The 2003 Superbike World Championship season was the 16th F.I.M. Superbike World Championship season. The season started on March 2 at Valencia, and finished on October 19 at Magny-Cours after 12 rounds.
Rule changes for 2003 allowed 1000cc machines (either twins, triples or four-cylinder) to race. The recent rule changes in MotoGP to allow 4-stroke engines meant that the Japanese manufacturers had focused their resources there; as a result the Superbike World Championship was left with limited factory involvement, with Ducati, Suzuki and the new-for-2003 Carl Fogarty’s Foggy Petronas as the only factory teams. As a result of most of the field being formed of Ducati motorcycles, the championship was given the derogatory label of the "Ducati Cup" in some quarters.
The Factory Ducati Team entered the only two Ducati 999s in the field, taking 20 wins from 24 races in a season where all races were won by Ducati. Neil Hodgson won the rider's championship and Ducati won the manufacturer's championship.
Read more about 2003 Superbike World Championship Season: Season Calendar, Entry List
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or season:
“... this world gives no room
to be what we dreamt of being”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)