British Superbike Championship (BSB): Who will take the 2016 victory?

British Superbike Championship brings together the best and most talented racers in the world. It attracts huge crowds, provides breathtaking action and an atmosphere like no other. BSB 2016 is the 29^th season. It began at Silverstone on the 8^th April and will end on 16^th October. Currently sponsored by MCE Insurance. BSB is the biggest motor racing championship in Britain. The format for the race usually follows twelve rounds from April to October. It includes a three-round showdown, in which the top six riders. Accrue points from the previous podium finishes on the other rounds. A showdown point system was introduced in 2010 to make sure the winners have shown repeated skill and fluke victories were a thing of the past! Races usually last about 30 minutes each.

The event also features a torrent of support races which include:

✓ Dickies British Supersport Championship ✓ HEL Performance Motostar Championship ✓ Pirelli National Superstock 1000 ✓ Pirelli National Superstock 600 ✓ Ducati TriOptions Cup ✓ The Santander Consumer Finance ✓ KTM British Junior Cup ✓ British Sidecar Championship The calendar for BSB is shaping up like this:

British Superbike Calendar 2016

Date	Event
Apr 08-10	Silverstone
Apr 30-May 02	Oulton Park
May 20-22	Brands Hatch
Jun 24-26	Knockhill
Jul 08-10	Snetterton 300
Jul 22-25	Thruxton
Aug 05-07	Brands Hatch GP
Aug 27-29	Cadwell Park
Sep 09-11	Oulton Park
Sep 16-18	Donington Park GP
Sep 30-Oct 02	TT Circuit Assen
Oct 14-16	Brands Hatch GP

This year’s British Superbike Championship is set to be one of the most iconic races ever. 2016 celebrates the events 20th anniversary season, there are 32 riders representing 8 nations. 6 manufacturers will be battling it out for the top podium spot - Yamaha, Honda, Ducati, Suzuki, Kawasaki and BMW. Two of the biggest names in BSB history will be butting heads on the track. Shane 'Shakey' Byrne the four-time winner on a Ducati and Ryuichi Kiyonar the three-time champion with the Suzuki team! 2016 is already known as one of the hardest years ever to make the top six for the Showdown. On the track this year there are 8 riders that have previously landed a Title Fighter place. Also many up and coming young guns pushing hard to make their names known. Danny Buchan (22 yrs old) and Luke Mossey (23 yrs old) both impressed at pre-season testing in Spain. They have big plans to dominate the race this year.

BSB: Background

British Superbike Championship started up in 1988. Back in the day TT Formula 1 regulations stated. The bikes had to conform to the 750cc engine size. But in 1993 the Superbike rules were adopted! The 90s saw many talented and skilled riders. Niall MacKenzie was one of the biggest names in this time winning three times from 1996 to 1998! Going into the 2000s and Ryuichi Kiyonari created some of the most exciting times in BSB history. Fighting off Leon Haslam and Gregorio Lavilla who were hot on his tail. It’s recorded over 1.5 million people turned into seeing Kiyonari. Haslam battle to the point of both winning a race each. While Lavilla had serious engine problems. Shane Byrne grabbed his first race win in 2002. When riding with the Red Bull Ducati. Shane missed some seasons over to last few years when competing in MotoGP and World Superbike Championships. But he is still the leading rider when it comes to race wins. Another big name in BSB history is Reynolds. Even though John Reynolds retired in 2005. He still holds the third highest total wins. Mostly won with Ducati and Suzuki.

Shane currently leads the way with a total of 157 rostrums, which is around 40 more than Reynold. This gives weight to the pure force that Shane is. How successful Reynolds was right up until his retirement.

2009 made for more amazing entertainment as everyone marvelled at Leon Camier. Setting a new record of 14 race wins in one season. Camier beat the previous record set by Mackenzie in 1997, guaranteeing his place in BSB history. British Superbike Championship introduced a lot of changes in 2012 to the technical regulations. It was limited to 32 entries, it’s said this was introduced to reward the teams. That have been racing with BSB continuously.

BSB history is packed full of outstanding wins and talent. Here is a current list of riders and their victory seasons!

Winning Riders of British Superbike: 

BSB: Milestones

1971 – First Motor Cycle News Superbike Championship 1982 – MCN Superbike Championship end and Master Championship takes its place 1983 – 1988 – British Championship are run catering for 500cc, 1300cc and Formula One 1989 – F1 class runs for the final time 1994 – Single format returns with a victory for 588 Duckhams Norton of Ian Simpson 1995 – The first and only dead heat at Snetterton between Steve Hislop and James Whitham 1996 – Niall Mackenzie head back to the UK after racing in World Championships; this was the start of his famous three successive winners 2002 – New rules introduced! 1000cc four strokes allowed to compete 750s are becoming a thing of the past! 2003 – Tragedy struck, Steve Hislop killed in a Helicopter crash 2008 – The induction of a one-make tyre rule, Pirelli became the sole supplier 2009 – 368,000 people come to the BSB events across the country 2010 – The Showdown introduced, dividing the season into two. The top six riders will go onto compete for the title in a three-round, seven race challenge 2013 – Alex Lowes becomes the youngest winner of the BSB 2014 – Shane Byrne takes his fourth Championship, making him the most successful rider for titles at British Superbike 2015 – Josh Brookes takes six out of seven races in the Showdown. Making him the second Australian to win the Championship

So who do you think will take the victory this year?...