New weekend schedules, grid position tweaks among the new WorldSBK rules

New weekend schedules, grid positions changes and sustainable fuel updates have all been confirmed as part of new rules set out by WorldSBK officials.

Robert Jones

Updated: 23 Jan 2024

In a confirmed statement by WorldSBK officials, the biggest changes are as followed…

New team championship announced: “Alongside the Championships for Riders, a “Team Championship” had been decided. Consequently, a licence for teams in all classes had been created. The decision to obtain this licence rests with the team which is not obliged to obtain participation in the Championship. In the absence of a licence, the team will not score points.

“An exemption to the minimum age rules for the top 3 of the last FIM Supersport300 World Championship, for the top 3 of the FIME European Moto2 Championship and for the top 3 of the last FIME European Stock Championship to compete in the 2024 FIM Supersport World Championship was decided, with these riders having demonstrated their capacity and experience to be able to benefit from this exemption.”

New weekend schedules

“A new time schedule has been decided for 2024, which will see the Superpole sessions for WorldSSP, WorldSSP300 and the new WorldWCR class moved to Friday afternoon. These Championships will have a single Free Practice session in the morning, with each Superpole matching their respective duration.

“All three classes will now also have a 10-minute Warm Up session on Saturday morning and on Sunday morning, ahead of the races that day.

Meanwhile, the WorldSBK class will see two small changes compared to 2023. Free Practice 3 will now be scheduled for 20 minutes (rather than 30), and Sunday Warm Up will last 10 minutes (rather than 15). The standard schedule for Races and Superpole remains the same.”

Grid changes and penalties

“In order to highlight outstanding performances, the SBK Commission decided that the Grid positions for the Race 2, the first 9 grid positions will be based on the fastest time recorded by the riders during Race 1, for the WorldSSP, WorldSSP300, WorldWCR.

“In case of an infringement of the engine allocation (before the race), the rider will start the next 2 races (Superbike Race 1 and 2 excepting Superpole race) from the back of the grid and will receive two long lap penalties (Previously the rider had to start from the pit lane exit after the green light was lit on). This penalty seemed fairer with regards to the different lengths of the pitlanes.”

Two bikes from every manufacturer required to run fuel flow logging system

“For the WorldSBK Class, with regard to the new fuel tank maximum capacity (21.0 litres re our press release of 11 October 2023), to incentivise the environmental guidelines and to give a platform for manufacturers to increase their machine developments in these areas for the future, from 2025, it will be mandatory to use a fuel flow control system.

“Therefore, in 2024, two bikes from each manufacturer will be required to fit a fuel flow meter and log data during both practices and races to validate the concept and define the value for 2025. A decision for a fuel flow meter has been approved.

“The FIM will introduce all related information into the 2024 FIM Eligible parts list for Competition accordingly. As a reminder, the season 2024 will be a test season in order to collect data from the FFM sensors for analysis/evaluation for a potential official implementation from 2025.”

Finally, sustainable fuel will have a 40% ‘fuel content’ requirement, in line with MotoGP

“The SBK Commission confirmed the introduction of sustainable fuel for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP categories starting from the 2024 season, with a minimum of 40% sustainable fuel content. This E40 fuel should be compliant with the specification adopted recently in MotoGP.

"Various clarifications and wording updates to the Disciplinary Regulations were decided in order to use more precise legal language where required.

“A specific application used by the FIM in various FIM Championships (including MotoGP) will be used in 2024. This Application will allow, not only to notify a decision but also to make it public and will also give a legal value (within the framework of notifications and resulting deadlines for appeals).”