The opening round of the 2024 Bennetts British Superbike Championship is within close reach and, in a change to its normal programming, it will be kicking off on the continent with an opening round held at the Navarra Circuit in Spain.

While it is not the first time BSB has dabbled in a bit of international travel - it has also visited Mondello Park in Ireland and Assen in The Netherlands - this is easily the furthest it has ventured yet in the name of action-packed racing.

While the fact the Navarra Circuit is counted among MSV’s expansive portfolio of venues goes a long way to explaining why BSB will be going, well, a long way, it doesn’t stop us wondering which other European-based venues would make a fun trip for our domestic series regulars…

Autodromo Internacionale Algarve [Portimao], Portugal

It’s not a stretch to imagine BSB one day making a medium haul trip down to the Algarve for a bit of sun, sea, sand and probably a lot of golf.

Indeed, the Autodromo Internacionale Algarve - or Portimao as it is more colloquially known in reference to its nearest town - is already occasionally the venue of choice for teams looking to escape northern Europe’s unpredictable winter weather to get some testing miles in.

Such an event would no doubt prove popular with fans, the Portuguese venue - inaugurated in 2008 as the host for that season’s final WorldSBK round - becoming a big favourite among riders with its sweeping curves, huge elevation changes and a long plunging final bend leading onto a long home straight. It even has a crest that isn’t far off rivalling Cadwell Park’s ‘Mountain’.

Though perhaps a bit too grandiose for BSB when stacked against the likes of Knockhill and Thruxton, Portimao has nonetheless produced some great racing over the past 16 years.

Circuito do Jerez - Angel Nieto, Spain

Spain’s rich motorcycle racing culture means you’re spoiled for choice if it ever came to picking a venue - other than Navarra - to race at. 

Of course, Valencia Ricardo Tormo, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and MotorLand Aragon have earned their international stripes via MotoGP and WorldSBK, but even the likes of Cartagena and Almeria - popular picks among BSB riders keen on some winter testing mileage - can be considered options too.  

However, if it was down to us, we’d have BSB heading just south of Seville to race at one of motorcycle racing’s more storied venues in Jerez. Not as vast or as wide as more modern venues, the layout nonetheless strikes just the right blend of on the edge fast corners and tricky hard-braking zones.

It doesn’t hurt that Jerez is a particularly pleasant place to visit… and the locals really love it when the motorcycle brigade rolls into town.

Nurburgring, Germany

It has been a few years since the Nurburgring featured on the WorldSBK calendar and, for the most part, it’s generally been preferred as a four-wheel racing venue.

However, the venue’s history alone - including the notorious 14-mile ‘Green Hell’ that is the Nordschleife here - is enough to give the Nurburgring something of a mystical aura.

Of course, BSB wouldn’t be heading off for a go on the ‘Karousel’, but the modern incarnation of the Nurburgring is both technical, undulating and offers overtaking opportunities. 

Plus, its proximity to the climate-bending Eiffel Mountains should make BSB riders feel right at home when the heavens do - quite often - open.

Mugello Circuit, Italy

Like Spain, Italy is brimming with bucket list venues perfect for motorcycle racing, compared with those Spanish alternatives, there is something more romantic and evocative about venues like Misano and Monza. Maybe it’s because the country literally looks like a big boot on a map…

If it has to be racing in Italy, however, it has to be racing at the Mugello Circuit.

Its location tucked into the heart of Tuscany is probably reason enough for it to make it our pick, but it helps that it also has fast, swooping bends, that enormous slipstream-sucking home straight and heart-in-the-mouth braking zone for the first corner.

Misano might be the home of Valentino Rossi, but Mugello is to motorcycle racing what F1 is to Monza.

Autodrom Most, Czechia

One of the more curious additions to the WorldSBK calendar in recent years, it’s fair to say the Autodrom Most makes for a somewhat rudimentary stop compared with Catalunya, Misano or Donington Park… not that this is necessarily a bad thing.

Indeed, while riders have questioned the Czechia venue’s bumpy asphalt surface and finickety layout at times, by being something of an anti-thesis to the norm, Most has produced some brilliant racing since its international debut in 2021.

If anything, it’s probably the ‘Most’ (geddit?) British-style circuit outside of the UK. 

Autodromo Enzo de Dino Ferrari [Imola], Italy

With a heritage that is as laced with grandeur as it is with tragedy, the Autodromo Enzo de Dino Ferrari - or ‘Imola’ to its friends - makes us think of it as an Italian Oulton Park.

While it is not as fast or as vast as the likes of Monza or Mugello, Imola instead provides its challenge by being more technical, rise and fall like a rollercoaster, plus there is that little house on the edge of the Variante Rivazza that we find just charming…