

An example is if the rider in pole position for Race 1 crashed on the first lap and was unable to continue, he would start Race 2 from position 9 on the third row of the grid. 

The positions for the the British 125GP, Fuchs-Silkolene Supersport and Metzeler National Superstock 1000 and 600 are decided over two timed qualifying sessions. The fastest rider takes pole position and the remainder of the grid positions are arranged in order of the times recorded with the slowest rider taking the final starting slot. The grid is arranged with four riders forming up on each row.