The 1998 Superbike World Championship was the eleventh
FIM Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing.
The championship was founded i ...
season. The season started on 22 March at
Phillip Island
Phillip Island ( Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explore ...
and finished on 4 October at
Sugo after 12 rounds.
The season saw the introduction of a revised qualifying system: after two timed qualifying sessions, the sixteen fastest riders were admitted to the newly created
Superpole
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
, which determined the first four rows of the starting grid; during this session each rider went on the track in reverse qualifying order to take a single flying lap.
Carl Fogarty
Carl George Fogarty, (born 1 July 1965), often known as Foggy, is an English former motorcycle racer and one of the most successful World Superbike racers of all time. He also holds the second highest number of race wins at 59. He is the son ...
, who amassed three race victories during the season, won the riders' championship
[ for the third time after and ; Fogarty prevailed over ]Aaron Slight
Aaron Tony Slight (born 19 January 1966) is a New Zealand former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the Superbike World Championships from to , finishing second in the championship twice and third four times. He later competed ...
at the last round, while Troy Corser
Troy Gordon Corser (born 27 November 1971) is an Australian former professional motorcycle road racer. He competed in the Superbike World Championship from 1992 to 2011 except for the 1997 season when he competed in Grand Prix motorcycle raci ...
, who had entered the final event leading the standings, could not race due to injury.[
The season also saw Sentul (part of Indonesian Grand Prix) being dropped from 1998 calendar due to 1997 Asian Financial Crisis]
Race calendar and results
;Footnotes:
Championship standings
Riders' standings
Due to separate accidents, the first race in Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to:
* Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California
* Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London
* Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California
* Laguna Seca, Texas, United States
* Rancho ...
was stopped on the 13th of the 28 scheduled laps and the subsequent restart was aborted; half points were awarded.
Manufacturers' standings
Due to separate accidents, the first race in Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to:
* Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California
* Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London
* Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California
* Laguna Seca, Texas, United States
* Rancho ...
was stopped on the 13th of the 28 scheduled laps and the subsequent restart was aborted; half points were awarded.[
]
External links
*
References
{{Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing.
The championship was founded i ...
Superbike World Championship seasons