World Superbike race direction, stewards reshuffled

The World Superbike race direction and FIM Stewards panel has been tweaked ahead of the 2019 season with Tamara Matko appointed FIM WorldSBK Safety Officer and Chairman of race direction.

The changes, announced in a short World Superbike statement, also confirmed Gerry Bryce has been named as FIM WorldSBK’s permanent Steward.

“Race Direction will continue to be primarily responsible for the efficient and safe running of events,” a WorldSBK statement read.

“The composition of Superbike Race Direction will be as follows with three members; Tamara Matko Chairman of Race Direction and FIM WorldSBK Officer, Gianfranco Carloia (Race Director) and Stefano Carloia (Dorna WorldSBK representative).

“The Stewards panel will be comprised of three members; Gerry Bryce (FIM WorldSBK Permanent Steward) Tamara Matko (Representative of Race Direction) and one other member, appointed by rotation by the FIM CCR. Gerry Bryce will be responsible for coordinating the Stewards activities, maintaining records and communicating decisions.

“All issues and actions requiring further analysis, including any incidences of dangerous riding, will be reviewed by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards panel, who will exclusively be responsible for issuing sanctions and penalties for those matters. The FIM Stewards panel will also be responsible for hearing appeals and receiving protests.”

The 2019 World Superbike championship gets underway this week at Phillip Island with a two-day pre-season test (February 18-19) followed by the season opener (February 22-24).