World Superbike Championship promoters Dorna Sports have released the first draft of the 2017 schedule, with a total of 13 rounds provisionally making up the calendar. Largely unchanged to this year’s, the Malaysain round is a notable omission after Sepang Circuit bosses decided against renewing its contract to stage WorldSBK.
The season will once again start at Phillip Island in Australia from February 24-26, with a pre-season test taking place at the circuit several days beforehand. Identical to this year, the series moves onto Thailand two weeks later before heading to Europe and to MotorLand Aragon at the start of April.
The Dutch round at Assen is up next on April 28-30, followed by Imola on May 12-14 and Donington Park on May 26-28. The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli rounds off the first European leg of the calendar on June 16-18, with the sole American outing taking place on July 7-9 at Laguna Seca.
The much maligned nine-week summer break has been reduced to six for next season, hostilities resuming at the Lausitzring in Germany from August 18-20. Portimao in Portugal returns to the calendar after a year’s absence and is scheduled for September 15-17. Magny-Cours in France is, at present, the third from last round of the championship whilst the October 13-15 event awaits confirmation. Rumours suggest Jerez will take up the position as the penultimate round once again with the season ending under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit in Qatar at the beginning of November, though will run from the Thursday to the Saturday in 2017.
The provisional calendar can be found in full below:
Australia, Phillip Island, 24-16 February
Thailand, Chang International Circuit, 10-12 March
Spain, MotorLand Aragon, 30 March – 2 April
Holland, TT Circuit Assen, 28-30 April
Italy, Imola, 12-14 May
United Kingdom, Donington Park, 26-28 May
Riviera de Rimini, Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, 16-18 June
USA, Laguna Seca, 7-9 July
Germany, Lausitzring, 18-20 August
Portugal, Portimao, 15-17 September
France, Magny-Cours, 1-3 October
TBA, TBA, 13-15 October
Qatar, Losail International Circuit, 3-5 November
