Superbike - Leading production motorcycle world championship

The HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championships is the only road racing world championship using production motorcycles of world class manufacturers such as Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. The machines are competitively engineered to boost performance, with top speeds exceeding 300 km/h.

“The FIM Superbike series is already one of the sport’s fastest growing and most promising properties, we are confident that Infront’s strong market position and experienced network will help to raise the bar even higher in terms of growth for the series.”
Vito Ippolito, President of the FIM

The most exciting motorcycling event
Infront Motor Sports, a subsidiary of Infront Sports & Media, is the owner of the Championship and provides full promotional, marketing, sales and broadcasting services to the Superbike World Championship – the leading production motorcycle event worldwide.

 

First class motor sport thrills
Due to the innovative high-tech nature of the motor cycles and the fast, challenging and exciting performance of the riders, Superbike is highly popular with fans, manufacturers, broadcasters and commercial partners.

World Superbike is arguably the most exciting form of motor sports offering a format of two races plus additional World Supersport, Superstock 1000 and Superstock 600 racing. With Stars like Max Biaggi (ITA), Troy Corser (AUS), Nori Haga (JAP), James Toseland (GBR) and Max Neukirchner (GER) Superbike is truly fantastic viewing.

The 2010 FIM Superbike World Championship is the 23rd racing season in the history of the event consisting of 13 races staged in 12 countries. With 130 permanent riders from 19 countries competing in the three classes of the Championship, Superbike is a truly global sport. It is not only popular throughout Europe, but also in Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa and the USA.

The HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship is promoted by Infront Motor Sports and governed by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). As a full-service agency and owner of the Championship, Infront brings its expertise not only in the marketing and sales of the event rights, but also in the host broadcast production, the servicing of broadcasters and in hospitality.

Global television coverage
In 2008 more than 3,500 hours were broadcast reaching more than 175 countries with over 2 billion TV contacts per season. Global television coverage of the series has an estimated TV media value of €470 million and this coverage has a strong, direct impact on potential purchasers of bikes, tyres, fuel, accessories and associated lifestyle products.

WorldSBK.com official website relaunched
With the 2009 season the official website — www.worldsbk.com — was re-launched with a radical facelift. The new website offers many key features, including live, free of charge streaming, which enables users to watch the World Superbike races as they happen with English language commentary. The website also offers: the latest news, results, standings and updates from the Superbike, Supersport and Superstock Championships; a photo gallery with spectacular imagery directly from the racetrack; statistics and downloads for fans, such as screensavers - attracting fans worldwide.

 

Highlight shows
Infront markets all forms of media rights to the event on a worldwide basis, including TV and new media, offering live, delayed and highlights coverage. In addition it offers a 26 minute highlight show, available on the Wednesday after each round via satellite (distribution via tape on request). There is also a 26-minute season preview show and a 56-minute season review available. Magazine programmes and behind the scene footage are available on request.

Full race feed produced by Infront
The TV production of SBK’s race feed is handled in full by Infront. Continuous improvements have been applied with the addition of new cameras, new state-of-the-art TV graphics and the introduction of HD features. On an average race weekend, coverage is produced from seven events amounting to over 350 minutes of live material.

Infront produces interview feeds for both qualifiers and full races in the Superbike, World Supersport and Superstock 1000 races. Full race feeds consist of: circuit intro; pit lane, pit garage, pit wall and grid action; podium and post-race interviews (with international sound and English commentary provided) through a world feed with a commentator and sport expert.  All footage is available live via a multilateral satellite feed through Globecast.

Full-service for broadcasters
Infront is using its expertise in host broadcasting to enhance coverage of the series and provide new insights for viewers. It is overseeing the host broadcast and new media production through its international production operation, which is structured into two divisions, Host Broadcast Services (HBS) and Infront Production. The servicing of broadcasters and satellite coordination is being handled by Infront’s Broadcaster Servicing Team, which contributes its tremendous expertise from various global sports events, including the 2006 FIFA World Cup™.