News 24 Feb 2018

Mandatory pit-stops for WorldSBK and SSP races in Australia

Flag-to-flag to be in effect as WorldSSP race distance reduced.

Image: Supplied.

Sunday’s Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) and World Supersport (WorldSSP) races will be held as flag-to-flag affairs, with mandatory pit-stops to be enforced at Phillip Island’s Yamaha Finance round.

Severe tyre degradation has caused race organisers to make the decision in consultation with Pirelli, with the WorldSSP race shortened by two laps to 16.

“Unfortunately we had some issues regarding the tyre life,” explained WorldSBK sporting director Gregorio Lavilla. “Following a meeting with the teams to discuss the possible options, we decided the best way was to do a flag-to-flag, which luckily our rules comply with. We normally use it for climatic purposes, but now we are using it for other purposes unless its rains.”

In the case of wet races being held, standard procedures will apply, however in the dry WorldSBK riders will have to pit between laps 10-12, while WorldSSP will see pit-stops take place by lap nine.

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