IN
THE
WIND
P34
NAKED BIKES TO REPLACE WORLD
SUPERSPORT CLASS!
I
n a move that could
rekindle the legend-
ary races of Eddie
Lawson, Wes Cooley
and Freddie Spencer
on high-bar, no fair-
ing sport bikes, Dorna
has officially said the
World Supersport
Championship's days
are numbered, with
naked bikes, like the
KTM 1290 Super Duke
R, BMW S 1000 R and
Aprilia 1100 Tuono, set
to replace them in their
own class.
The revelations came
from Xavier Alonso,
World Superbike Executive
Director for WorldSBK own-
ers Dorna, in a revealing story
penned by MotoGP journal-
ist and author Mat Oxley, and
published in the latest issue of
British publication MCN Sport
that went on sale November 23.
"I can't say when but we will
have a class with naked bikes
instead of World Supersport. It
could be the future," Alonso told
Oxley. "It will start as a direct
replacement for supersport and
then we'll see how it goes."
With 600cc supersport sales
not even a fraction of what they
once were, Alonso believes the
move to a naked bike format
reflects a growing trend within
the international motorcycle
market with more and more rid-
ers purchasing naked bikes with
superbike levels of power but
more comfortable ergonomics.
Racing naked bikes is not a
new thing. Many countries have
enjoyed long and successful
championships for the one-
piece handlebar bikes, includ-
ing Australia with the Australian
Nakedbike Championship and
Japan with the NK1 series.
But Alonso is open to almost
any discussion about the future
of production motorcycle racing.
"One thing we (Dorna) say to the
manufacturers is, 'let us know
what you want to do because
World Superbike can be what-
ever you want to sell,'" said
Alonso. "We (Dorna) are here
to run racing but we are also
here to help manufacturers sell
their products, so if they want to
do naked, Underbone (Honda
Cub-style scooter racing that's
enormous in Thailand/Malaysia
and the series where Moto2 star
Hafizh Syahrin started his racing
career), or even a big scooter
class, we are ready to talk with
them. Anything is possible.
"If we don't work to help the
development of racing, then in
20 years racing will be fin-
ished." CN
Who wouldn't love to see bar-
bashing naked bikes in action!?
Bring it on!
