VOL. 51 ISSUE 13 APRIL 1, 2014 P69
group of people developing the
parts. That is quite a strong thing
on our list of priorities, to get us
back to where we were maybe
15 years ago where a lot of the
national championships had the
same rules as World Superbike.
What about the new sched-
ule in 2014, because at the
first round it was not like it
will be in Europe and maybe
at some other flyaway rounds
too?
GL: The schedule has been
done to prevent clashes with For-
mula One. Normally this clash
is in Europe. When we already
have a different time zone, then
it is not so important so we can
adapt a bit more for the demands
on the racetrack. Each racetrack
knows its spectators very well so
they would like to have this and
this and so on. In keeping certain
parameters, we can adapt. We
know, for example, Donington al-
ready has a different time zone,
even if it is only one hour. We will
try to release the schedules as
soon as we can but there are still
some races to be confirmed on
the calendar.
Are the teams happy with
this much shorter schedule on
race day and before? Some
say that if they had two bikes
per rider again then it would
be fine.
GL: Last year when we dis-
cussed this schedule, we also
discussed the second bike.
Teams were saying no, because
it was more expensive, you need
more parts, but this is an open
point. We understand the situ-
ation and maybe what last year
was no is going to be yes. We
spoke with Scott about what we
could do. It is important that the
teams have the chance to be
there and in a safe manner. It is
an open discussion. If tomorrow
the agreement comes that there
will be a second bike, then there
will be a second bike. Running or
not running? We will see. Even
if the team thinks we do not, we
listen to them. Obviously, we
cannot give them what they want
always because their needs, indi-
vidually, are always different. We
try to find a common sense way.
The technical side is one third,
maximum of the overall budget of
a team.
SS: The money saving is not
just in the hardware. Imagine you
halved the cost of the bike, then
you could have twice as many,
because it is going to cost you
