BSB overhaul rule book for 2010
Added on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
BSB overhaul rule book for 2010
British Superbike Championship promoter Motorsport Vision has proposed a raft of rule changes for the 2010 series, with the points scoring system and race qualifying undergoing a major overhaul.
Promoters claim that the changes, still need to be ratified by MCRCB, will offer increased excitement to the championship in 2010, with the emphasis on ensuring that the championship is not already settled before the final round of the season, as has been the case for the past two seasons.
As part of the scoring overhaul, the 2010 championship will be divided into two parts. The first nine events form the Main Season, with the standard points scoring format of 25 for a win, then 20, 16, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 awarded for each of the nineteen races from the nine events. At the end of the Main Season, all riders will drop their two worst scores from events that they have qualified for. From this points order, the first six riders in the championship standings will be elevated to a new base level and become the Title Fighters for the final three events and seven races of the championship.
Each Title Fighter will start The Showdown with 500 points, plus additional points for each podium position they have obtained in the Main Season; 3 for a win, 2 for a second, and 1 for a third. These points will be known as “Podium Credits”. The standard points scoring format from the Main Season then continues for The Showdown, with all points scores from the final seven races counting.
All riders outside of the Title Fighters continue to race for the BSB Riders’ Cup, continuing to add to their points total from the end of the Main Season. This will also to the new BSB EVO class.
Qualifying will also be changed, with the current Formula 1 “knockout” style retained although this will now only determine the grid positions for race one. All riders first take to the track for Q1 over 20 minutes. The field is then whittled down to 20 riders in Q2 over 12 minutes, and then the final 8 minutes shoot-out for pole position by the top 10 riders in Q3.
Race two grid times will be determined by the best race lap times from race one whilst, in the case of three-race events, the race three grid positions will be determined by the best lap times from race 2.
Riders who crash or fail to finish in races will still be able to qualify, with race director’s taking their qualifying lap time and adding an eight-place penalty for the following race.
The change has been proposed to encourage riders further down the field to push through the field in order to achieve a better lap time in race two whilst also minimising the benefits that softer qualifying tyres provide certain riders.
