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.

Carl Fogarty, who amassed three race victories during the season, won the riders' championship for the third time after and ; 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. Ducati won the manufacturers' championship.

This season also saw the round at Sentul being dropped from the 1998 calendar due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Race calendar and results 1998 Superbike World Championship Calendar https://motorsportstats.com/series/fim-superbike-world-championship/results/1998 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 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

Championship standings

Riders' standings 1998 final riders' standings Pos. Rider Bike AUS GBR ITA ESP GER SMR RSA USA EUR AUT NED JPN PtsR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2 1 Carl 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 Aaron 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 Troy 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 Pierfrancesco 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 Colin 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 Noriyuki 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 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 James 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 Peter 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 Scott 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 Neil 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 Gregorio 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 Piergiorgio Bontempi Kawasaki 12 Ret 14 13 Ret 11 12 6 8 9 Ret 11 12 10 18 DNS 58 14 Alessandro 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 Igor 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 Keiichi Kitagawa Suzuki 1 5 36 17 Akira Ryō Suzuki 2 3 36 18 Andreas Meklau Ducati 11 9 Ret Ret 9 9 14 13 31 19 Niall Mackenzie Yamaha Ret 6 6 10 26 20 Steve Hislop Yamaha 10 9 8 11 26 21 Lucio Pedercini Ducati 13 Ret 19 20 14 14 12 14 12 14 Ret 13 20 12 16 Ret DNS DNS 26 22 Ben Bostrom Honda 4 3 22.5 23 Mark Willis Suzuki 6 9 17 24 Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha 9 7 16 25 Udo Mark Suzuki Ret 12 10 13 13 26 Andrew 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 Jamie Hacking Yamaha 10 7 12 28 Chris Walker Kawasaki 11 12 9 29 Erkka Korpiaho Kawasaki 15 15 15 Ret 17 16 14 12 9 30 Kensuke Haga Yamaha Ret 8 8 31 Shinichi Ito Honda 8 Ret 8 32 Doug Chandler Kawasaki 3 DNS 8 33 Kawasaki 18 Ret 13 11 19 19 8 34 Shinya Takeishi Kawasaki 14 11 7 35 James Haydon Suzuki 15 14 Ret 12 7 36 Steve Martin Ducati Ret 10 6 37 Sean Emmett Ducati Ret Ret 11 Ret 5 38 Jean-Marc Delétang Yamaha Ret 22 Ret 22 19 19 16 11 Ret Ret 16 Ret 5 39 Frédéric 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 Troy Bayliss Ducati Ret Ret 13 15 4 41 Ricky Orlando Kawasaki 22 13 3 42 Paolo Blora Ducati 17 17 13 16 3 43 Shawn Giles Honda 16 13 3 44 Yuichi Takeda Honda 15 14 3 45 Heinz Platacis Kawasaki 16 14 2 46 John Reynolds Ducati Ret 14 2 47 Matt Llewellyn Ducati 14 Ret 2 48 Aaron Yates Suzuki 12 Ret 2 49 Craig Connell Ducati Ret 14 2 50 Malcolm Campbell Ducati 14 Ret 2 51 Rubén Xaus Suzuki 15 16 1 52 Jiří Mrkývka Honda Ret 24 DNQ DNQ 20 Ret 17 15 18 18 Ret 18 Ret 20 21 Ret DNQ DNQ Ret Ret 1 53 Terry Rymer Suzuki 16 15 Ret 16 1 Pos. Rider Bike AUS GBR ITA ESP GER SMR RSA USA EUR AUT NED JPN Pts Bold – Pole positionItalics – 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.

Manufacturers' standings 1998 final manufacturers' standings Pos. Manufacturer AUS GBR ITA ESP GER SMR RSA USA EUR AUT NED JPN PtsR1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2 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.

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References