World Superbike adds Jerez de la Frontera to championship calendar
Rome (Italy), Friday 21 September 2012 – Infront Motor Sports and Jerez de la Frontera have announced that the Spanish circuit will join the eni FIM Superbike World Championship calendar from 2013 onwards following an agreement signed today in Jerez. The agreement is for three years from 2013 to 2015 inclusive and next year’s race can now be confirmed as the final round of the season on 20 October.
Paolo Flammini and Juan Baquero, respectively the CEO of Infront Motor Sports and Jerez de la Frontera, were present at the signing of the contract this morning in the Jerez city hall together with the lady mayor of Jerez, María José García Pelayo.
Paolo Flammini, CEO of Infront Motor Sports, commented: “We are delighted with the addition of another prestigious name to our World Championship calendar. Jerez de la Frontera is a circuit that is synonymous with great motorbike racing in general and is situated in a catchment area with an extraordinary sporting tradition and cultural heritage. It gives us great pleasure to return to Jerez for the first time in over twenty years and we are sure that together we will work hard to make the event a great success.”
María José García Pelayo, lady mayor of Jerez, declared: “The city of Jerez welcomes the Superbike World Championship, a superb motorcycle event which, due to the wide media impact it entails, shall reinforce the international image which Circuito de Jerez projects throughout the world and shall also bring important direct benefits to the city. The agreement reached with the owners of the Championship confirms the grounds of the plans this government put forward months ago with regards to the circuit. It is therefore the first stone of the Sporting Calendar 2013, providing further international presence and importance and accordingly a better media return of the Tourist Brand Jerez all around the world.”
Juan Baquero, CEO of CIRJESA, added: “We are thrilled with the fact that the Superbike World Championship is landing at Circuito de Jerez from the next season. This shall position the track and the city itself as one of the main references of international motorbike sport. The Superbike World Championship is an extremely attractive event with a lot of potential, competitive and exciting races with which the general public should be acquainted. And from now on this is going to be our main task. The event has four classes in each meeting, very well-known riders and an important number of people involved in the organization which no doubt shall bring the city large benefits.”
The only time that World Superbike raced at Jerez de la Frontera was in 1990, the third year of the championship’s existence, when both races were won by that year’s champion Raymond Roche. It was also the first time a round in Spain had been added to the World Superbike championship calendar, but since then the country has been a fixed presence in the production-based racing series.
About the FIM Superbike World Championship
The FIM Superbike World Championship features a high number of riders, teams and manufacturers (Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki), racing with high-performance bikes that are similar to those available on the market for normal everyday road use. The championship’s well-tried formula of two races at each round, Pirelli’s one-make tyre supply, as well as stable technical regulations over the years, have helped World Superbike become a truly exciting spectacle for millions of TV spectators and fans around the world.
Media coverage of the FIM Superbike World Championship is firmly established worldwide and is helping to align the strength of the series across the scale. Overall, under Infront’s tenure, live coverage has increased steadily since 2007 and the number of broadcast partners has grown by 40 per cent. In 2011, the series reached a cumulative audience of 460 million viewers with 3,300 broadcast hours worldwide.
