Newbie question

[tannat]

Hello all.

I'm new to two wheeled racing and have a question.
I'm in the US and television coverage is limited, but lately I have watched rounds of MotoGP and the World Superbike Championship.

Which is the 'higher ranking' championship?

Are they sanctioned by the same sanctioning body, or is this another motorsports split like CART/IRL, F1/A1GP, ALMS/Grand Am?

I notice the Superbike field was significantly larger in terms of numbers and am aware the Superbike engine capacity is substantially larger.

Thanks for your patience :D

Tannat

[F1boat]

Both, I think, are sanctioned by the FIM and the Moto GP is the highest ranking, the F1 of the motorcycling. For example, James Toseland, a double Superbike champion, came to Moto GP.

[tannat]

Both, I think, are sanctioned by the FIM and the Moto GP is the highest ranking, the F1 of the motorcycling. For example, James Toseland, a double Superbike champion, came to Moto GP.

Are the superbikes the breeding ground of MotoGP, or simply a lesser series?

[F1boat]

IMO a different series, which is regarded very highly, but still not as much as the Moto GP.

[ChrisS]

MotoGP bikes are prototypes designed only for racing. Superbikes are based on road bikes that anyone can buy though they are modified heavily. Both championships are sanctioned by the FIM, the governing body of motorcycle racing.

Think of MotoGP as the motorcycle equivalent of Formula One while the Superbike World Championship is the motorcycle equivalent of the World Touring Car Championship. Though because of the nature of motorcycles the machines are not as different as an F1 car is from a Touring car and power, speeds and lap times are much closer.

The reason of the much larger field in Superbikes is because of costs and machine availability.

[tannat]

I was reading another thread...

Aside from TC what other driver aids exist?

ABS?

[maxu05]

I was reading another thread...

Aside from TC what other driver aids exist?

ABS?


Bikes don't have so many driver aids, compared to cars as such. I know they have traction control, as well as a computer to control engine braking to stop the rear wheel locking, so, I guess that is ABS in a way. I think these days, the gap between Superbikes and Motogp bikes is smaller, as a lot of the Motogp technology seems to have filtered down to road bikes. I would really love to see a straight race for 10 laps with Bayliss on his Ducati against Stoner on his Ducati, now that would be so,so cool. I think the Motogp bike would win without too much trouble, but, it would be great to see the difference in straight line speed, corner speed etc, and compare the lap times.