Event Format
Bennetts British Superbike Championship promoter MSVR made several changes ahead of the 2023 series featuring eleven events, setting the stage for an intense 33-race thriller at circuits across the UK.
Event programme
The event programme continues with the opening day of the event returning to two free practice sessions for the Bennetts BSB class. The fastest 12 riders overall will be seeded directly to the Day 2 Qualifying 2 (Q2) session.
The second day of action will begin with a third, shorter Bennetts BSB free practice session in the morning, followed by Qualifying 1 (Q1), where the fastest six riders will progress through to the Q2 session to join the 12 pre-qualifiers from the opening day in the final fight for the pole position for the opening Bennetts BSB race.
At all but three events, Qualifying will see the fast and furious Q1 and Q2 sessions, each of 12 minutes duration, whilst the even more intense one lap Superpole format will also feature at selected events.
Later in the afternoon on Day 2, the first Bennetts BSB race will blast off with the with the opening race of the weekend. The third and final day of competition will feature a morning warm up and the shorter second race followed by the third and final Superbike races of the weekend.
Event format
The Bennetts British Superbike Championship featured a new format in 2023, bringing a heightened level of competition.
Bennetts entered their tenth season of title sponsorship of the series in 2023, and the new Championship format will still maintain the principle of a Main Season and a Showdown, ensuring a high level of competition throughout the season. However the current format of eight title fighters being established after the conclusion of the Main Season will be replaced by a new points system.
Across the Main Season comprising twenty four races points will be awarded to the top 15 on the scale: 18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
For the Showdown events when the series returns to the TT Circuit Assen Park and Oulton Park, the points value per race will increase to: 25-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
The points value per race will increase again for the traditional season finale on the Brands Hatch GP Circuit to: 35-30-27-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2.
The rider with the most points accumulated across the season will be crowned Bennetts BSB Champion.
A Teams Championship will run concurrently with the same principle of an increasing points value as the championship comes to a climax.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship Series Director Stuart Higgs commented: “Following the announcement of our partnership renewal with Bennetts, we can also unveil our new Championship format for 2023.
“This represents only the third time in the series’ long history that we have adapted the Championship format, following consultation with teams and riders.
“The Showdown format from 2010-2022 has served the championship well and provided some historic and edge of the seat outcomes but we feel it’s right to evolve the format.
“The new format will recognise season long performance and ideally create the opportunity for more teams and riders to remain in mathematical title contention and maintain the crescendo of competition that is seen many other sports disciplines.”