Fan favourite Phillip Island returns to schedule as 2022 WorldSBK finale 

The popular Phillip Island Circuit in Australia will return to the WorldSBK schedule as the final round of the 2022 season, it has been confirmed.

With just a week to go until the 2022 WorldSBK Championship season kicks off at Motorland Aragon in Spain, the FIM and Dorna have formally ratified this year’s schedule will comprise 12 events and 36 races.

Meaning a slightly shorter season than that of 2021 when WorldSBK ran over 13 events, the latest update assures Phillip Island will go ahead on 18-20 November as the final round of the year. In what could be an action-packed run towards a title showdown, it will come just a week after WorldSBK’s visit to Indonesia and the Mandalika Circuit on 11-13 November.

A mainstay of the WorldSBK calendar since 1990, while Phillip Island began its tenure on the schedule as one of the latter events of the year - hosting the finale on four previous occasions - more recently it has become known for its season-opening role held in late February or early March.

It is a position WorldSBK says it will resume in 2023, the series having not visited Phillip Island since 2000 just weeks before the spread of COVID-19 put a hold on the season for five months and forced its cancellation altogether in 2021.

The calendar update also means a previously announced ‘TBC’ event won’t take place.

According to speculation, bosses were keen to add a round in Turkey at the Istanbul Park Circuit, which hosted a round of WorldSBK in 2013, to celebrate the success of World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, but the plans fell through.

In another development, the WorldSSP Championship will race as support to WorldSBK at Donington Park for the first time in several years.

2022 WorldSBK Championship Calendar