World Superbikes announced on Friday that the series’ debut at Balaton Park in Hungary will no longer be going ahead, with the Portuguese venue Estoril taking its place.
Slated to host World Superbikes on the weekend of August 23-25, the Balaton Park facility will reportedly not be ready in time to host the international motorcycling extravaganza, prompting the late cancellation.
In its place, the Circuito do Estoril is a more than familiar track to the series and motorcycling fans worldwide.
Estoril has hosted both Grand Prix and Superbike motorcycle racing and the World Championship raced at the Portuguese circuit in 1988 and 1993, before coming back during the COVID-19 pandemic for a three-year stint in 2020-2022.
Its last bout of World Superbikes action came in the final round of the 2022 season, whereby Jonathan Rea, Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu duked it out in fascinating style, with Bautista victorious in Race 1 and Rea victorious in the Superpole Race and Race 2.
The recent change to the World Superbikes calendar means not one, but two Portuguese circuits will make up the championship calendar in 2024, with the ever-popular Portimao round set to take place on the weekend of August 09-11.
World Superbikes will now return to Estoril from October 11th-13th, forming a back-to-back spectacle with Circuito de Jerez providing the season finale a week later.
World Supersport and the Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship will also be in attendance at Estoril, alongside the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European SuperFinale.
In the meantime, the series returns to action with Round 4 this weekend at Misano, before heading to the United Kingdom-based Donington Park Circuit on July 12-14.
Following Donington in this year’s revised calendar is the Czech-based Autodrom Most on July 19-21 before the aforementioned Portimao round in August.
There will then be a month-long break before a trio of rounds in September: Magny Cours, France (September 06-08), Cremona Circuit, Italy (September 20-22) and Aragon, Spain (September 27-29).
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