2021 Australian World Superbike round cancelled
The Australian round of the 2021 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship has been officially cancelled. Dorna’s World Superbike Organisation (DWO) made the announcement on 29 April as part of a revised calendar that will also see a Czech circuit make its WSBK debut.
Late last year, DWO made the call to postpone the Australian round, correctly predicting that the global COVID-19 pandemic would not be under control in time for Phillip Island to host the WSBK season opener in February/March.
With every subsequent calendar update, Australia remained in ‘TBD’ limbo at the tail end of the schedule, following flyaway rounds in Argentina and Indonesia.
Blamed for the rescheduling of the Australian round, COVID-19 has been blamed for its cancellation, too, according to the official release, which stated that the decision was agreed to by the FIM, Dorna and Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit management.
“All parties involved decided that, analysing the latest changes in all major motorsport events and with the current uncertainty related to the pandemic, the best solution was to move the round to our usual start-of-the-season date in 2022,” said Gregorio Lavilla, WSBK Executive Director.
David Bennett, General Manager of the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, added: “We agree that now is the time to focus our efforts on the official test and season opening round in 2022.
"The decision not to run a round in 2021 will not adversely impact the continuation of the event. The event is secured for the Phillip Island Circuit until 2027.”
The added Czech round is at Autodrom Most, the country’s first permanent race circuit. Located northeast of Prague, near the German border, Autodrom Most opened in 1983 and has held national-level competition, but no major international category. The Czech circuit has signed a deal to host WSBK until 2025.
2021 World Superbike Championship calendar (29 April, 2021)*
Round Date Country Circuit
Rd01 21-23 May Spain Aragon
Rd02 28-30 May Portugal Estoril***
Rd03 11-13 Jun Italy Misano
Rd04 02-04 Jul United Kingdom Donington Park**
Rd05 23-25 Jul Netherlands Assen
Rd06 06-08 Aug Czech Republic Autodrom Most
Rd07 20-22 Aug Spain Navarra***
Rd08 03-05 Sep France Magny-Cours
Rd09 17-19 Sep Spain Catalunya
Rd10 24-26 Sep Spain Jerez
Rd11 01-03 Oct Portugal Portimao
Rd12 15-17 Oct Argentina San Juan de Villicum***
Rd13 12-14 Nov Indonesia Mandalika***‡
* subject to ongoing COVID-19 conditions
**WSBK only
***WSBK, WSS only
‡subject to homologation