Unlike MotoGP, the World Superbike Championship doesn’t have a «phase» of races outside Europe, with a single round in Australia to be the exception and right at the start of the championship. Gregorio Lavilla explained why this is the case, with part of the reason being the high costs involved.
In an interview with Motosan.es, the head of the championship was asked why this particular championship is so focused on Europe, and he replied: ‘I think there are things we could analyse. How could we change this, because there’s a lot of substance. This gives you three interviews. But it’s clear. If you tell me if the European Championship, with the conditions we manage and the audience we bring to most circuits, is sustainable as an event, what happens outside? The costs increase five times. But not because we ask for more for ourselves, but because of the costs. So this is where I would tell you what comes from the premium or non-premium brand’.
He continued: ‘There are efforts, because when we have to go abroad, it also costs a lot more for other championships, but that brand, that exposure, already has an income of saying ‘well, I bring this’. That’s the aim. To say, as many of the brands we have are also on the other side… Maybe that’s where we can take a turn to improve it’.
Even if the aim is to make WSBK a more global event, it has to be done consciously: ‘I’d like to think that it could be a temporary, one-off thing because of a situation that has happened now, which is not the norm. Everyone has to be clear that, as a World Championship, we have to have a certain presence. We have to have all the ingredients to be able to cook well’.
