When I came back to NZ a few years ago I was suprised at the relatively small numbers of Superbikes appearing on our grids. I was also suprised to see virtually no body stepping up to really challenge the established "dynasty" of the old guard: Stroud, Shirriffs, Rees, Clee and co.

I've spruiked it before but my conclusion is the cross entering rules at our club meets encourage riders to stay in the Supersport/F2 (whatever it's called this season) ranks rather than making the transition to Superbike/F1. Basically you get twice the racing for only a minimal extra outlay.....why would you want to ride a Superbike and halve your track time?

The problem is that Supersport and Superbike require quite different riding styles, as born out by Kenan Sofoglu's performance (or lack of) in this years WSBK series after dominating Supersport last year. An interview with him (excerpt below) bears this out and makes me think we desperately need to address our cross entering policy. Maybe combine F1/F2 for club racing and do away with cross entering between them to give equal track time? Or set race classes by lap time rather than capacity? I dunno, but something needs to be done such that F1 riders aren't discouraged/disadvantaged.

Without changing the current setup I can only see us falling further behind the rest of the moto-world with regards to rider development and doubt we'll produce another Slight in WSBK or Stroud in the AMA. Sure a rider can head overseas but should they have too? And even then they are a product of the overseas racing series rather than ours. Yeah there is the money/exposure issue but that is another arena altogether, I'm just talking skill development.

Big ups to Choppa, TonyOK and anyone else who steps up under the current system, because there's no encouragement at present other than personal pride.

SuperBikePlanet.com Interview: Kenan Sofuoglu
by jim mcdermott & susan haas
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A trying season on and off the track in '08 came good in Portugal when Kenan won the final Supersport race of the year.
image by jimola

By any measure, Kenan Sofuoglu had a very tough 2008. Riding for HanspreeTen Kate, Kenan had dominated World Supersport in 2007, breaking the record for most wins in a single season. With supreme confidence and a new World Championship on his CV, he graduated to World Superbike with great expectations. Unfortunately for the quiet Turk, only tragedy and failure awaited him. He had a very difficult time adapting his riding style to the bigger bikes, finishing in the Top 10 in just one WSBK race, at Magny Cours.

Q You obviously had a difficult year on the Superbike, but then you came back, and it looked like you found your way home again. It was unbelievable how fast you were. You won the race yesterday by about six seconds. How did it feel to come back here after a year away from your motorcycle and then just dominate and win that race yesterday?

A I'm really surprised how went everything on the weekend, because without practice we came here, just was making testing for the next year. I didn't expect to take pole. I didn't expect to win the race. But [inaudible] okay. I was expecting to make good result, but not like that. I think I learned a lot in Superbike, but I couldn't make on that bike, because I could not have realistic good enough on that bike. Maybe take a longer time. But already, after half of the year, me and ten Kate have discussion about riding Supersport again. I'm so happy after yesterday, the result, and sitting on the bike again. Just so happy to make this decision to come back to Supersport. I think that's my bike. Nothing to say. 600 is very good for my style. Superbike is, I can't say really good for my riding style. Maybe take a little bit more time to change it. But in this short time I couldn't make it. But when I came back, I know the level is now higher than last year in Supersport. I was saying, "Okay, if I can do riding five, six, seven position qualifier, hopefully top five, maybe podium." But to make pole position, big surprise. After, to make winning the race was big present to me. I'm ready for next season. Bike is now, ten Kate bike, so good. Much better than last year. They improve a lot everything. And I'm very happy to make a decision to ride with the ten Kate team in the Supersport next year. Now I can't wait to next year.

Q What's the difference between riding Supersport and Superbike? It seemed like when Karl Muggeridge won the championship and he went into Superbike with ten Kate, he didn't do so good. What is the big difference between the riding style required? Is it more corner speed, or what did you find it to be?

A Difficult thing is, in Supersport you have less power. You need to lay everything on the corner.

Q Momentum?

A Yeah. In the brake, in the entry. But in Superbike, you need only good exit. Just you need to make a good exit. If you do that, you make a lap time there. And if you make many years in Supersport, also Karl Muggeridge did the same, many years in Supersport, when you jump to Superbike it's difficult to change your riding style. I mean, I spent also many years in Supersport, also in Turkey, when I race in Turkey on the Supersport. Many, many years in Supersport. When I jump to Superbike, for sure I can change, I am sure, because already end of the year, my result is coming better, but maybe take it two-three season. But I didn't try that, because I'm so happy with the Supersport bike. So happy to riding the 600 bike. Maybe in future I can try 600 MotoGP class. That's my goal. I mean, if you are adapted to Supersport, it's difficult to change it. Like John Rea now. He make three years in British Superbike. He did one season in Supersport. Good for him to move immediately to Superbike. If you spend more years, then very difficult to adapt to Superbike. Especially if you ride in World Superbike. The level is so high. If you spend many years in Supersport, it take time to adapt to Superbike. It's quite a bit different riding style. I show that in yesterday. I jumped back my bike immediately in short time, immediately I make a good result and win the race. Because my riding style's still like the Supersport.

Full interview here: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/...nterviewks.htm