EVO class for WSBK in 2015

The world superbike will undergo a fundamental change in 2015 when EVO class rules – Superbike class chassis with Superstock-spec engine – are adopted across the board.

EVO is being introduced for the 2014 season as a sub-class, and it was always on the cards that EVO would become the eventual standard for all machinery – but it’s probably arriving quicker than what most people expected.

Dorna, which owns the commercial rights to world superbike, is determined the arrest a steady decline in grid numbers, and it believes that EVO is a great way to cut costs and increase participation. Dorna also believes the EVO rules will provide an easier route into the world championship for national-level riders, either as a wildcard or as a permanent entry. That’s a stance supported by Australia’s two-time national superbike champion, Glenn Allerton.

In the early to mid-1990s, the world superbike grid at Phillip Island featured a slew of local wildcard riders, who did much more than qualify – they took it up to a number of internationals.

The adoption of EVO rules produces a few questions: how many manufacturers will be competitive under the new structure, and if not will there be some sort of parity? In world superstock racing, BMW, Kawasaki and Ducati are the current pacesetters, while Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha are basically out of the picture – a function of bikes which are now getting very long in the tooth. Aprilia also struggles to get into the Superstock picture.

As a result, will Honda now fast-track its oft-mentioned V-four replacement for the CBR1000RR?

Dorna representatives have suggested that parity may be achieved in 2015 by allowing modifications to camshafts, rather, than say, electronics, which are very expensive – and would be directly opposed to the EVO cost-cutting mantra.

The Superbike Commission is planning to announce modifications to the EVO technical rules by the end of 2013.