P114
CN
III LOWSIDE
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
T
he Supersport class is
dead. At least, that's what
you'll hear from some
of the motorcycle manufactur-
ers who have propped up the
class since the beginning of the
1980s.
As ominous as that sounds,
it's not entirely true. The Super-
sport class is not so much dead
as in the beginnings of a cultural
shift perpetuated by a few manu-
facturers who have traditionally
been on the class's fringes.
Triumph is indeed one of
those. Along with Ducati, Tri-
umph is heading the new wave
of machines that will make up
the future of the Supersport
class, as it changes from tradi-
tional inline four-cylinder mo-
torcycles to, well, no one really
knows.
The 2021 British Supersport
Championship will allow the
Triumph Daytona Moto2 765
Limited Edition and the Ducati
Panigale V2 in its ranks to com-
pete alongside the aging 600s,
and there's potentially room for
the MV Agusta F3 800, or even
the KTM 890 Duke R—if you
want to go all naked bike on the
argument.
MotoAmerica must take notice
of this.
This is a good thing because
for motorcycle racing to survive, it
needs a healthy Supersport class
that has the backing of the major
manufacturers. And if you look at
the Supersport class, it has not
changed since the 1980s, aside
from allowing 675cc triples to com-
pete against the 600cc fours and
750cc twins when Triumph's first
675 Daytona appeared in the early
2000s. Superbikes have changed
dramatically in this time frame, and
indeed took the 1000cc fours and
1200cc twins route nearly 20 years
THE FUTURE OF SUPERSPORT
