World Superbikes 2024 – When does the season start? How to watch? Calendar, riders as Alvaro Bautista eyes another title

The FIM Superbike World Championship is back for 2024.

Alvaro Bautista leads the way as he hopes to win a third consecutive world title but several riders will be hot on his heels including former champions Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

A stacked calendar of fast-paced racing action will also see two new venues with Hungary’s all-new Balaton Park Circuit and the Cremona Circuit in northern Italy joining the traditional staples.

Here is all you need to know…

The new season of WorldSBK action begins on Friday 23 February 23 2024, and will culminate with the final race on Sunday 13 October 2024.

• 23rd – 25th February: Phillip Island, Australia
• 22nd – 24th March: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain
• 19th – 21st April: TT Circuit Assen, the Netherlands
• 14th – 16th June: Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, Italy
• 12th – 14th July: Donington Park, United Kingdom
• 19th – 21st July: Autodrom Most, Czech Republic
• 9th – 11st August: Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal
• 23rd – 25th August: Balaton Park Circuit, Hungary*
• 6th – 8th September: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France
• 20th – 22nd September: Cremona Circuit, Italy*
• 27th – 29th September: MotorLand Aragon, Spain
• 18th – 20th October: Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto

• 1 Alvaro Bautista – Aruba.it Racing Ducati
• 5 Philipp Oettl – GMT94 Yamaha
• 7 Iker Lecuona – Team HRC
• 9 Danilo Petrucci – Barni Spark Racing Team
• 11 Nicolo Bulega – Aruba.it Racing Ducati
• 14 Sam Lowes – ELF Marc VDS Racing Team
• 21 Michael Ruben Rinaldi – Team Motocorsa Racing
• 22 Alex Lowes – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
• 27 Adam Norrodin – Petronas MIE Racing Honda
• 28 Bradley Ray – Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team
• 29 Andrea Iannone – Team Go Eleven
• 31 Garrett Gerloff – Bonovo Action BMW
• 45 Scott Redding – Bonovo Action BMW
• 47 Axel Bassani – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
• 53 Tito Rabat – Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
• 54 Toprak Razgatlioglu – Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
• 55 Andrea Locatelli – ATA Prometeon Yamaha
• 60 Michael Van Der Mark – Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
• 65 Jonathan Rea – PATA Prometeon Yamaha
• 77 Dominique Aegerter – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team
• 87 Remy Gardner – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team
• 95 Tarran Mackenzie – Petronas MIE Racing Honda
• 97 Xavi Vierge – Team HRC

There are 12 rounds of racing across the season.

• 1st free practice
• 2nd free practice

• 3rd free practice
• Superpole: sets the starting positions for Race 1 and the Superpole Race (to qualify for the race, riders must record a lap time no longer than 107% of the time recorded by the pole-position rider)

• Warm-up
• Superpole Race – 10 laps
• Race 2 (Top nine from Superpole Race start in that position for Race 2; positions from 10th onwards set from Saturday’s Superpole)

1st – 25, 2nd – 20, 3rd – 16, 4th – 13, 5th – 11, 6th – 10, 7th – 9, 8th – 8, 9th – 7, 10th – 6, 11th – 5, 12th – 4, 13th – 3, 14th – 2, 15th – 1

1st – 12, 2nd – 9, 3rd – 7, 4th – 6, 5th – 5, 6th – 4, 7th – 3, 8th – 2, 9th – 1