With changes in comparison to years gone by and a return to a traditional starting point, the provisional 2023 World Superbike calendar promises intense action from the start
Whilst the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is coming to a close, the 2023 season is taking shape and the calendar has been released, revealing the iconic destinations and historic venues where WorldSBK will continue to break records. With a return to Australia as the season-opener and a back-to-back at the start of the year with Indonesia, a new date for the Catalunya and Aragon Rounds and a return to Imola in the summer, it’s a diverse calendar for WorldSBK in 2023.
For the first time since 2020, WorldSBK’s season starts at what is the traditional starting point. Phillip Island and Australia will lift the curtain on the 12-round season from the 24th – 26th of February, whilst a week later, the Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit follows, finding a new slot in the first weekend of March. After six weeks of rest, the Championship is back on European soil with the Dutch Round at the TT Circuit Assen from the 21st – 23rd of April, where WorldSSP300 will take to the track for the first time in 2023.
Round four sees a second change in the calendar order in comparison to 2022, with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosting the Catalunya Round from the 5th – 7th May. The next round comes from the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” for the Emilia-Romagna Round on the Adriatic Coast from the 2nd – 4th June, whilst marking the halfway point of 2023, the UK Round at Donington Park will close out June action and kickstart July racing from the 30th June – 2nd July.
Entering the second half of 2023, the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola returns to the WorldSBK calendar for the first time since 2019 to host the Italian Round from the 14th-16th July, followed by the Czech Round at the Autodrom Most returning for a third consecutive season, with the final weekend of July on the 28th – 30th. With August giving way to the summer break, action resumes with the French Round at Magny-Cours from the 8th – 10th September, as the circuit gets ready to celebrate 20 years of being on the WorldSBK calendar without interruption. Having been the curtain-raiser for the past two years, MotorLand Aragon and the Aragon Round host round 10 from the 22nd – 24th September, whilst the second back-to-back of the year is completed with the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal from the 29th September – 1st October. The season finale will take place at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto from the 27th October-29th October as the Spanish venue returns to the calendar for the first time since 2021.
Full 2023 WorldSBK calendar below:
24th – 26th February: Phillip Island, Australian Round
3rd – 5th March: Mandalika, Indonesian Round
21st – 23rd April: Assen, Dutch Round
5th – 7th May: Barcelona-Catalunya, Catalunya Round
2nd – 4th June: Misano, Emilia-Romagna Round
30th June – 2nd July: Donington Park, UK Round
14th – 16th July: Imola, Italian Round
28th – 30th July: Most, Czech Round
8th – 10th September: Magny-Cours, French Round
22nd – 24th September: Aragon, Aragon Round
29th September – 1st October: Portimao, Portuguese Round
27th-29th October – Jerez, Spanish Round