Close competition inherent in Superstock 1000
September 17, 2009 by Julian Thomas
Filed under Latest News, WSBK
Superstock 1000 machines bear a very close similarity to regular street machines, a necessity in a category where strong competition for younger riders has to be conducted on an international scale, but at a reasonable cost.
The intensity of the competition is there to see in terms of the on-track battles that have witnessed three riders from three different countries securing race wins (Xavier Simeon from Belgium, Claudio Corti from Italy and Maxime Berger from France) and six taking podium places in the seven rounds held so far.
But behind the immediate public glare of publicity the Manufacturers' Championship is offering up the best indications of just how evenly balanced this category is.
Ducati has taken the lead with 155 points, largely because of the three-in-a-row victories for Xavier Simeon, but the top five manufacturers are covered by only 71 points, and the top four by only 55.
All of the top five manufacturers have scored ‘podium' slots more than once this year, and indeed seven manufacturers are present in this race class in its entirety - Ducati, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, MV Agusta and Aprilia. In other words, as big a spread of world motorcycling powers as Superbike has attracted.
