13-way journey through 10 countries of the 30th WSBK motorbike racing (Part 1)

Besides MotoGP, another 2-wheel drive racing tournament has also received a lot of attention, that is the World Superbike will also have major changes in 2020.

By the end of November, the tournament organizers have confirmed the official schedule for the 2020 season, with 13 races, no increase (decrease) compared to 2019 but there are some changes in destinations. Taking place in 10 countries on 4 different continents, the 2020 season will once again start in Australia at the beginning of March.

The Philips Island racetrack will mark the 30th time in history of organizing a WSBK race, no race in the world has achieved this milestone yet. In addition, there will also be an official test before the final season on February 24-25, 2020.

Philips Island will be the start of the WSBK 2020 season

Two weeks later, the teams will come to the race in Qatar, where all new riders will ‘visit’ at the end of October, with the last race of 2019. Losail racecourse will have 2 consecutive weeks. continue to be busy when organizing 2 tournaments MotoGP and World SBK. The change of Thai GP stage in MotoGP race when moving to March forced this race to break up with WSBK this year.

In addition, the only race in North America at Laguna Seca racetrack, California, USA will not appear next year.

The usual European season starts at Jerez in late March, then returns to Spain twice in Aragon in late May and the first time WSBK goes to the Barcelona-Catalunya racetrack in mid-September. Italy will remain the country with more than one race, with two races at Imola and Misano in about 35 days.

July and August is a break time for riders to take only 2 stages in the first week of the month. The WSBK will return to Germany, but with a new Oschersleben race, the fourth fixed race track in Germany, after Nürburgring, Hockenheimring and Sachsenring.

Oschersleben racetrack (Germany) is the new destination of German GP

September is a sprint stage with 3 races at Algarve (Portugal), Barcelona (Spain) and Magny-Cours (France) in less than 25 days. The season-ending race will take place in South America, with the Argentine GP race at the San Juan Villicum racetrack on October 11, 2020. In addition, the middle of the season will have an official test but the time and place have not been announced.

Is it true that the more spikes, the more traction?

The average lifespan of racing tires is only about 120 km, equivalent to a match. In racing, the type of tire used depends on the weather as well as the way the driver rides.

Many people when choosing motorcycle tires often choose the type of tire with many spikes to increase the ability to grip the road. However, if you have ever looked through the motorbike races, it can be seen that the drivers use non-spiked tires to compete. Why is this contradiction, spiky or prickly tire will have better grip?

First let’s find out the use of the grooves on common tires. In fact, the trenches absolutely do not help grip the road when driving in dry weather, but it also reduces the contact surface between the tires and the road.

Tread grooves only work when driving in the rain and slippery roads, helping to increase traction by turning water from the point of contact between tires and the road. In addition, all terrain vehicles will use special tires with very deep grooves to help increase the ability to grip the road when driving on rough terrain such as gravel, sand, etc.

Returning to the tires mounted on racing cars, the absence of tread grooves will help optimize the best possible grip on dry pavement. This allows the driver to run to his full potential without being too concerned about the grip of the tire.

In MotoGP racing, slick tire used in dry weather condition has up to 3 different options including hard (hard), medium (medium) and soft (soft) tires. Soft tires will help increase grip, but quickly reduce quality and vice versa, so riders need to carefully choose the type of tire to use for competition.

However, when competing in the rain, the riders were forced to switch to the wet tire, which has additional grooves to help turn the water. If you use this type of tire to compete when the road surface is dry, the tire quality will decrease very quickly.

Thus, in dry road conditions, the tire without spikes will grip the road better than the tire with spikes. In wet, sandy, or muddy conditions, the tread tire will be effective then make the car easier to control. The traction of the tire depends on other factors such as the soft-stiffness or the quality of the material that make up the tire. The more tread the tire, the more friction it wears and the faster it wears out.