Assen Joins Schedule As BSB Announces 2012 Calendar

The 2012 British Superbike Championship will start and finish at Brands Hatch - Photo Credit: Motorsport Vision

The MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship will visit one of the world's most historic motorcycle racing venues in 2012 with the news that the TT Circuit Assen will host a meeting next year.

Host of the premier class of Grand Prix racing since 1949, the track in the Netherlands is widely acclaimed as the “The Cathedral” of motorcycling and with the opening rounds of the title showdown taking place there on 21^st-23^rd September, the spectators are sure to see some electrifying racing.

Brands Hatch will start and end the championship once again with the Indy layout launching the new season on Easter weekend before a champion is crowned on the Grand Prix circuit in mid-October. With the 'Showdown' format remaining, the fans making the trip to Kent are sure to see the title decided but the British Superbike Championship will be hard pushed to beat this year's thrilling finale where Tommy Hill beat John Hopkins to the title by 0.006s.

The 2012 season will begin with back-to-back meetings with Thruxton following a week after Brands with Oulton Park hosting round three on the May bank Holiday weekend. After making its debut last year, the Snetterton 300 circuit will return with BSB then moving onto Knockhill before the second Oulton Park meeting in early July.

The summer meeting at Brands Hatch will take place earlier than normal next year with the late-July date chosen to avoid a clash with the Olympic Games taking place in London. Cadwell Park's annual August event is pencilled in for August 25^th, 26^th & 27^th while Donington Park will host the final round of the regular season a fortnight later.

The venues of Assen, Silverstone and Brands Hatch will be the perfect setting for the title battle to be decided next autumn and Jonathan Palmer, Chief Executive of MotorSport Vision feels the championship is going from strength to strength despite the tough economic climate.

“The 2012 BSB calendar is the strongest ever and this is a tribute to the extraordinary health of BSB amidst tough economic conditions that are a major challenge to many other series. It has always been a priority for MSVR to drive down the costs of competing in BSB with sport-leading technical regulations whilst driving up the quality of the show.  As a result BSB is becoming ever more attractive to manufacturers, teams, riders, sponsors, circuits and fans, which means 2012 is likely to be BSB's best year yet.”

2012 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship Calendar