Here factories can show the full potential to be gained from serial production technology and factory riders can demonstrate the incredible limits these bikes can be taken to when prepared and ridden by experts.

In spite of specified tyres (Pirelli, three mixtures plus rain tyres), this racing class is virtually unsurpassed in terms of action: exciting duels, numerous position changes, a large starter field in every race, all the top brands, with motorcycles at the highest technological level. From 2009 BMW Motorrad will face up to Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati and re-entrant Aprilia. The regulations guarantee high tension even in the qualifying: after kicking off on the Friday with a ee training session from 10:30 am to 11:30 am, the timed “Qualifying practice” is held from 2:15 to 3:15 in the afternoon. The first highlight then comes on the Saturday: after two more 45-minute timed training sessions, Superpole 1 starts at 3 pm and lasts exactly 12 minutes: here, only the best 20 of the previous qualifyings can enter – so really you have to be as fast you can from the very beginning without putting all your cards on the table. The best 16 from Superpole 1 move on to the Superpole 2 (places 17 – 20 form the 5th starting row). Then there is a 7-minute break, followed by yet more exciting action: from 3:19 to 3:31 (12 minutes once again), Superbike Superpole 2 is held, featuring the best 16 from Superpole 1, and with the best eight advancing to the all-important Superpole 3. There is then another 7-minute break before Superbike Superpole 3 starts, lasting from 3:38 to 3:50 (12 minutes again), which decides the starting places in the first two rows, from the best eight of Superpole 2. So the starting line-up is decided starting at the rear, with the front places decided last. In this way the World Superbike Championship offers more excitement than virtually any other racing category.

Then comes the Sunday, which is divided into three events:

9:20 to 9:40 (20 minutes) Superbike warm-up
12.00 Superbike Race 1
3.30 Superbike Race 2

In fact BMW Motorrad is one of the founders of this racing category. This is because back in the early eighties a few racing enthusiasts in the USA upgraded their large-volume R90S and R100 bikes with racing parts to such an extent that they were allowed to enter the large-volume AMA (American Motorcycle Association) racing classes – and very successfully, too! At this time the new superbike class was still in its infancy. However, in 1988 the decision was finally taken to establish an official world championship. Today this class consists of 14 races in four continents. Many riders contributed to the glory and myth of this superbike class with their legendary riding styles, and some racing fans see it not just as the top class of serial production racing but as being on a par with the prototypes from MotoGP. Hardly surprising when you see how the performance figures in serial production technology are rising to ever more fascinating heights: if there were a mixed race of superbikes and MotoGP, the best superbike teams would actually be starting in the front rows!