MotoGP vs World Superbike Championship

It doesn't matter where we go right now, but if we end up talking motorcycles to anyone, the current state of world level racing comes to the conversation sooner or later.

Over dinner, at shows, at a trackday; everyone has an opinion. A handful of not-so-exciting MotoGP seasons have made even the most die-hard MotoGP supporters start to wonder if there's any danger of it becoming devalued. Also in 2012 MotoGP will move to 1,000cc engines very similar to the World Superbike Championship.

On the flipside is the World Superbike Championship (WSB), a series that's only going upwards and fast dragging Grand Prix fans with it, as MotoGP aces switch championships and manufacturers like Aprilia, Kawasaki and BMW commit.

MotoGP is still the premier class for world championship motorcycle racing, while Superbikes are a premier world class in their own right. All major national race series are production based, and have been for over 20 years.

By default, WSB therefore has a solid backbone in every country, a riding education that will serve when the time comes to step up. But what, and where, is the rider program for MotoGP? Some critics say that Superbike riders can't race MotoGP properly, but pretty soon it'll be an entire grid that plied their trade on the series biggest rival formula.