The 2014 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship roars into action over Easter weekend at Brands Hatch and British Eurosport will be screening more live action than ever before.
Widely recognised as the greatest domestic motorcycling series in the world, with a huge following in the UK and around the globe, the 12-round British Superbikes series is famed for its close, dramatic racing with bikes capable of reaching a blistering 200mph.
This year’s championship will again comprise of 26 races across 12 rounds across the UK and beyond, with the season commencing around the short Brands Hatch Indy circuit on Easter weekend (April 18-21) and concluding on the majestic Grand Prix circuit at the same venue on October 17-19.
There are also two ‘triple header’ weekends included in the schedule with an additional race following the new F1-style three-part qualifying session.
With 2013 champion Alex Lowes making the step up to World Superbikes, the BSB crown is up for grabs this year as many familiar names line-up on the starting grid.
The 2014 season has seen the biggest shake-up of teams and rider combinations in years, yet the strength in depth is as impressive as ever, with the Brands Hatch grid featuring nine MCE BSB race winners and two triple champions in Shane Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari.
Among the title favourites is ‘Shakey’ Byrne, who finished runner up in a tense championship decider at Brands Hatch last year, and will be looking to make history by becoming the first rider to win the championship four times.
Byrne remains with Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki and the most successful rider in the championship history will be joined by reigning British Supersport champion Stuart Easton, who has made a remarkable comeback from devastating injuries sustained at the North West 200 in 2011.
Ready to challenge Byrne is returning Californian mega star John Hopkins. The former MotoGP frontrunner was part of the closest BSB title race in history in 2011 and lost out to Tommy Hill by just 0.006 seconds in the final race.
He has unfinished business in the championship and is targetting the title with Tyco Suzuki.
Former champions Milwaukee Yamaha meanwhile have secured the services of two-time BSB runner-up Josh Brookes and upcoming Brit Tommy Bridewell, and both riders looked supremely quick during their pre-season test programme in Spain.
New and fresh line ups for 2014 include Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki, who have signed 2009 runner-up James Ellison and fans’ favourite Chris ‘Stalker’ Walker for their campaign, whilst triple champion Ryuichi Kiyonari made a surprise move to the Buildbase BMW team during the winter, alongside Showdown contender James Westmoreland.
Record-breaking TT race winner Ian Hutchinson is ready to prove his mettle on the short circuits with the new FFX Yamaha team, whilst Harry Hartley becomes the youngest ever BSB contender at the age of just 17.
The 2014 series looks set to feature some fantastic racing and the championship fight is expected to go right down the final three showdown meetings at Assen, Silverstone and Brands Hatch at the end of the year.
BSB series director Stuart Higgs said: “This season has the hallmarks of being one of the biggest and best in the championship’s history, featuring a permanent entry of 30 riders bolstered with wild card entries at certain events with TT race winner Michael Dunlop and also with World Endurance champion Julien Da Costa.
“The rider and team movement over the winter has really given a new vibe to the series with eleven new riders moving into the Superbike class and a further eleven riders changing teams ahead of the new season.
“The 2014 grid also features seven new teams which without doubt shows the continued growth of the championship which provides such compelling entertainment for trackside fans and a global television audience.”
Follow the 2014 British Superbikes season with British Eurosport & ITV4:
British Eurosport’s exclusive live coverage of the MCE British Superbike Championship is bigger and better than ever before this year.
The pan-European channel will continue to screen full live on-site coverage of every race day throughout the season on British Eurosport 2, but in addition every BSB qualifying session will also be shown live for the first time.
British Eurosport’s dedicated on-site coverage at every BSB race meeting will be presented by new signing Matt Roberts.
The former BBC MotoGP presenter, who replaces Tony Carter in the role, will be joined by regular analysts James Haydon and James Whitham in the various pit lanes across the UK.
Jack Burnicle leads the commentary team alongside Whitham and Haydon for the BSB and other support races.
Commenting on his new British Eurosport role, Roberts said: “I am really excited about joining the British Eurosport team.
“The British Superbike series is a really vibrant and competitive championship and I‘m looking forward to getting on-site and getting round some of the iconic British tracks in the company of the Jameses; Haydon and Whitham.
“Showing Superbike qualifying and the Supersport sprint race live on Saturday will give fans even more live action and will give all of us more time with the riders and the teams to get under the skin of the championship and get to know the personalities.”
Alongside the live action, regular highlights programmes covering the BSB and support series action will be shown after the event on both British Eurosport channels.
At the end of last season, Eurosport agreed a new long term partnership for live coverage of the British Superbike Championship, securing the series until the end of the 2020 season.
The deal with MotorSport Vision (MSV), the commercial rights holders of the series, renews exclusive TV and digital rights for live coverage of every round on British Eurosport, as well as across all Eurosport’s portfolio of channels in Europe and Asia.
Stuart Higgs, Series Director of MCE British Superbikes said, “Eurosport is well known as the ‘Home of Bikes’ particularly in the UK and MCE BSB has been the cornerstone of that programming for some time.
“They understand bike racing and the series, have a strong, growing and loyal viewing audience and they understand how we want the series to grow.”
As well as comprehensive live TV coverage and highlights programming, all the BSB action will be available to watch via the online subscription service Eurosport Player.
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ITV Sport will continue to screen free-to-air highlights of the British Superbike Championship in 2014.
Extended highlights of every BSB meeting will be shown on ITV4 and ITV4 HD on the Wednesday evening following each race day.
A further showing will follow on the main ITV network a week after each event and will be broadcast late on Sunday evenings.
Former MotoGP, World and British Superbikes rider James Haydon returns to host each of ITV Sport’s highlights programmes throughout the season, most of which will be one-hour in length.
After previously taking British Eurosport’s commentary feed since 2009, ITV has appointed its own British Superbikes commentary team for 2014.
The highly respected motorcycling broadcaster Toby Moody will link up with former grand prix rider Niall Mackenzie to provide commentary on all BSB races for ITV during the season.
Moody told MCN: “I’m absolutely looking forward to it. BSB is a buoyant series, to say the least, and the last race weekend at Brands Hatch for the past few years have been second to none, and it’s going to be an exciting year.
“It’s also nice to be back working with ITV4; I’ve worked with them before on British Touring Cars and they’re so professional to work with.”
All of ITV4’s highlights show will available to watch online via catch-up service ITV Player for up to 30 days after transmission, while ITV Sport’s dedicated British Superbikes website has all the latest news and video from the series.
British Superbikes highlights forms part of ITV4’s extensive motorsport portfolio in 2014, which also features live British Touring Cars and Formula E, as well as MotoGP and Isle of Man TT highlights.
On the eve of the 2014 BSB season, ITV Sport agreed a new five-year deal to screen highlights of every British Superbike meeting, guaranteeing free-to-air exposure for the series until the end of 2018.
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ROUND 1: BRANDS HATCH INDY. Sunday 20th April BSB: Brands Hatch Indy – Qualifying LIVE: 4.00pm-6.00pm British Eurosport 2
Monday 21st April BSB: Brands Hatch Indy – Race Day LIVE: 12.30pm-6.00pm British Eurosport 2 Live Race Schedule 13:30 British Superbike Championship – Race 1 14:15 National Superstock 600
14:55 British Motostar Championship
15:40 British Supersport Championship 16:30 British Superbike Championship – Race 2 17:20 Triumph Triple Challenge Full event timetable Wednesday 23rd April BSB: Brands Hatch Indy – Highlights 8.00pm-9.00pm ITV4 Sunday 27th April BSB: Brands Hatch Indy – Highlights (rpt) 3.35am-4.25am (Mon) ITV
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| 2014 BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON |
| APRIL 18-21 |
|
BRANDS HATCH INDY Round 1 |
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| MAY 3-5 |
|
OULTON PARK Round 2 |
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| JUNE 13-15 |
|
SNETTERTON 300 Round 3 |
|
| JUNE 27-29 |
|
KNOCKHILL Round 4 |
|
| JULY 18-20 |
|
BRANDS HATCH GP Round 5 |
|
| AUGUST 1-3 |
|
THRUXTON Round 6 |
|
| AUGUST 8-10 |
|
OULTON PARK Round 7 |
|
| AUGUST 23-25 |
|
CADWELL PARK Round 8 |
|
| SEPTEMBER 5-7 |
|
DONINGTON PARK Round 9 |
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| SEPTEMBER 19-21 |
|
ASSEN Round 10 – Showdown |
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| OCTOBER 3-5 |
|
SILVERSTONE GP Round 11 |
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| OCTOBER 17-19 |
|
BRANDS HATCH GP Round 12 |
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