1998 Superbike World Championship

The 1998 Superbike World Championship was the eleventh FIM Superbike World Championship season. The season started on 22 March at Phillip Island 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, 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.^[1]

Carl Fogarty, who amassed three race victories during the season, won the riders' championship^[2] for the third time after 1994 and 1995; Fogarty prevailed over Aaron Slight at the last round, while Troy Corser, who had entered the final event leading the standings, could not race due to injury.^[3] Ducati won the manufacturers' championship.^[4]

The season also saw Sentul (part of Indonesian Grand Prix) being dropped from 1998 calendar due to 1997 Asian Financial Crisis

Round		Circuit	Date	Superpole	Fastest lap	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	R1	Phillip Island	22 March	Troy Corser	Carl Fogarty	Carl Fogarty	Ducati Performance	Report
	R2				Aaron Slight	Noriyuki Haga	Yamaha World Superbike Team
2	R1	Donington	13 April	Troy Corser[N 1]	Noriyuki Haga	Noriyuki Haga	Yamaha World Superbike Team	Report
	R2				Noriyuki Haga	Noriyuki Haga	Yamaha World Superbike Team
3	R1	Monza	10 May	Aaron Slight	Aaron Slight	Colin Edwards	Castrol Honda	Report
	R2				Aaron Slight	Colin Edwards	Castrol Honda
4	R1	Albacete	24 May	Noriyuki Haga	Pierfrancesco Chili	Pierfrancesco Chili	Ducati ADVF	Report
	R2				Aaron Slight	Carl Fogarty	Ducati Performance
5	R1	Nürburgring	7 June	Troy Corser	Aaron Slight	Aaron Slight	Castrol Honda	Report
	R2				Pierfrancesco Chili	Pierfrancesco Chili	Ducati ADVF
6	R1	Misano	21 June	Troy Corser	Aaron Slight	Aaron Slight	Castrol Honda	Report
	R2				Aaron Slight	Aaron Slight	Castrol Honda
7	R1	Kyalami	5 July	Pierfrancesco Chili	Pierfrancesco Chili	Pierfrancesco Chili	Ducati ADVF	Report
	R2				Akira Yanagawa	Pierfrancesco Chili	Ducati ADVF
8	R1	Laguna Seca	12 July	Troy Corser	Troy Corser	Troy Corser	Ducati ADVF	Report
	R2				Noriyuki Haga	Noriyuki Haga	Yamaha World Superbike Team
9	R1	Brands Hatch	2 August	Troy Corser	Aaron Slight	Colin Edwards	Castrol Honda	Report
	R2				Jamie Whitham	Troy Corser	Ducati ADVF
10	R1	A1-Ring	30 August	Aaron Slight	Pierfrancesco Chili	Aaron Slight	Castrol Honda	Report
	R2				Troy Corser	Aaron Slight	Castrol Honda
11	R1	Assen	6 September	Pierfrancesco Chili	Pierfrancesco Chili	Pierfrancesco Chili	Ducati ADVF	Report
	R2				Carl Fogarty	Carl Fogarty	Ducati Performance
12	R1	Sugo	4 October	Troy Corser	Akira Ryō	Keiichi Kitagawa	Team Suzuki	Report
	R2				Noriyuki Haga	Noriyuki Haga	Yamaha World Superbike Team

Footnotes

1998 final riders' standings[2] Pos. Rider Bike AUS GBR ITA ESP GER SMR RSA USA EUR AUT NED JPN Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1‡ R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Fogarty Ducati 1 3 7 3 6 2 9 1 13 13 4 3 2 2 5 Ret 4 2 3 2 2 1 3 4 351.5 2 Slight Honda 9 2 4 4 2 Ret 4 2 1 4 1 1 8 8 8 DNS 2 5 1 1 4 2 7 6 347 3 Corser Ducati 2 6 2 2 3 4 2 3 7 3 2 2 Ret 7 1 2 7 1 6 5 3 3 DNS DNS 328.5 4 Chili Ducati 4 Ret 3 5 5 3 1 5 3 1 Ret Ret 1 1 7 4 9 6 2 3 1 Ret 12 Ret 293.5 5 Edwards Honda 7 7 6 7 1 1 5 Ret 2 2 3 4 9 4 11 10 1 4 7 9 5 4 13 13 279.5 6 N. Haga Yamaha 3 1 1 1 9 10 10 4 5 7 Ret Ret 7 3 Ret 1 12 7 9 12 8 8 Ret 1 258 7 Yanagawa Kawasaki 5 5 5 16 Ret 6 13 7 4 5 5 5 6 5 2 DNS 4 4 7 6 4 2 210 8 Whitham Suzuki Ret 12 8 8 8 5 11 10 9 10 6 Ret 4 Ret 6 5 5 3 5 6 Ret 5 11 9 173 9 Goddard Suzuki Ret 4 9 10 7 8 14 8 6 8 Ret Ret 5 6 14 8 10 13 10 8 6 7 10 10 155 10 Russell Yamaha 10 8 13 11 Ret Ret 6 9 11 Ret 8 6 10 9 15 Ret 3 8 12 11 9 Ret 5 12 130.5 11 Hodgson Kawasaki 8 Ret 12 Ret 4 7 7 14 Ret 11 7 8 Ret Ret 9 6 Ret 9 8 10 10 9 6 16 124.5 12 Lavilla Ducati 11 11 Ret Ret 10 Ret 3 Ret Ret 6 Ret 7 3 Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 11 7 Ret Ret 17 15 83.5 13 Bontempi Kawasaki 12 Ret 14 13 Ret 11 12 6 8 9 Ret 11 12 10 18 DNS 58 14 Gramigni Ducati 18 15 18 17 12 13 8 Ret 10 Ret 11 12 11 14 16 9 15 Ret 13 14 11 Ret 56 15 Jerman Kawasaki 15 Ret 21 19 13 12 Ret 12 14 15 15 10 13 11 19 11 DNS DNS 15 15 12 10 20 18 47 16 Kitagawa Suzuki 1 5 36 17 Ryō Suzuki 2 3 36 18 Meklau Ducati 11 9 Ret Ret 9 9 14 13 31 19 Mackenzie Yamaha Ret 6 6 10 26 20 Hislop Yamaha 10 9 8 11 26 21 Pedercini Ducati 13 Ret 19 20 14 14 12 14 12 14 Ret 13 20 12 16 Ret DNS DNS 26 22 Bostrom Honda 4 3 22.5 23 Willis Suzuki 6 9 17 24 Yoshikawa Yamaha 9 7 16 25 Mark Suzuki Ret 12 10 13 13 26 Stroud Kawasaki 17 16 22 Ret DNS DNS 18 16 16 Ret 14 15 14 12 Ret Ret 16 17 Ret DNS 15 13 21 20 13 27 Hacking Yamaha 10 7 12 28 Walker Kawasaki 11 12 9 29 Korpiaho Kawasaki 15 15 15 Ret 17 16 14 12 9 30 K. Haga Yamaha Ret 8 8 31 Ito Honda 8 Ret 8 32 Chandler Kawasaki 3 DNS 8 33 Innamorati Kawasaki 18 Ret 13 11 19 19 8 34 Takeishi Kawasaki 14 11 7 35 Haydon Suzuki 15 14 Ret 12 7 36 Martin Ducati Ret 10 6 37 Emmett Ducati Ret Ret 11 Ret 5 38 Delétang Yamaha Ret 22 Ret 22 19 19 16 11 Ret Ret 16 Ret 5 39 Protat Honda 21 19 Ret 23 16 16 5 Ducati 19 13 DNS DNS 18 17 15 15 23 Ret 17 19 Ret Ret Ret DNS 40 Bayliss Ducati Ret Ret 13 15 4 41 Orlando Kawasaki 22 13 3 42 Blora Ducati 17 17 13 16 3 43 Giles Honda 16 13 3 44 Takeda Honda 15 14 3 45 Platacis Kawasaki 16 14 2 46 Reynolds Ducati Ret 14 2 47 Llewellyn Ducati 14 Ret 2 48 Yates Suzuki 12 Ret 2 49 Connell Ducati Ret 14 2 50 Campbell Ducati 14 Ret 2 51 Xaus Suzuki 15 16 1 52 Mrkývka Honda Ret 24 DNQ DNQ 20 Ret 17 15 18 18 Ret 18 Ret 20 21 Ret DNQ DNQ Ret Ret 1 53 Rymer Suzuki 16 15 Ret 16 1 Pos. Rider Bike AUS GBR ITA ESP GER SMR RSA USA EUR AUT NED JPN Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole position Italics – Fastest lap

^‡ Due to separate accidents, the first race in Laguna Seca was stopped on the 13th of the 28 scheduled laps and the subsequent restart was aborted; half points were awarded.^[6]

1998 final manufacturers' standings[4]
Pos.	Manufacturer	AUS		GBR		ITA		ESP		GER		SMR		RSA		USA		EUR		AUT		NED		JPN		Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1‡	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1	Ducati	1	3	2	2	3	2	1	1	3	1	2	2	1	1	1	2	4	1	2	2	1	1	3	4	487.5
2	Honda	7	2	4	4	1	1	4	2	1	2	1	1	8	4	4	3	1	4	1	1	4	2	7	6	416.5
3	Yamaha	3	1	1	1	9	10	6	4	5	7	8	6	7	3	10	1	3	7	9	11	8	8	5	1	307
4	Suzuki	6	4	8	8	7	5	11	8	6	8	6	13	4	6	6	5	5	3	5	6	6	5	1	3	252
5	Kawasaki	5	5	5	12	4	6	7	6	4	5	5	5	6	5	2	6	16	9	4	4	7	6	4	2	251
Pos.	Manufacturer	AUS		GBR		ITA		ESP		GER		SMR		RSA		USA		EUR		AUT		NED		JPN		Pts

^‡ Due to separate accidents, the first race in Laguna Seca was stopped on the 13th of the 28 scheduled laps and the subsequent restart was aborted; half points were awarded.^[6]

• "1998 FIM Superbike World Championship". superbike-archives.net.