WorldSBK came to life on the weekend of the 3rd of April, 1988, and exactly 28 years later is set to hit the milestone of 700 races in Race 2 at MotorLand Aragón. To celebrate three decades of the world’s top production motorcycle racing Championship, here’s a look through the landmarks that laid the way to the milestone.
100
The first hundred was reached in Spain: it was the 21st of June, 1992, and the track was Jarama. Race 1 was the milestone, and was won by Rob Phillis on a Kawasaki.
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200
Four years later in 1996, Laguna Seca hosted the 200th race. The reigning champion hit the headlines: the 200th Race was won by John Kocinski (Ducati).
300
Misano 2000 was the stage of Race number 300. Troy Corser captured the milestone on the Aprilia RSV 1000, and also won the second Race that weekend, recording pole, both fastest laps and leaving only one lap for the opposition to lead.
400
Time for another milestone race on British soil after the debut at Donington: at Silverstone, 2004, the WorldSBK championship hit the 400 mark in Race 2. Chris Vermeulen took his maiden win on a Honda.
500
Four years later at Brno in 2008 was the 500th race for the World Championship. Ducati locked out the podium in the Race (2), with Troy Bayliss winning from Michel Fabrizio and Max Biaggi.
600
Bad weather spoiled the party: it was all set for Donington to be the 600th, 24 years after the championship was born on that same track, but the cancellation in Monza one week before meant that the milestone was reached on American soil, at the Miller track on the 27th of May, 2012. Spaniard Carlos Checa won it, ahead of Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi.
The most successful riders for each ‘century’ in the championship:
1 to 100: Doug Polen, 21 wins; Raymond Roche, 19 wins
101 to 200: Carl Fogarty, 36 wins; Scott Russell, 14 wins
201 to 300: Carl Fogarty, 22 wins; Pierfrancesco Chili and Colin Edwards, 12 wins
301 to 400: Troy Bayliss, 21 wins; Colin Edwards, 19 wins
401 to 500: Troy Bayliss, 26 wins; Noriyuki Haga, 16 wins
501 to 600: Carlos Checa, 22 wins; Ben Spies and Max Biaggi, 14 wins
601 to 698: Tom Sykes, 25 wins; Jonathan Rea, 22 wins
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